Commissioners: Hancock County needs a bigger jail

Hancock County needs to expand its jail or build a new, bigger one on County Road 140, county officials and consultants said Wednesday. "The current jail does not meet our needs in the community," said County Commissioner Timothy Bechtol during a 45-minute presentation for county and city officials and others. "It is too small." Built in the 1980s, the building on West Crawford Street is not designed for the mental health and substance abuse-related needs of so many inmates today, he said. The problems will only worsen with time as the state steers lower-level felons away from state prisons, forcing counties to house more of them, Bechtol said. Wednesday's presentation was a "first step" in what could in a few years result in a new jail on County Road 140 or a westward expansion of the existing jail on Crawford Street, according to Bechtol. The next step: forming a community committee to further study jail needs and to get public input, Bechtol said. The county commissioners have no definite timeline for a decision. At times in 2019, before the pandemic, 140 or more prisoners were housed at the jail, which was designed to hold 98. And the county back then spent about $300,000 per year to house local prisoners in other county jails. Since the pandemic, the county has managed to keep the jail population in the low 80s, Sheriff Mike Heldman said Wednesday. But that situation is not sustainable long term. It is projected that with the state forcing counties to house more low-level felons, the jail population could grow to a range of 184 to 200 by 2045, said David Boswick, a justice consultant with HDR, Chicago. With those kinds of numbers, a jail should be designed to have a capacity of 230 to 250 beds, he said. Expanding the existing jail into the parking area to the west would involve several disadvantages, Boswick said. At the same time that it would displace parking spaces, it would create a demand for more parking spaces downtown because the jail would have to increase staff. The outdated design of the existing jail space would remain. In addition, while the existing jail is in good condition, it is 33 years old and will need the care of an older building. If it would be expanded, there could be no more expansions at the downtown site. Construction of a new building on County Road 140 would cost more than expansion of the old, Boswick said. That aside, a new building would involve several advantages, he said. It would be expandable; it could be one story; it would be more energy efficient; it would allow for better supervision of prisoners, preventing vandalism and other misconduct that occurs in the existing jail; and it would cost less to operate, Boswick said. If a new jail would be built, the existing jail could be converted to space for the probation department; or the county could contract with an agency to use the space for residential and outpatient treatment for people with substance abuse issues, Boswick said. Wilin: 419-427-8413