Moving the Marion County Jail, courts and other criminal justice functions to a consolidated site outside of downtown could gut businesses in the Mile Square and play havoc with legal offices, attorneys say.
Marion County criminal-justice complex project could rival Indianapolis airport terminal in cost, entail public-private financing deal.
The Marion County sheriff can’t control the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, but Mayor Greg Ballard can’t tell the sheriff how to operate jails or secure the City-County Building, and, much to his frustration, he’s been unable to control the sheriff’s spending.
Former sheriffs Frank Anderson and Jack Cottey are each being paid $35,000 per year by the Marion County Sheriff’s Department for advice and work on budgeting, jail operations and other issues.
Officials from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department say they are concerned that a $10 million gap in this year’s budget will hurt their ability to pay critical bills.
In the overcrowded Marion County Jail, early release of dangerous inmates has become an unpleasant fact of life. To slow the tide, Sheriff Frank Anderson is considering a radical new solution: full privatization.
