Monroe County is moving forward with a required feasibility study for a new jail.
The county commissioners approved the $40,000 study Wednesday.
It will be conducted by the Fishers-based architecture and engineering firm RQAW Corporation.
Read more: Monroe County eyes early 2027 for new jail construction
The study will consider possible alternatives to the construction, or reconstruction, of a new jail.
State law requires such a study be done before a new jail can be built, according to the county’s Legal Department.
It also necessitates a public hearing on the study’s results. The date will be determined later.
The study is expected to take about eight weeks.
Read more: Racial disparity in Monroe County Jail ‘worse than ever', NAACP tells committee for new facility
A 2021 consultant’s report determined the current does not provide constitutional care for inmates.
County officials have spent the last year discussing plans for a new jail.
Most recently, the county council adopted several recommendations from the Justice Fiscal Advisory Committee, tasked with drafting financial recommendations.
The county is currently eyeing the Thomson property on Bloomington’s southwest side as a potential jail site. Several residents have said they don’t want a jail to be built there, however.
