08/06/2024
Now is the time for real conversations about alternatives to incarceration, and what truly achieves “public safety”, as the county looks for solutions to reduce the number of people in the Jail right now.
Let’s talk about bail reform.
Let’s talk about increasing community-based support for addiction and mental health issues.
Let’s talk about the lasting effects of a felony conviction
“Officials continue to look for solutions for the Allen County Jail's overcrowding while the new facility's construction is stalled, the sheriff said Wednesday.
Allen County Sheriff Troy Hershberger has asked local judges and the county prosecutor to help decrease the jail population by determining who can be released. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, who joined former inmate Vincent Morris in the federal lawsuit, has warned officials it might request a court-ordered prisoner release if the jail continues to be overcrowded and understaffed, according to a status report filed Tuesday.
A letter was sent by the sheriff's department May 6 to Allen Superior Court Judge Frances Gull, Allen Circuit Court Judge Ashley Hand and Prosecutor Michael McAlexander asking the officials to release a sufficient number of inmates to combat overcrowding. The letter was submitted to federal court with the ACLU status update Tuesday in the ongoing lawsuit against the Allen County commissioners and sheriff's department for unacceptable conditions at the downtown facility.
A prisoner release order doesn't mean jail inmates will be relieved of their sentences, but they would serve it elsewhere, Hershberger said Wednesday. Other options include home detention, the residential services program, probation restrictions and community corrections.
The 2020 lawsuit filed by Morris and the ACLU of Indiana alleged unconstitutional conditions in the county jail. U.S. Federal Judge Damon Leichty ordered county officials to address the inhumane conditions and to keep the prisoner population below the jail's capacity.
The ACLU of Indiana's status report said the approved long-term solution to build a new jail is "nowhere in sight" with conditions worsening for inmates.
The commissioners have said a larger jail facility is required to meet the court order, but the project has been stalled because of a civil lawsuit fighting the funding plan for the project. The new jail on Meyer Road is expected to have more than 1,300 beds, and its construction is estimated to cost $316 million.
"At this point, it is uncertain whether and when the new Allen County Jail will be built," the ACLU's report said.
Hershberger said the number of inmates has decreased in the last few weeks since he sent the letter, but Wednesday's population was 733 - one more than the number of beds the jail has. When the lawsuit was filed, more than 900 inmates were held in the jail, Hershberger added.
The current jail must remain at 622 inmates or fewer to not be considered overcrowded, according to the county government website.
Hershberger said the jail is currently staffed with 159 confinement officers with 13 open positions.
Since the last jail status report on March 4, the sheriff's department has hired 20 confinement officers, but the total number of officers only increased slightly because of employees leaving, Wednesday's status report said.
Inmates also can be transferred to other county jails, but that's only if the other sheriff departments are willing to take them.
"When you're overcrowded, you got to find places to put them," Hershberger said. "The sheriff is tasked constitutionally with running the jail. I don't control the narrative of who stays and who goes."
With support from the commissioners, the Allen County Sheriff's Department has requested assistance from sheriff's departments in Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Wells and Whitley counties.
Hershberger heard back from only one county by Wednesday, the report said. The department doesn't know whether the responding county will accept any Allen County inmates or whether Hershberger will hear back from others.
Hershberger said he hasn't yet received a response from Judges Gull and Hand to the release requests in his letter.
"I don't expect them to respond immediately because the safety of the community is what we got to look at," he said.
The department heard from McAlexander, the prosecutor, who said he wants to assist and that he has taken efforts to help, according to the sheriff's status report.
The population has continued to rise after the letter was sent in May and has remained more than 732 inmates over the last 45 days, the report said.
McAlexander and Hershberger both said solving this issue could lead to uncharted areas that county officials would need to find a solution because construction is delayed.
The commissioners' status report said they continue to face challenges from a citizen group opposing the jail project. The current challenge is from Allen County Residents Against the Jail, which filed an Indiana Tax Court lawsuit. This follows their case with the Department of Local Government Finance that ruled in favor of the county officials' funding plan. The group's appeal of the ruling was denied.
The citizens group filed the tax court lawsuit in March asking for relief that includes invalidating any lease entered by the county commissioners and the building corporation. It also asks that the county be directed to terminate any lease arrangement with the building corporation concerning the courthouse. A case management conference is scheduled for Friday.
The commissioners said construction will be delayed until the resolution of the tax court lawsuit. Construction costs could increase during the delay.
County officials plan to pay for the new jail project through bonds, which involves making lease-purchase payments to repay bondholders for the $316 million new facility from a funding plan approved in October.
If the tax court case proceeds without assurance of a quick resolution, the ACLU will request a prisoner release order, their report said. If Leichty agrees, a three-judge court would be created to determine whether a release order should happen or direct the release of inmates or prohibit admission of more individuals.
Both McAlexander and Hershberger said they don't know how this process would work because it's never been implemented here during their time in office.
A portion of the jail population is inmates whose cases have moved through the local judicial system and can be moved to the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Hershberger said each large county has only a set number of prisoners it can ask the state to take weekly. The state allows only 14 transfers from Allen County each week because the 100 open slots are offered to agencies across Indiana.
He said 14 local inmates were sent Wednesday morning, reducing the number to be transferred to 44. But sentencing hearings are on Thursdays and Fridays, and those could bring the number back to above 50 by the weekend.
The county jail always has about 50 to 60 inmates waiting to be transferred, he added.
The ACLU has asked Judge Leichty to schedule an attorneys' conference in-person or by phone at the earliest opportunity. No hearings were set as of Wednesday, according to online court records.
Allen County Sheriff Troy Hershberger answers questions about the jail's high inmate population in his office on Wednesday at the Allen County Courthouse.
Madelyn Kidd | The Journal Gazette
