The Bloomington City Council passed a resolution to formally oppose Monroe County’s plan to build a new jail at North Park, a property on the northwest side of town.
Council members unanimously passed the resolution, even though a deadline set by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana creeps closer. For almost two decades, the Monroe County officials have sought extensions to build a new jail and address deteriorating conditions for inmates as cited in a lawsuit.
The Bloomington Common Council’s opposition to the North Park jail followed similar moves by Monroe County Council. The two councils worried about the jail’s budget, as well as its distance from Bloomington and social services.
“We hear a lot about how the current setting of the jailhouse is inhumane, and absolutely we need to fix that,” said Bloomington Common Council member Courtney Daily. “An incarcerated person does not deserve to be treated inhumanely. Part of the effects of North Park would be potentially inhumane if their family can't get out to visit them, if they can't receive the services that they deserve.”
Daily said the high cost for taxpayers was another reason why the Bloomington council opposed the North Park jail site.
The Monroe County Council refused to pay for the North Park project last fall, when the price tag was about $8 million.
“I could tell you one thing, if we continue to go to North Park, everybody in here can be looking into more taxing,” Monroe County Council President Jennifer Crossley said Wednesday. “Because that's how we're going to have to pay for that.”
The resolution states the Bloomington and Monroe County councils will work with County Commissioners for an “expedited zoning and permitting process” for a new jail within city limits.
Meanwhile, Monroe County Commissioners and the Sheriff’s Office are trying to move the North Park jail project forward and meet a May 29 deadline set by the ACLU.
If the county does not make progress and meet set deadlines, the ACLU could sue the county again. That lawsuit could also cost taxpayers, County Commissioner Julie Thomas said Wednesday.
“If the private settlement agreement lapses at the end of May without meeting our obligations — the site, selected funding identified — then we can be sued,” Thomas said. “But let's be clear, this is a burden borne by all Monroe County taxpayers, whether they live in the city or not. It is not a risk or a cost that the commissioners are willing to accept when a good solution exists.”
The ACLU sued over poor conditions in the county jail in 2009, claiming the Monroe County officials violated the constitutional rights of inmates.
After a mold outbreak last year that closed the county’s justice center and forced the sheriff’s office to move prisoners into courtrooms, county officials have stressed the importance of building a new jail and justice facility.
“Right now, there are serious human rights violations that outweigh premature concerns about implementation in infrastructure,” said County Commissioner Jody Madeira. “Although it's framed as support for keeping the jail within city limits, this resolution's practical effect is to urge the county to reject the one site ready to move forward.”
In 2022, the county initiated building a new jail within city limits on Fullerton Pike. Then-county commissioners agreed to pay about $10 million for the property, but the city council and the City Planning Commission rejected it, Thomas said.
“We stated at that time that if Fullerton Pike was rejected by the city, the county would look outside city limits for this facility,” Thomas said.
