Letters to the Editor

County Jail Expansion

Dear Editor,

Just a month ago, a front-page story of The Pilot News read “Jail Population 178.” Within the last two weeks, Sheriff Hassel reported there were only 149 people housed in the County Jail. This is astounding progress from the all-time high of 308 last summer. The dramatic reduction in the jail population is reason to celebrate and a unique opportunity to expand fiscally responsible recovery programs that can drive down the approximately 70% recidivism rate. So why do some County Council Members continue to push a $40 million debt-funded jail expansion on taxpayers?

In a piece published in the Pilot on May 22, the three Council Members running for reelection, Penny Lukenbill, Jim Masterson, and John Vanvactor doubled down on the expansion, adding that “the current reduced [jail] population due to the Covid-19 Pandemic is more than likely a temporary situation.”

The dramatic improvement in reducing the jail population is in part thanks to smart policing by law enforcement and responsible bond decisions by judges taking community needs into account. Do the Council Members think those policies should be scrapped after the pandemic passes – if it does? Are there no positive lessons to be learned? Do Council Members believe wouldbe lawbreakers are just waiting for Governor Holcomb to move the state to Stage 4 or 5 recovery before they unleash some apocalyptic post-pandemic crime wave?

Council President Judy Stone said in last Thursday’s Culver Citizen “if you’re a felon I don’t want you on the streets…i’m willing to pay a dollar per thousand to keep you there.” Unfortunately for county residents, the $40 million debt-funded jail expansion wouldn’t cost just an extra dollar – but an extra $851 for each and every one of the 47,000 women, men, and children who live in Marshall County. And Council President Stone plays a little fast and loose with the term “felon” just as she does with basic taxpayer math.

According to Sheriff Hassel, 75% of the jail population are not convicted felons, but are simply people charged with an offense and awaiting trial and bail. Additionally, back in March, the County asked the Indiana Supreme Court’s Office of Court Services for an independent report on the jail expansion. This branch of the Supreme Court has helped counties across the state with the issue of jail overcrowding. The company that has designed the proposed jail expansion and the bond company that would oversee issuing of bonds stand to make hundreds of thousands to over a million dollars if the jail expansion goes through. Why does our County Council seem ready to act on those recommendations, which are text book examples of conflict of interest, and not wait for the Supreme Court’s Office of Court Services to issue its independent report?

In last Thursday’s Culver Citizen, Council Member Masterson said that the Council Members “are going to look for whatever guidance you [the voters] give us” on their $40 million debt-funded jail expansion, but then Council Member Jack Roose said jail expansion was “too big of a problem to ignore for political reasons.” Since when is it OK for our elected officials to dismiss legitimate taxpayer concerns about taking on $40 million in debt as “political?” In a public meeting earlier this year, counsel for the bond company that would issue the debt and make a lot of money from doing so acknowledged that if the question to expand the jail were put to the voters in a referendum, it would be voted down. He’s right.

Whatever the reason, at least some Council members seem more eager to saddle taxpayers with a $40 million debt-funded jail expansion than to focus on far less expensive ways to reduce the jail population and provide help to our fellow citizens to get back on the right track. It seems clear that the only guidance the Council will follow at this point will come from the ballot box. Council Members who support the jail expansion should not be returned to office.

Don Fox

Culver