The community activist group Allen County Residents Against the Jail said they will not appeal the Indiana Tax Court’s approval of the Allen County Commissioners’ funding plan for the new jail.
In a statement Friday, the group said they had consulted with their attorneys and reiterated their disapproval of the plan for the new jail, saying impart, “Although we have a right to appeal further to the Indiana Supreme Court, we have come to the conclusion that taking this further step would be both costly and unlikely to be successful. Therefore, although we disagree with the tax court’s decision, we will not pursue this matter further in the courts. We believe there are better alternatives to the county’s plan to spend $320 million on a new jail.”
The county’s funding plan includes using the historic Allen County Courthouse as collateral for a construction bond to fund building the new jail. The Allen Residents Against the Jail felt the Allen County Commissioners did not have legal authority to do so.
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) approved the plan, but in March, the activist group sued to stop the plan from being carried out.
The lawsuit lasted through the summer, delaying the beginning of construction for months.
The Indiana Tax Court upheld the DLGF’s approval of the plan on Sept. 13.
Allen County Residents Against the Jail members publicly called for an appeal, but on Friday, the group said it would not do so.
The new $300 million jail is the Allen County Commissioners’ accepted long-term solution to a federal court order to address unconstitutional conditions at the current Allen County Jail in downtown Fort Wayne, including overcrowding and aging infrastructure.
The commissioners said the delay the lawsuit caused was not cheap.
In a statement, officials said “Weigand communicated with all of their bidders to justify any cost increases over their original bids due to the delay. But the difference could be as high as $3 million.”
A spokesperson for the Allen County Commissioners said they will present an updated timeline for construction of the new jail at their next meeting on Sept. 27.
