Company sets date for jail
expansion
Overcrowded jail needs
more room for booking,
cells
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
Architects from the Fort Wayne company hired to
design the expansion of the Tippecanoe County jail told county commissioners
on Monday that construction at the jail will begin in October.
Capt. Tracy Brown of the Tippecanoe County jail
said the jail has been in excess of 100 percent capacity for the past
four years.
"Because numbers are so high, we've outgrown this
facility," said Brown.
During peak arrest times when police expect large
numbers of incoming prisoners, such as Grand Prix weekend, the jail
is forced to transport prisoners to jails in neighboring counties such
as Warren, White and Carroll. When inmates are moved to neighboring
county jails, those jails are required to pay the $35 per night fee
for housing inmates.
"When you're overcrowded, it slows down all the
services we provide, from meal services to visitation and medical services,"
said Brown. "It makes everything more difficult."
A series of county meetings have been held over
the past few months in connection with the expansion of the jail. On
Monday, members of the architectural, engineering and construction teams
affiliated with the project presented county commissioners with their
latest in design plans.
The jail is filled to 100 percent capacity when
all 270 of its beds are filled.
Within the proposed changes, 104 cells holding
208 beds would be added to the Northwest corner of the jail, which is
located at Duncan Road and State Road 52 in Lafayette. A new booking
area would be added to the South corner of the jail as well, if the
county commissioners approve designs provided by the company. Commissioner
Ruth E. Shedd said that the commissioners might hold a special meeting,
before the next county council meeting, to approve the plans so architects
can continue to work on the project. Commissioner K.D. Benson said that
she is very happy with the plans that she has seen so far.
Benson is not the only public official in favor
of the new plans.
Sheriff David Murtaugh of Tippecanoe County said
that he was pleased with the plans for the new jail.
"Additional space will enable us to house prisoners
as the jail was designed originally," said Murtaugh.
The Northwest corner of the jail was originally
designed with the possibility for the need of expansion in mind. However,
expansions made to the South corner of the jail were not prepared for.
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