Justice center panel to work at fast clip

A board set up to review Mayor Greg Ballard’s criminal justice complex proposal is scheduled to vote April 8, and the five members will be asked to digest loads of information in a two-week span.

The board held its first meeting March 24. A second meeting where the procurement process, public-private agreement and financing will be discussed is scheduled for April 2.

Public comment will be allowed during the third meeting, set for 4:30-6:30 p.m. on April 7 in Room 118 of the City-County Building.

The board was created specifically to review the project, but its recommendation won’t be the only one offered to the City-County Council. The council has the final say on a 35-year agreement that would govern the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the courthouse and jail facilities.

Ballard’s administration intends to present its proposal to both the council Administration and Finance Committee and the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, though neither has a vote on the matter.

The committee vote rests with the council Rules and Public Policy Committee, chaired by council President Maggie Lewis. The rules committee is expected to meet and vote on April 14. If it passes, the deal would go before the full council April 20.

Appointees of the review board are Eva Talley Sanders, representing Sheriff John Layton; former Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis; Hope Tribble, former chief financial officer for the City-County Council; former Capital Improvement Board Chairwoman Ann Lathrop; Molly Deuberry-Craft, executive director of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, and Emily VonOsdol, a non-voting member representing the courts.