Monroe County and Bloomington city officials formed a subcommittee Thursday during a special joint session, the latest development in an ongoing effort to build a new jail in Monroe County.
The meeting featured the County Council, Bloomington City Council, Mayor Kerry Thomson and County Commissioner Jody Madeira. Both councils unanimously voted to establish a working group tasked with narrowing down potential jail sites and returning a recommendation to the full body within one month.
City Council Vice President Sydney Zulich and County Council member Liz Feitl will serve in the group, potentially joined by the mayor, a county sheriff, prosecutor, public defender, judge and a county commissioner through volunteering.
Location was the dominant theme of Thursday’s discussion, with leaders largely agreeing it was the most important hurdle before any plan could move forward.
“If you’re ever going to get to the end of what we need to do, we have to start,” District Council member Marty Hawk said. “The start is finding the right location.”
The group will meet as desired to evaluate two to three potential sites before making a recommendation. All subcommittee meetings will be open to the public.
Among sites raised in the discussion was the former Thomson PUD site, which the county already owns and sits within Bloomington city limits. A downtown site near the current jail was also raised during Thursday’s discussion.
The push for a new facility has been years in the making. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued Monroe County in 2008 over unconstitutional overcrowding at the Monroe County Jail, leading to a 2009 settlement that capped the jail’s population.
After the county council rejected the proposed “North Park” site near I-69 and State Road 46 last month, the ACLU filed to dismiss the original settlement and began preparing new legal action against Monroe County.
The full joint body is expected to reconvene in approximately one month to hear the subcommittee’s recommendation.
