Jail expansion best option after in-depth study

<p>The Johnson County jail is routinely overcrowded and the county has looked at dozens of options to fix the problem.</p><p>Justice Center committee members have explored partnering with neighboring counties for a regional jail, housing inmates in other counties, remodeling and upgrading the county’s community corrections building, using the juvenile detention center to house inmates, building a new jail and expanding the current jail.</p><p>The county has released a jail feasibility study that outlines what options the county has explored to fix the overcrowding, which the state has ordered the county to address. The county commissioners will have a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the study and get feedback on the project.</p><p>The state required the county commissioners to prepare a feasibility study of possible alternatives before expanding the jail. The state requires that the county have studied a regional jail, project what the inmate need would be and estimate tax rates and how the county would pay for each of the alternatives, county attorney Kathleen Hash said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>The current plan calls for building a jail expansion. The plan is the result of a justice center committee assembled by county commissioner Kevin Walls. The committee includes county leaders, a judge and law enforcement who have researched options to address the jail overcrowding.  The feasibility study is the result of nearly weekly meetings of the committee for nearly two years.</p><p>&quot;It is what we have done and our study and all the avenues and paths we have explored,&quot; Walls said.</p><p><span>Chronic overcrowding</span></p><p>For years, the Johnson County jail has been overcrowded and the issue has plagued what is now the third sheriff to grapple with the issue.</p><p>&quot;This problem is not going away, it is not going away, we have to do something on our end,&quot; Sheriff Duane Burgess said.</p><p>The current facility on Hospital Road in Franklin was built in 1977 and has 322 beds for inmates.</p><p>More than 322 inmates have been housed at the jail for months and the jail routinely houses more than 400 inmates and has averaged between 370 and 405 in the last few months, Burgess said.</p><p>This situation is not safe for inmates or employees and if the jail reaches about 450 inmates, staffing at the jail must go up, which costs the county more money on overtime wages, he said.</p><p>Sheriffs have faced the overcrowding for at least a decade and in 2002, the county had to revamp the jail in response to a federal overcrowding lawsuit. The jail was remodeled and a new wing was added that raised the capacity to the jail from 104 to 299.</p><p>Overcrowding became an issue again and a referendum on a $23 million jail expansion project that would have added 400 beds was rejected by voters in 2010.</p><p>More beds were added at the jail around 2012 after an inspector with the state community corrections department found room for 23 more bunks at the request of Burgess and then-sheriff Doug Cox.</p><p>Johnson County’s population is growing, which is part of the reason for the overcrowding issue, Burgess said. The number of inmates has also gone up because state lawmakers decided that the lowest level felons should serve their sentences at county jails, rather than state prisons. </p><p><span>Possible solutions</span></p><p>The committee explored converting the Juvenile Detention Center to an adult jail. However, the building needed upgrades and would need dozens more staff to run, which would balloon operating costs to an extra $1.6 million a year.  They also explored converting the community corrections building.</p><p>Other options such as housing inmates out of the county would have increased costs and the logistics, such as having to transport inmates, made the option not viable, Burgess said.</p><p>County leaders also spoke with other counties about the possibility of a regional jail. However, none of the other counties were interested, Burgess said.</p><p>Now the county is moving forward with expanding the jail, Burgess said.</p><p>&quot;It is really the only choice we have right now,&quot; he said.</p><p><span>Jail expansion and how to pay</span></p><p>A 250-bed expansion for the jail is currently being designed as a separate facility east of the jail and connect via a sky-bridge.</p><p>County officials hope it will include a classroom for inmates and a courtroom for hearings.</p><p>In March, the county commissioners approved hiring RQAW Corp., a Fishers-based architect and engineering firm, to design the jail expansion.</p><p>To pay for the expansion, a .20 percent income tax increase for Johnson County residents to cover the cost of the jail and the increased operational costs is being considered. The expansion is expected to cost about $20 million, although county officials will not be sure until more specific plans are finished. No tax increase has been approved. </p><p>The expansion is by far the best option for the county, Walls said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>What: Commissioners special meeting</p><p>When: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday</p><p>Where: Courthouse annex, 86 W. Court St., Franklin.</p><p>On the agenda: Discussion of the jail feasibility study and to hear feedback from the public.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]