Vigo County Jail Opens
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The new Vigo County jail has opened after two years of construction. Our partners at WTHI-TV report the Vigo County Security Center, which is located behind Haute City Center in Terre Haute, can hold up to 500 inmates.
In January 2020, the project officially started when crews began construction of a new road leading to the jail site. Discussions for the project started after a federal lawsuit claimed the current jail was overcrowded and a judge said its conditions were unconstitutional.
Sheriff John Plasse says the jail, which also houses the new Vigo County Sheriffs’ Office, has lots of space but admits overcrowding could still be an issue.
“Last I heard we were running around 350 in the jail and about 40 some housed other places so we’re right around 400,” said Plasse. “Now this jail will hold 500 inmates but by definition, if you’re at or over 80 percent of your capacity you’re overcrowded and we will be overcrowded if we continue with those numbers when we start up with everyone here. We can add on another 400 or something cells again that’s going to be another cost I was hoping that we would get a higher number in the initial build but we got what we have and we’re going to make it work.”
Plasse says due to security protocols, there will not be an announcement regarding when the inmates will move to the jail.