Jail Overcrowding

More than a year after a federal judge ordered Allen County to address overcrowding at the Allen County Jail, the inmate population there is on the decline.

The potential design shows increased medical and mental health facilities built into a justice complex.

Potential sites must be close to hospitals, and in proximity to judicial and governmental offices.

Allen County Commissioner Richard Beck said on Tuesday the address given was only ever intended to serve as an option for the courts.

The coalition has spoken out against building a new jail in the county, instead urging mental health treatment to solve an overcrowding issue.

The plan is part of a federal lawsuit to combat jail overcrowding.

The announcement comes at the deadline imposed by a federal court judge demanding something be done to ease jail population numbers.

A local community coalition is urging county commissioners to focus more on prevention and community care, rather than incarceration.

Jail

The ACLU of Indiana sued the Allen and Wabash county sheriffs in recent weeks, accusing them of managing jails that are dangerously overcrowded.In total,…