GREENFIELD — Three years after an overhaul to Indiana’s criminal code, sheriffs from across the state are asking legislators to increase the amount of funding given to county jails to hold low-level felons.
The state reimburses county jails $35 a day for each sentenced inmate housed locally, but that number hasn’t risen for more than 30 years. Most of the payments are for Level 6 felons ever since the state changed the law in 2015.
Members of the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association recently gave a presentation to lawmakers saying the payment should increase to $55 a day, based off rates of other states and the federal government, according to the The Associated Press. Sheriffs said $35 doesn’t cover costs needed to house inmates like it did three decades ago. The association estimated the state would initially have to pay an extra $45,000 a year.
Maj. Brad Burkhart, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department’s chief deputy, said when county jails had to start housing Level 6 felons in 2015, it didn’t just result in overcrowded jails, but made facilities understaffed and have less resources.
On Friday, the 157-bed Hancock County Jail had 231 inmates — nearly 150 percent over capacity. The county has 59 Level 6 felons who are either in the county jail or community corrections, said Burkhart, who’s running unopposed in the November general election for sheriff.
An additional 41 Hancock County Level 6 felons are housed in LaGrange and Davies counties, Burkhart said. That means the $35 reimbursement the county receives from the state for those 41 inmates — a total of $1,435 each day — has to transfer to the other two counties.
“It really created a burden on the counties without a lot of funding,” Burkhart said.
The Indiana Sheriffs’ Association reports county jails are at 96 percent capacity overall, with almost half of inmates sentenced with at least a Level 6 felony. Burkhart said in conversations he’s had with sheriffs across Indiana, he’s heard 40 to 45 counties are hoping to renovate, add on or build new jails.
“In order to help compensate for (the influx of Level 6 felons), so people can hire staff or renovate to make more space, they’re going to have to see additional funding, and whether it’s through the per diem cost to do that, there’s got to be a way to help the counties continue on with it,” Burkhart said.
Since only about a quarter of Hancock County inmates have been sentenced with a Level 6 felony, the rest of those being housed in the local jail have either been sentenced to a misdemeanor or are awaiting trial. Burkhart said some inmates decide to not bond out of jail to build up credit for plea deals, as advised by their attorneys. Others decide to stay because the jail is safer than being out and closer to their vices.
“Some of these people, with their addiction issues, they won’t return; they won’t see the day when they’ll come back to jail because they’ll overdose and die before that happens,” Burkhart said. “People sometimes don’t understand that. … Letting them go isn’t always the right answer.”
Hancock County officials have been wanting to build a new jail for several years now; but those talks have often turned into disagreements, especially after a $55 million downtown jail referendum failed in May. The fate of a permanent jail is currently up in the air, as officials have moved onto a temporary idea.
The county is possibly looking to purchase modified semitrailers to house at least 126 inmates next to the current downtown jail. The Hancock County Board of Commissioners voted to begin negotiations with the contractor, Seymour, Missouri-based All Detainment Solutions, to bring a $5.2 million facility to Greenfield despite the Hancock County Council wanting to build a larger trailer facility outside of city limits.
Before figuring out how much a new jail would cost and where it should go, Burkhart said the county first needs to decide on a temporary solution. He fears as county officials keep disagreeing on both temporary and permanent jail solutions, the greater the chance jail officers and inmates will get seriously hurt.
“If you want to continue to talk about it, then at least we have some breathing room to talk about it,” Burkhart said about building a new permanent jail. “But right now I have no breathing room. And I can’t wait for them to continue to talk about it. I can’t wait two to three to four years to have a building constructed. That’s not going to help me. We’ll still be overcrowded.”
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The Hancock County Jail has been overcrowded for years, especially after the state overhauled the criminal code in 2015.
Friday’s jail population — 231 inmates
Level 6 inmates in the county jail and at community corrections — 59
Level 6 inmates housed in LaGrange County — 37
Level 6 inmates house in Davies County — 4
Source: Hancock County Sheriff’s Department
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