Council Members Scrap Plans for Jail, Justice Center
Photo: Plans to purchase land to build a new $224 million, 237,000-square-foot jail and justice center in Monroe County, Ind., were recently rejected by county councilors. | Photo Credit: Monroe County / DLZ Corporation
MONROE COUNTY, Ind. – Plans for a new $224 million jail and justice center in Monroe County, Ind., are now on hold after county councilors rejected a measure to purchase land to build the new facility.
During a seven-hour-long meeting on Oct. 28, all seven members of the Monroe County Council voted against appropriating an extra $8 million for a total of $11 million to buy land in North Park between the towns of Bloomington and Ellettsville. Councilors cited extra fees imposed by Senate Enrolled Act 1, a statewide property tax law, as a complicating factor for the overall project budget.
Plans for a new 237,000-square-foot facility from architecture firm DLZ were presented to the County in August. The plans included a 404-bed jail, with building shell space for an additional 96 beds, along with Sheriff’s headquarters, courtrooms and offices for probation and community corrections, clerks, prosecutors and public defenders. Those plans were approved by the Monroe County commissioners, even as project funding remained uncertain.
The facility would replace the current Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center in downtown Bloomington, which houses the county’s Sheriff’s Office and jail. That facility is currently plagued by mold issues, which necessitated a two-day closure to address the issues in August, among other deficiencies. The American Civil Liberties Union has called the current jail conditions unconstitutional, and the county and the ACLU reached a private settlement after a lawsuit about overcrowding in the facility’s jail was filed in 2008.
While Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté spoke up about the need for the new facility, opponents cited concerns over the project budget, scope and location. One issue discussed was the new site’s distance from services for those involved with the justice system, which the current facility in Bloomington offers.
“The proposed North Park site would transfer the justice center far outside the scope of downtown,” council member Sydney Zulich said at the meeting. “The site’s location has no plans for public transportation, and thus, low-income residents will be directly affected without alternative means of transportation.”
If approved, the bonding process for the project would have began in January of 2026, with an October 2026 goal for starting construction and a targeted finish date in June 2029. Now, the Council will consider alternative locations for the new justice center, along with potential options to renovate the existing justice center.