New jail contentious topic

VERNON — The only thing most people crammed into the Jennings County Government Center seemed to agree on was that they didn’t want to build a new Jennings County Jail.

At the end of the two-hour-long meeting Tuesday the question remained: Would a new jail be built and at what cost?

Jennings County Council President Mike Kelley (R-District 1) said the meeting was called as a hearing to discuss tax rates, not plans for a new jail.

The financial adviser hired by the council, Jeff Peters, presented information about costs and presented four options for a new jail.

He began with a lengthy and mathematically complex explanation of costs, taxes, interest percentages and funding possibilities. Members of the council were given a three-page printout so they could follow Peters’ statements.

None of the 93 spectators in the room or the more than 40 people listening in the hallway outside were provided the written information to follow along.

Peters described four possible options in funding the building of a new jail:

His recommended option, titled Option 1, would fund the estimated $28 million cost of a new jail with and average increase in income taxes for a middle income family at $327.76 per year for 20 years.

Option 2 would increase the annual taxes by $216.83 per year, but would seriously affect the ability of North Vernon and other Jennings County towns to provide health and safety services to their residents.

Options 3 and 4 were contingent on various types of funding and amounts of varying interest rates, and were the least recommended by Peters and not cited in discussion.

North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs members of the North Vernon City Council seated in the spectator section listened quietly to Peters’ presentation, but after the presentation councilman Brian Hatfield rose and addressed several issues to the county council.

Citing such issues as an increase in income taxes, Hatfield said the options reducing health and safety funding would threaten programs, including a new city pool and Tripton Park.

“We may call it the city pool but the whole county uses that, and it is the only public pool in the county,” Hatfield said, listing other communitywide amenities.

“We offer our support to the county but we do not want a reduction of health and safety services,” Hatfield added.

Max Riley, who was on the original committee to build the current jail, located at 925 S. State St., rose and detailed some of the process of building the jail 15 years ago.

“The first architect we had said we couldn’t build the jail for less than $10 million, so we found another architect to build it for $5 million,” Riley said.

He added that said the current jail was designed in a way that an addition could be added to the building, and recommended an addition to the current jail should be considered.

“We can’t find any other property better suited than where the jail is now,” Riley said, his comment drawing loud and long applause from the crowd in the room.

Many of the more than 20 citizens who spoke during the hearing rose to say building a new jail would not solve the root problems causing the jail to be overcrowded.

The Republican candidate for Jennings County Sheriff, William Kenny Freeman, stated his concern that a new jail would not solve the current social problems causing overcrowding in jails.

“Will we have to build a new jail in another 15 years,” said Freeman, who recommended further study of the issues.

After hearing a spectator’s request for his opinion, current Sheriff Gary Driver, a Democrat, took the podium and addressed several issues with the current jail building, including mold in the walls, heating and air conditioning problems and other issues.

“There are health and safety standards that must be met. It is my responsibility to make sure the jail’s guests are kept healthy and safe while they are in jail, and the condition of the building is making that very difficult. It’s like buying a car that is a lemon; when do you stop throwing your money in to it? When I see the money we have thrown away in this building, I am tired of putting money in a pit,” Driver said.

Jennings County Council member Matt Sporleder, a Republican, said “no one wants to have to build a new jail,” but he detailed several reasons why he thought it was a good idea to build a new jail when comparing the cost to adding onto and repairing the current jail.

The cost of building a new jail would be only $2 million more than repairing and building an addition to the current jail, Sporleder said.

North Vernon resident Brad Bender, an engineer, stated that the U.S. represents 4.4 percent of the world’s population, but more than 22 percent of the entire world’s prison population.

“We are locking up health problems and the poor,” Bender said.

He added that if the U.S. continues on the present course, “We will even need another bigger jail in a short time.

An additional hearing is planned for Oct. 2 to decide if the county council will adopt new taxes to build a new jail. Because of high citizen interest, council members will seek a larger site for the hearing than the Government Center, and will announce that site at a later date.

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"We can’t find any other property better suited than where the jail is now."

— Max Riley, member of original committee to build the current jail

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When I see the money we have thrown away in this building, I am tired of putting money in a pit."

— Jennings County Sheriff Gary Driver

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