To the editor:
With the defeat of the ballot initiative to fund a new jail, perhaps it is time for Hancock County to think outside the box. No one can deny the need for expanding and modernizing the jail, but if we look at the causality it is clear that it is not entirely a local problem.
Performing a sample of the current jail population almost 36 percent of the inmates have addresses in Marion County. The rest of the population is made up of: other counties 18 percent, Hancock County 43 percent and out of state 4 percent. With over a third of the inmates originating from Marion County, perhaps it is time for the county leadership to petition the Indiana General Assembly to provide help in funding of adequate facilities or give the county the opportunity to send the offenders back to their county of origin. It seems unfair that as taxpayers we must pay for the problems from other counties.
Richard Emmelman
Greenfield
