Council Approves Community Justice Campus Funding
(rendering courtesy of Indy CJC)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis City-County Council has approved funding for the $575 million Community Justice Campus on the city’s southeast side. The approval also includes the execution of leases with the Indianapolis-Marion County Building Authority for the development, which includes a new jail, courthouse, and Assessment & Intervention Center.
The $55 million first phase of the project began in July at the former Citizens Energy Coke Plant in the Twin Aire neighborhood. Councilor Leroy Robinson, chair of the council’s Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee, says at the heart of the project is system reform.
"As we embark on the enormous task of criminal justice reform, the most anticipated part of this project, for me, is the Assessment and Intervention Center," said Robinson. "The AIC will focus on diverting people from jail and furnishing them with mental health and other wrap-around services and social supports to assist them with successfully returning and integrating with our community. The AIC will help us reduce incarceration rates and create a safer, healthier community."
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett released the following statement after the council’s approval:
Over the last three years, Marion County has been served by elected leaders that put progress above partisanship and people before politics. Tonight, that cooperative spirit moved our community forward, with the bipartisan passage of Proposal 367, a crucial final step in our work to holistically reform the local criminal justice system and construct a Community Justice Campus.
This vote is a victory for taxpayers and those who have tirelessly fought for systemic change in our justice system, and continues to prove that our residents are best served by those who are focused on doing what’s right for the people of our city, not the politics of any one party.
The first phase of the project will include the construction of the building pads and utility corridors for the jail and courthouse. When complete, the campus will also serve as the home of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender Agency.