The Monroe County Board of Commissioners and American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana reached an agreement Monday, briefly extending a soon-to-expire deadline for progress on a new jail. 

Since the ACLU filed suit over poor conditions at the Monroe County Jail in 2009, elected officials have repeatedly sought extensions as the commissioners and County Council debated the scope, site and cost of its replacement. The last agreement gave them until Wednesday.

This week's motion extends that deadline to May 29. If the council doesn't approve the commission's plan by then, Monroe County could face a new lawsuit.

Legal director for the ACLU of Indiana Ken Falk didn’t say whether the organization will take immediate legal action if the agreement fails. 

“I have not drafted a new complaint yet, if that’s the question,” he said. “If the private settlement agreement disappears, then the question will be if there’s going to be new litigation and what form that will take. But we haven’t gotten there yet, because I’m a shameful optimist.” 

Under the agreement, commissioners will approve a purchase agreement for a site northwest of Bloomington and agree at this point only to a new jail structure, not an entire criminal justice complex.  

County Council has disapproved of the commissioners’ plans for the property, known as North Park, because of its distance from downtown Bloomington social services and the price tag associated with a large justice complex including county offices. The new agreement shows concessions on that latter point. 

Falk said the ACLU isn’t concerned with what solution the county picks, only that conditions improve soon. 

“I’m not an architect, I’m not anything. I’m just trying to preserve constitutional rights,” he said. “If there’s a better way of doing it, that’s fine. 

Once a purchase agreement is drawn up, it will be presented to County Council for a vote next month. If approved, the ACLU will extend its deadline again until after the jail is completed. 

The county will also need approval from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail. Public Information Officer Jeff Brown declined an interview but said Sheriff Ruben Marté “just plans on following along with the county officials in whatever plan they develop.”  

“The sheriff has been incredibly honest about the problems and has done an incredible job in trying to keep the lid on,” Falk said. “But it's a structure that years ago, the county was informed had outlived its usefulness and hasn't gotten better.”