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| Debate over jail overcrowding |
| By WISH-TV News 8 |
| Published: 06/12/2006 |
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MARION COUNTY, IN - Politicians on both sides of the aisle agree, Marion County jail overcrowding is at a crisis level. A heated debate is underway on how to solve the problem. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi unveiled a plan to house offenders in New Castle. "It has 750 dormatory style beds that are not being used." Thirty minutes later, Brizzi's democratic opponent Melina Kennedy held a news conference. "We need to increase jail cells." Now the top cop in the county, Sheriff Frank Anderson is weighing in on what he calls a crisis. He believes a bipartisan group called the Criminal Justice Planning Council is making progress. "We've come up with funding to alleviate at least 125 inmates by July 1," said Anderson. He says he will move jailed mothers to a facility called Liberty Hall. It's right off Washington Street. "By the first of the year I will be able to move another 125 women to the mother's jail. That will free up 250 beds here in Marion County." Finding solutions is tricky, especially when you combine a crisis with a rise in crime. "As the funnel goes, if you keep putting in the top and you got a little end down here they are going to overflow, overflow. We need more prosecutors, public defenders we need more judges," said Anderson. Most plans would require more taxpayer money, but the fight over how to solve jail overcrowding is far from over. |
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