ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — Continuous overcrowding at the current Allen County Jail and looming construction delays for a new facility now have officials looking at a prospect they wanted to avoid:
Releasing inmates.
That’s according to the most recent court filing in a class-action lawsuit in which a federal judge ruled conditions at the current downtown jail violate inmates’ constitutional rights and ordered the Allen County Sheriff and Allen County Commissioners to fix the problem.
Meanwhile, Allen County Commissioners are warning that construction delays tied to separate litigation from citizens looking to block the building of a new jail could cost taxpayers anywhere between $43.2 million and $91.6 million.
WANE 15 reached out to county commissioners and the sheriff for comment Tuesday, but neither entity had responded by early afternoon.
In the latest filing in the class action lawsuit from the ACLU of Indiana – which represents inmates who sued the county commissioners and the sheriff over two years ago – a letter from the county lawyer on behalf of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department is included.
The letter is addressed to Allen County Prosecutor Mike McAlexander, Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull and Allen Circuit Court Judge Ashley Hand.
The letter, dated May 6, 2024, states that the Sheriff’s Department is concerned with the population of the jail and the constraints the department is under due to the ACLU’s lawsuit.
The letter states that the Sheriff’s Department is obligated to notify all judges of the 38th Judicial District, as well as the prosecutor and other stakeholders in Allen County, when the jail exceeds 731 individuals.
At that time, the jail population was 734, the letter states.
“The population trends have been approaching capacity for some time and we have seen little progress in addressing the situation,” the letter reads. “We have grave concerns that our jail population will continue to exceed 731 individuals.”
In the letter, the sheriff’s department requested that the prosecutor and judges review the status of individuals incarcerated and release a “sufficient number of detainees” to reduce the jail’s population.
Previously, the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit ruled that the number of inmates inside the current facility should be targeted at 585, according to court documents. To fix the overcrowding problem, commissioners proposed a new, $300 million jail that would hold roughly 1,000 people be constructed on Meyer Road near New Haven.
The ACLU also requested in its latest filing that the federal judge overseeing the case regarding Allen County’s jail prepare for the creation of a three-judge panel to oversee the possible release of inmates -something that has been bandied about in the past.
“It is something we’ve talked about in our hearings with the court and something I’ve said publicly, ‘We don’t want to go there, but don’t want to get there,'” said Ken Falk, an attorney for the Indiana ACLU handling the case for the inmates. “But I don’t know what to do at this point.”
The ACLU’s request for the panel comes in lieu of litigation from citizens against the jail in the Indiana Tax Court that is holding up financing for a new jail.
In that case, four citizens have challenged the financing plan for the new jail – mainly taking issue that it uses a lease agreement involving the Allen County Courthouse.
These citizens, a group dubbed Allen County Residents Against the Jail, claim in court documents the funding plan is unlawful and that a less costly way to upgrade the overcrowded conditions at the current should be considered.
In other court documents in that case, commissioners warn the litigation will almost certainly cause a delay in construction of a new jail and also cause the costs – due to the inflation of materials – of the new facility to rise, as well.
They peg the possible total to reach as high as $91.6 million and argue that the group suing them in tax court should post a bond that high for the case to move forward since they claim it is at odds with a Public Lawsuit Statute in state code.
Essentially, commissioners say in court documents that statute is designed to prevent litigation from thwarting “necessary public improvements.”
The group suing the commissioners in tax court argue they should not have to post a bond that high and that the commissioners in their argument for such a bond “devote little to no time to the core issue as to whether a bond is required.”
A hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday.
If the state judge overseeing that case rules such a bond is necessary – and there is no telling when the judge might rule on that part of the suit – the litigation will likely stop there, the ACLU wrote in its latest filing in the class action lawsuit.
Either way the judge rules, however, delays for a new jail seem imminent due to the process of the litigation, both the ACLU and commissioners have written in court documents.
The ACLU also requested that the judge schedule a conference with the main players involved in the class-action suit.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no conference had been set.
