Monroe County is forming a small task force to start discussing and reviewing recommendations in the recent Criminal Justice & Incarceration Study.

At the June 30, 2021 meeting of the Monroe County Commissioners, county attorney Margie Rice asked for feedback on creating a task force of elected officials. The group would include members of the Monroe County Commissioners, Monroe County Council, the Health Department, prosecutor, public defender and Board of Judges. 

Another public meeting is set for July 7 at 5:30 p.m. via this Zoom link.

Click here to listen to the criminal justice study discussion on CATS. Read the Criminal Justice & Incarceration Study here.

On Tuesday, June 30, the Monroe County Council is holding a special meeting to address community concerns about law enforcement resources. The session on Zoom begins at 6 p.m. and will be facilitated by Latosha Williams, associate director for residence life student conduct at Indiana University.

​Meeting details, including the agenda and Zoom link, are here.

The seven-member Monroe County Council is responsible for appropriating all funds for county use. The council adopts the county budget – including the sheriff's office budget – fixes the county tax rate, and has exclusive power to borrow money for the county.

Monroe County government is undertaking a comprehensive review of our local criminal justice system, including  the jail, courts, community corrections, probation department, law enforcement agencies, the prosecuting attorney's office and public defenders.

The county Board of Commissioners has hired consultants to lead the project: Kenneth Ray of Restorative Justice Services; criminal justice consultant Allen Beck; and former Dept. of Justice attorneys Eve Hill and Regina Kline of Inclusivity Strategic Consulting, which focuses on civil rights and inclusion for persons with disabilities. The contracts total $212,000 for this phase.
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Upcoming public forums are being held to get input from the community, facilitated by the Monroe County Human Rights Commission and the Community Justice and Mediation Center: 

• ​Wednesday, June 19: 7 p.m. at the Monroe County Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave. in Bloomington.
• Monday, June 24: 7 p.m. at Unionville Elementary, 8144 E. State Road 45 in Unionville.
• Saturday, June 29:  11 a.m. at the  Ellettsville Fire Department, 5080 W. State Road 46, Bloomington.

The county recently issued a press release to describe this effort. Here's an excerpt:

     The Correctional Center is an aging facility (built in the 1980s). It was originally built to house 128 people. Renovations have increased the maximum capacity, so that there are now 284 permanent beds. The population, or number of people in the Center, often exceeds the number of permanent beds.
     No Monroe County leader wants to spend taxpayer dollars to, simply, build a bigger jail with more cell space to house more people.
     Monroe County leaders DO want to give meaning to and emphasize the word CORRECTION in the name CORRECTIONAL Center, because human lives are at stake. Those lives include not only the people in the Correctional Center, but also their families, friends, co-workers and neighbors.
     The criminal justice system affects not just the lives mentioned above, but affects anyone who lives, works or visits Monroe County. The criminal justice system, truly, affects the quality of life in Monroe County, and how well it works really matters.
     With that in mind, Monroe County leaders intend to look at everything we do related to criminal justice, to identify strengths and gaps in our services. Essentially, Monroe County is going to take a good, long look at our criminal justice system to identify what we are doing well and on what we can improve.

Read the county's full press release here.