The Monroe County Justice Building will reopen Friday, County Commissioners Administrator Angie Purdie said in an email.

The original estimate for the Justice Building to be reopened was Thursday, but Purdie wrote that the extension is due to carpet installation and the return of furniture to their offices.

The Justice Building has been closed since Monday after a sewer line blocked by inmates — on purpose Purdie said — caused the toilet on the second floor to overflow last Friday. Damaged carpet and drywall have been removed, and affected areas have been sanitized.

The jail was briefly affected Friday when water service was shut off.

The issue was discussed during a county council meeting Tuesday evening.

In the meeting, Purdie said it was a bread sack or commissary bag full of e-cigarettes that caused a sewer line to be blocked.

County councilmember Marty Hawk said incidents like this will continue to occur if the jail is located above the courtrooms and offices. It’s not fair to the public nor to the people who live there, she said.

“When we get through with doing another jail, which we are going to do, do not put the courts or any offices below the jail,” Hawk said. “I mean, that's to anybody who understands water goes downhill.”

Read more: New lawsuit filed over conditions at Monroe County jail

During the meeting, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff spoke on her experience being at the Justice Building on last Friday when the overflow occurred.

“I have been around a long time. I have seen along a lot of things. This was awful,” she said. “There was water just by the gallon full, just spreading everywhere, and it was toilet water.”

Diekhoff said she was told if the water service was not temporarily shut off last Friday, the water would have continued to spread.

Diekhoff also noted that courts were not fully closed, but they were not fully operational. She said to fully shut down the courts requires a petition with the Indiana Supreme Court, which would then grant permission.

“When somebody is purposely breaking a system, it doesn't matter what kind of maintenance you have,” Purdie said. “This is just the result of bad actions and a bad design.”

Purdie said that newer jail facilities have new systems where items can be stopped from going into sewer lines.

“There's a hook that staff can use to pull out the debris, so it never becomes a problem anywhere else,” she said. “What, by my understanding, does happen is, if that kind of action is taken by the inmates, any kind of reverse flow is actually going to be into the cell, as opposed to out into our other areas.”

Purdie said the design of this facility, with pipes between the ceilings and floors, as opposed to outside of the jail cell, it’s not possible to get the grinders and treble hook in.

During deliberations on a general $5.6-million obligation bond projects draft list, the conditions of the jail continued to be discussed. The list includes sheriffs’ equipment, park projects, siren replacement for Emergency Management, fleet vehicles and multiple justice building items.

When County Council President Jennifer Crossley asked if there was a plan for a new HVAC system, noting the building’s mold issue last year, Purdie said no. Purdie said modifications for the current HVAC system have been made and there has been significant improvement in air quality in the building.

“The overall assessment of the building is it's 95 to 99 percent better than it is outside,” Purdie said.

She questioned whether a new system would be worth it if there is going to be a new building and how a new system could be installed with the building occupied.

Purdie said people have lost hope and there is a perception that they are just stuck in the current building.

“Before, they were willing to hang in there, I think, and now there is just this perception of we're stuck here, and it's not a pleasant place,” she said.

Other improvements needed are a new elevator, cameras and upgrades to the jail showers and plumbing fixtures.

Purdie said there are sealant and mold issues with the showers, and the cameras are to help monitor inmates.

“It is horrible to be asking, I think, to put funds into a building that's dying,” Purdie said. “However, as you said, there's people who are still in there. They're still trying to work.”

Thinking of the justice building as an asset, County councilmember David Henry said not maintaining the building’s basic needs may make it more difficult to sell or repurpose someday.

Crossley said due to the robust conversation on several items on the draft list, the list has been put on hold to discuss with staff in August. That way, she said, councilmembers can change their rankings of items on the list.