Delaware County Jail inmates, and their belongings, are packed into the jail's recreation room with cots Wednesday morning. The jail was renovated to house 220 inmates, as of Wednesday the jail held 306 inmates supervised by ten jail staff members. A small group of officials spent the morning touring the jail and the possible future site of the jail at the former Wilson Middle School on Tillotson Ave. Staff photo by Jordan Kartholl
MUNCIE — Delaware County's jail problem will cost the county — and taxpayers — a half million dollars this year alone.
The county will spend that much to house prisoners in other jails and also to release them through supervised programs to help alleviate overcrowding in the jail.
Despite those efforts, one day last week the jail held 306 inmates even though it only has beds for 220.
The county commissioners are moving forward on a jail project in the former ASONS/Wilson Middle School, where a developer hired by the county says it can build a 500-bed jail for $45 million.
But in the meantime, the county is spending thousands of dollars each month to try to keep the current jail from being overcrowded enough to spark a lawsuit similar to the one that led to the current Justice Center, which opened in 1992.
The county has spent more than $200,000 so far this year on efforts to keep the jail's inmate population down, and the county commissioners are on the agenda for Tuesday morning's Delaware County Council meeting, asking for another $350,000.
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