New Warrick County Jail under construction to increase capacity
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A new jail under construction in Warrick County to alleviate overcrowding is expected to be finished by 2026. The $55 million facility is being built between Chandler and Boonville off S.R. 62 on Hyrock Blvd.
Sheriff Mike Wilder told Inside INdiana Business the project is mostly funded through the local option income tax passed a few years ago. Residents can watch construction in real-time on the office website.
“This has been a five-year project with a lot of people involved, committees, decisions made,” Wilder said.
In 2019, a feasibility study showed the sheriff’s office had outgrown the current jail, which is more than 30 years old and located just east of Boonville on S.R. 62 near Roth Rd.
“We’re over our jail population. And not only that, we had administratively outgrown [the building] probably as bad as our jail population. We needed more space not only for our inmates but also for our administrative side,” said Wilder.
Current jail layout
The existing Warrick County Jail houses 122 beds for inmates. During the pandemic, about half of the 120 inmates in the facility were released in light of COVID-19 concerns. Since then, the population has slowly climbed back to over 100 inmates.
“When you’re 80% full, you’re considered at capacity because you may have five or six open beds, but that might be in the female block, and you have males coming through the front door,” said Wilder.
The sheriff said the jail became overcrowded because of trial delays and the type of inmates sent to the facility.
“The state has pushed [Level 6 felons] back to the local level. We now house Level 6 felons who would normally have gone to the state. And we’re seeing more and more inmates push their court dates. The vast majority of inmates in my jail have not even been sentenced. They’re waiting for their trials,” said Wilder. “And if they know they’re going to be sentenced, they’d rather spend their time here than go to the [Indiana Department of Correction].”
Besides being overpopulated, the linear design of the jail cells is not ideal for staff to do welfare checks and keep the peace.
“To put eyes on them, an officer has to physically walk down the hallway and look through a window at them. There are numerous blind spots in that type of design,” said Jeremy Holder, jail commander.
The facility not only houses the jail but also the sheriff’s office and dispatch. Holder said the administration has taken over every amount of space possible, and there’s no room for storage.
“We’ve grown so fast that our work release area that we used to have is now a detective’s office. The women’s work release that we used to have is now where we have our commissary. The library is where my office is at,” he said. “We’re using water closets to store different supplies and stuff that we need like toothbrushes, soap, feminine products and things we provide the inmates for hygiene.”
New jail benefits
The new Warrick County Jail will have 232 beds, which is 110 more than the current amount. Instead of a linear cell block design, the main control center will be on the second level with an all-encompassing view of the lockups on the lower level.
“The new design that we’re going with, the officer will be in the center of all the cells, and they will have direct supervision of the inmates at all times,” said Holder.
The new facility will have several spaces for different purposes such as a deputy training room, a deputy fitness center and inmate areas.
“It’s going to have a lot more room for classroom work. It’s got two video courtrooms, or one could be made into a true courtroom,” Wilder said. “A lot more spacing for counseling, ministering and those type areas to work with the inmates.”
There will also be a special unit isolated from other parts of the jail that can be used for a variety of purposes.
“So the next thing, whether it’s COVID or whatever that unforeseen thing might be, we have an area that we have some flexibility to do stuff with. Right now, we see it as potentially a mental health wing,” said Wilder.
The new facility will house the jail and sheriff’s office with dispatch staying in the current building for now. Holder said the staff will be closer together in the new building, and they’ll have more storage space. The new jail will also be centrally located in the county with access to major roads.
“That’s going to help whenever officers make an arrest, and they need to get that person to the jail as quickly as possible. Being in the backseat of a police car with a cage is not the ideal spot for someone who’s just been arrested,” said Holder. “When there’s a problem in the jail—a fight or a medical emergency—we’re going to have Chandler and Boonville police officers within about the same distance from us to provide that extra support and backup my staff requires at times.”
‘Room to grow’
The new jail will not only provide more room for the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office to spread out in 2026 but also more space to expand in years to come.
“We bought 18 acres. We can add another cell pod if we need to. There’s an opportunity for growth in the back if we see that we need a training facility or something like that in the future. We have room to grow on this piece of property,” Holder said.
Wilder and Holder have several ideas for repurposing the current jail such as drug court services, community corrections or a juvenile facility.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing something like [community corrections] or a work release program in the old facility because this is still a good building,” said Wilder. “A low-risk security such as weekenders or work release or more of a diversion program where you don’t have to have it fully staffed and locked down.”
Other ideas for the existing jail include office or storage space.
“You would have the option of making this a public defender’s office. You have the option to turn this into a county storage facility, using the old cell blocks as storage bins for old records or files or whatever you would need,” Holder said.
The new plan for the old facility will be up to the county commissioners, with two new officials being elected this fall.
“Hopefully, they’ll give me and some other county office holders some input, but that’ll be their decision,” Wilder said.