GREENFIELD — As Hancock County officials are still trying to come up with a plan to build a new county jail, a sheriff’s department official says he could have a temporary unit for inmates in about six months time.
Maj. Brad Burkhart, the chief deputy of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, said he’s been in talks with Seymour, Missouri-based All Detainment Solutions about bringing a structure consisting of multiple semitrailers to the parking lot between community corrections and the current jail in Greenfield.
In 2017, the company installed a similar structure in Greene County, Missouri. If Hancock County decides to build the structure, it would be the first of its kind in Indiana and possibly the second in the nation.
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The modified semitrailers, which are tied to concrete blocks and secured to the pavement, can house about 100 inmates, Burkhart said during the Tuesday joint meeting of the board of commissioners and county council. The stainless steel interiors have beds, seating areas and restroom facilities.
Burkhart, who’s running unopposed for sheriff in the fall general election, said if the county approves funding for the semitrailer jail, it could be in place and operational four to six months later. It could be a year or two until construction of a new jail begins, county officials discussed during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re going to be sitting here in three years still talking about this,” Burkhart said to county commissioners and council members on Tuesday about their new county jail discussions. “We’ve been talking about it for three years already, and I don’t have time to wait for another three years.”
The overcrowded Hancock County Jail is designed to house 157 inmates, but the facility has had to cram in dozens of inmates over that number routinely in the past few years. On Tuesday, the jail had 234 inmates, Burkhart said, and on July 18 had a record-high 259 people. The temporary trailers would allow the jail to move 100 people to the new facility, freeing up much needed space, he added.
A few months ago, Burkhart said All Detainment Solutions quoted the facility to cost more than $800,000 yearly over a 13-year lease, costing a total of $11 million. Burkhart said the company can negotiate any type of lease, so the county could use the structure until a new jail is built and open.
In addition to the annual lease price, Burkhart said it would cost an additional $900,000 a year to employ 12 staff members to keep the facility operating around the clock. Burkhart soon plans to tour the Missouri facility.
