(From left) Monroe County Council members Jennifer Crossley, Kate Wiltz and Peter Iversen at a Monday meeting.
(Courtesy of Community Access Television Services (CATS))
The group drafting financial recommendations for a new jail in Monroe County says the facility likely won’t be built or occupied until 2027 at the earliest.
That prediction was included in a tentative timeline presented Monday at a Justice Fiscal Advisory Committee meeting. It was the first time the county presented an estimate publicly.
The timeline was based on an analysis by the National Institute of Corrections, which trained Monroe County officials on jail planning, according to Monroe County Council member Peter Iversen.
“We do not anticipate — even with everything going well and to plan — that occupancy of any new building would happen before or around the spring of 2027,” Iversen said.
Monroe County Council member Peter Iversen. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Officials are currently deciding where to build the facility. They want to further research the former Thomson property, or county-owned land on Bloomington’s southwest side. Many officials agree that the site is best suited for a new jail.
They have not formally selected it as the future jail site, however. The county has asked for environmental and geological studies, which is an important but not final step toward selecting a site.
“The county commissioners have approved that those bids go out, and work on that has either begun or is about to begin,” Iversen said. “We have not heard yet any completed results on that process.”
The county aims to select a site in the coming months. It also hopes to complete the design process by September 2024 and gather construction bids by January 2025.
The timeline provided Monday. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Committee members have been meeting since June. This latest meeting came exactly one week before their last one, at which they are scheduled to deliver a list of draft recommendations.
Members will later present that list to the entire county council, which will then decide whether to adopt the recommendations.
The committee consists of three voting members: Iversen and fellow council representatives Jennifer Crossley and Kate Wiltz. The remaining members cannot vote but can provide input at committee meetings.
Some of the non-voting members present Monday — particularly Bloomington city officials — questioned what role they should play moving forward.
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton embodied that uncertainty most strongly.
“I don’t know how to react to this,” Hamilton said. “We only have one week; one meeting left. Are we going to be discussing what we want to say to the group — you all? Because I don’t feel like we’ve had a chance to do that in a very open way.”
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Hamilton said he wants the committee to determine how much a new jail will cost, what is and is not getting moved, and what officials should invest money in besides the criminal justice system.
“I don’t have any idea how you pick a site or plan until those kinds of discussions are done,” Hamilton said. “We could make some comments about some of that, but I don’t know how to react to facility program development (and) site selection. We haven’t been involved in that in any way, I don’t think."
He also asked whether the committee’s non-voting members will be asked to endorse the recommendations slated to be presented next week. Iversen said he and his council colleagues will seek their feedback on the recommendations.
Crossley assured Hamilton that the county does not plan to move forward with any plans without first collecting feedback from the city, members of the public and others.
“I am not of this mindset and having a Napoleon Complex of thinking that it is just one particular way,” Crossley said. “Any financial suggestions — anything that we have that will come about — I’m definitely for hearing that.”
Monroe County Council member Jennifer Crossley. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Several members of the public spoke at the meeting, including many who said they live near the former Thomson site and do not want a jail built there. A representative of Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County also spoke against building at the Thomson site at a previous meeting.
Some suggested building the facility at the former location of the Indiana Health Bloomington Hospital now known as the Hopewell neighborhood. That site is owned by the City of Bloomington, which plans to redevelop it into mixed-income housing.
Based on previous meetings, some city officials strongly object to building a jail there. County officials had considered that location but said it was not a viable option for several reasons.
Other officials said they want to collect feedback from residents near the Thomson site. They have not said exactly when or how they will do so.
