Members of Monroe County Council.
(Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
The Monroe County Council is moving forward with plans to establish a financial advisory committee to identify budget priorities for the community’s criminal justice needs.
Council members unanimously approved a resolution to establish a Justice Fiscal Advisory Committee Tuesday, just under three weeks after county commissioners suspended future meetings of the Community Justice Response Committee, the group discussing plans for a new jail.
The advisory committee will include three county council members. It is tasked with gathering information from local stakeholders and making budgetary recommendations regarding criminal justice to the county council.
Committee members will host bi-weekly listening sessions to give local stakeholders the chance to provide input on the criminal justice system and its reform, according to the resolution.
The council first discussed plans for the new committee at an April 25 work session, less than a week after the commissioners suspended jail committee meetings. A formal vote was pushed to the council’s Tuesday regular session to allow time to draft the resolution.
Several changes made before final vote
Before all seven council members voted on the resolution, they disagreed on certain points and considered a handful of amendments to the original document.
The version accepted by the council included two amendments: one to tack on additional committee objectives and another to add several ex-officio members, or members who may contribute to the committee's discussions but will not be required for it to function.
Council President Pro Tempore Trent Deckard said the ex-officio members will “add significance to the conversation” but won’t be required to attend committee meetings.
“That would note the position (and) the experience,” Deckard said. “They could contribute to that conversation; but again, the mechanics might be preserved.”
Trent Deckard (Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
Ex-officio committee members will include the following:
An individual with lived experience incarcerated at the Monroe County Jail
A criminal judge
A civil judge
A prosecutor’s office representative
A public defender’s office representative
A sheriff’s office representative
A community behavioral health center representative
A Bloomington Police Department representative
A Monroe County Health Department harm reduction specialist
One of three county commissioners
A City of Bloomington Family Resource Department representative
The council also mulled over the addition of a project manager, as suggested by Monroe County Auditor Catherine Smith. She said a project manager would interpret data and financial implications and serve as the group’s eyes and ears in the community.
Council President Kate Wiltz agreed with Smith’s recommendation. She said a project manager could advise the committee on Indiana’s Open Door Law, which requires the official action of public agencies be conducted publicly.
Mixed input from community
Members of the public were largely supportive of forming the committee but some expressed concerns.
Charlotte Zietlow, who once served as a county commissioner and president of Bloomington City Council, said the three county commissioners should have been present for Tuesday’s discussion but nevertheless supported the idea.
“The county commissioners are going to ultimately be the ones who make the final decision on this issue,” she said. “It’s a very complicated issue. Believe me, I fully understand how tremendously complicated this thing is, and really is going to require interaction of everybody with everybody.”
Charlotte Zietlow (Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
Zietlow also called the idea for the committee both radical and brilliant.
“I think this is the most positive thing that we can do right now,” she said.
Gloria Howell, secretary of the Monroe County NAACP branch, urged council members to support the resolution.
“When we learned that the county commissioners had suspended the community justice reform meetings, we were concerned, disappointed and wondering about the implications of this action on the broader mission of community justice work,” she said. “We encourage the county council as the fiscal body of county government to take lead in continuing this important work in the public eye."
Gloria Howell (Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
Howell said the Monroe County NAACP branch is facilitating the development of a community organization coalition to focus holistically on community justice and will offer its support to the county council moving forward.
City council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith also expressed support for the resolution and said the makeup of the committee is less important than its commitment to hearing public commentary.
“It’s a matter of values and principles of our community,” she said. “I urge you to move forward with this committee and allow the public to attend and to give input and so that you can reach a conclusion as to what you as the fiduciary body feel is the best way to spend public money.”
Isabel Piedmont-Smith (Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
Addition of ex-officio members a ‘healthy compromise’
The resolution in its original form was never voted on. The version that first went up for a vote included an amendment to add non-council representatives as permanent committee members, not ex-officio members as was later suggested. It failed by a vote of 4-2-1. Council member Marti Hawk abstained.
Afterward, Deckard suggested designating the non-council representatives as ex-officio members, much to the support of his colleagues.
Council member Jennifer Crossley called the amendment a healthy compromise.
“If things happen as we are going through this, then I do think that we can always come back to the drawing board,” she said. “We are trying to make sure that we are all doing this collaboratively and doing this together.
Jennifer Crossley (Courtesy of Monroe County Government)
A second amendment, introduced by council member Cheryl Munson, adds to the resolution the following objectives the committee will provide guidance on:
What revenue sources, for example special purpose taxes, bonds, etc., and/or what funding levels to construct a new jail including land purchase(s)?
What revenue sources and/or funding levels are available on an annual basis to support the operations of the new jail?
Munson also suggested postponing a vote on the amended resolution until the council’s May 23 work session to allow time for further revisions, but other council members did not support such a delay.
Per the resolution, the committee will make recommendations to the council on those objectives and several others tentatively on or before September and must complete its duties no later than December. The county council will have to approve any extension of time for the committee to complete its duties.
The council also has the authority to stop the committee’s work if it deems it unproductive. If the committee completes its duties before its deadline, it will disband automatically.
