Letter: Now is not the time to spend money on a new jail
The leadership of the County Commissioners and Council are dedicated to building a $30 million jail paid with the income tax increase passed by the Council in 2019. Here are some facts regarding this project we should all know before allowing this jail project to proceed.
A few years ago, the Dubois County jail was over-crowded, and the County Commissioners had a needs assessment done, which concluded a new facility was needed to increase the capacity from 84 to over 300 beds to ease or prevent being overcapacity. The Indiana Department of Corrections
suggests the Dubois County jail should be no more than 80% full, or no more than 68 inmates housed at any one time. To address this issue, an architecture firm was hired by the Commissioners to create design plans for the jail at a cost of over $500,000.
Since that study was done, plans were made and hundreds of thousands spent, the jail population has been reduced and has remained steady at well below the 80% threshold and has remained that way for nearly a year. The reduction in population can be attributed to a law that went into effect on January 1, 2020, that results in fewer defendants being held in the jail before their trial, and in fact the jail population has remained at a steady count of 68 inmates month after month.
The Dubois County jail is no longer over-crowded.
We are dealing with a Pandemic and the economic uncertainty that comes with it. This is not the time to commit to spending $30 million and possibly more for a new jail facility when there is clearly no need at this time. A delay of a year or more would be the best choice for everyone in Dubois County to monitor the need and the cost to assure that we are making the best use of our County tax dollars.
Please attend the County Council meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Courthouse Annex building. Wear your mask and let the Council know how you feel about spending $30 million that does not include funds for a staff increase or rehabilitation, on a jail that we don’t need right now, and during
a time when we don’t know if we can afford to spend $30 million.
Mikayla Granados
Vice-Chair Person, Dubois County Democrat Party
Jasper
I agree with Ms. Granados.
We don’t need this new jail. We current facility will adequately serve the residents of Dubois County without expending much needed funds during these unprecedented times that the pandemic has brought to our nation, state, and county. I would appear that this maybe to be the politicians trying to leave their mark on the county, on the backs of the tax payers.
You are absolutely correct. Please email or call your County Council person and let the know how you feel about this. The jails is not over crowded because of the law passed to keep people out while waiting for trial, which everyone lauded as progress for common sense solutions for justice.
There is no harm to wait for a better economic climate considering the large amount of money involved.
Aside from all the politics of it, if for whatever reason the current jail is working within what the DOC “suggests” – whether because of the new law and/or otherwise plus assuming we aren’t ignoring crime/criminals to keep the count down – may as well wait and see where we stand after all this mess of 2020 settles, hopefully sooner than later in 2021. By that time if the radical left dem-socialists have their way, we may be in such a societal state of upheaval and change that we won’t need a jail at all anymore.
I am a Democrat but not a radical socialist, and I do believe the same as you; there is no harm in holding off until we see what our economic situation is next year. Please call your County Commissioner or Council person and tell them we don’t need this jail right now. It is important to call them before the County Council meeting Wednesday night at 6.