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County council weighs de-appropriation amid clash with commissioners over jail

By Lucas González

Posted June 13, 2024

(From left) Monroe County Council members Cheryl Munson, Jennifer Crossley, Trent Deckard and Kate Wiltz (Courtesy, Community Access Television Services)

The Monroe County Council may consider reclaiming funds that have gone toward consultants the county commissioners hired to help establish a new jail.

This comes amid a recent disagreement between the council and commissioners over decisions on the project.

Councilors hope a possible de-appropriation would send a message of discontent to the commissioners, who now say the council and Sheriff must decide the jail’s bed count.

Council member Kate Wiltz said this goes against her previous understanding the commissioners would decide this.

“These are the types of things that frustrate me and serve as huge stumbling blocks to the collaborative approach that is so very necessary,” Wiltz said at a Tuesday council meeting. “I don't think anyone was under the impression that we were choosing the number of beds.”

Wiltz and other council members said they didn’t know they’d be expected to choose the number of beds until the commissioners said so at a meeting last week to collect public feedback on a possible jail site.

Wiltz added the council has not been able to get updates on the project from county departments and project consultants the commissioners have hired. She said the council should be able to do so, especially if it is responsible for deciding the bed count.

Wiltz said Scott Carnegie, a representative with DLZ — the firm the commissioners chose to design the jail — recently declined the council’s request for a project update because the commissioners told him not to do so.

“It almost feels as though there's an intentional block there, and I'm not sure I understand it,” she said. “The people collecting that information (and) the contracts paying for that are coming from money that we appropriated.”

The money would come from nearly $10.5 million in local income tax bonds the council appropriated in 2022. Wiltz said the funds have gone toward environmental and geotechnical testing at all the sites considered for a new jail.

It was also intended to be used to acquire a site between Interstate 69 and Fullerton Pike, once planned to be used for the jail. However, the Bloomington City Council rejected the commissioners’ request to rezone the property. As a result, the county’s contract with the seller was nullified, and the funds designated for the purchase were not used.

“This is money collected from our residents, from our taxpayers,” Wiltz said. “It is our responsibility to be very careful with that money, and to ensure that it is being spent wisely and in the best interest of all members of our community.”

Wiltz told WFIU/WTIU News the council is still deciding how much money it may de-appropriate. The council would have to vote on the de-appropriation at a future meeting and must first publicly notice the item three weeks in advance.

She added the council is working with county staff to ensure any amount that may be de-appropriated would not jeopardize any current contracts. She said she is not sure how much is left uncommitted in the fund.

“Staff are researching this as well as the implications of de-appropriating so that Council can have an informed discussion,” she said.

A county legal representative recently told WFIU/WTIU News the commissioners are statutorily obligated to establish a jail because of a 2009 settlement agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union but are not required to determine its size or bed count. 

A Sheriff’s office representative has insisted the commissioners’ obligation to establish a new jail, including final approval, is subject to funding, size, location and design.

RQAW Corporation, an engineering consultant on the project, recently released a feasibility study saying a new jail should have 450 to 500 beds. 

The council wants the jail to have no more than 400 beds, based on a list of recommendations it approved last March. 