The Bartholomew County Commissioners approved a notice for bids Monday to purchase a body scanner for the county jail.
The notice includes several specifications, including size requirements and a five-year parts and labor warranty.
The scanner would be used to screen for drugs, weapons and other contraband smuggled into the jail hidden in a body cavity, jail officials said. During the last three years, the jail has seen six cases of overdoses — including two fatalities — due to drugs smuggled into the jail inside body cavities.
The scanner is projected to cost around $180,000, jail officials said. On April 9, the county council unanimously approved appropriating $130,000 in funding from the local income tax revenue already set aside for use in a correctional facility to acquire the scanner. The remaining $50,000 will come from commissary funds. Revenue generated by inmates using phone services at the jail will eventually replace the tax money. Currently, the funds generate just over $136,000 per year, or approximately two-thirds of the money needed for the scanner.
The scanner could be installed in the jail by mid-summer, jail officials said.
