No Jail Expansion for Fountain County
Don’t expect any additional inmates in the Fountain County Jail in the near future. Sheriff Bobby Bass told the Fountain County Commissioners Monday that the Indiana Department of Corrections has turned down the request for “double bunking”. Reported by Commercial-News.
Bass said that he is contacting federal authorities in Washington about doing assessments on the needs of the county jail.
Lee W. Hoard, jail inspector for the north region of the Indiana Department of Corrections, said in a letter to county officials that he “would not, at this time, recommend any increase in offender population.”
Hoard said the jail is not required to follow the American Correction Association Standards for Adult Correctional Facilities since it was built prior to Jan. 1, 1982, but he had reservations about increasing the number.
“There are currently three visitation booths and jail staff report that with the current capacity at 25 inmates, it takes all the time between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to get visits completed,” he said. “To add additional officers may require a modification of the visitation period and possibly additional staff.”
He said the cells and cell blocks do not meet current ACA standards.
“It should be noted that with the current design of the jail and the number of inmates currently present, jail personnel cannot adequately classify the offenders as required by the Indiana jail standards,” Hoard said. “Other concerns are the size of the current kitchen, number of staff to supervise offenders, limited space for indoor/outdoor recreation and limited dining areas for the offenders.”
The commissioners did not comment.
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