May 23rd the Vigo County Sheriff’s Business Office started operations in a new location.
The new home base for both the office and the jail are now located in the Vigo County Security Center just behind the Haute City Center.
Discussion for the facility started after a federal lawsuit claimed the jail was overcrowded.
Vigo County Sheriff John Plasse said the new facility will bed 500 inmates.
“It’s long overdue we should’ve done the right thing a long time ago and thankfully we have now,” Plasse said.
Plasse said while the new facility will house more inmates, there still could be a potential for overcrowding.
“We’ve currently got 350 in our current jail and about 40 housed at other jails,” Plasse said. ” When we bring them to the new facility that’s close to 400 which is about 80%, and is considered over capacity or overcrowding for a jail rating.”
However, both Sheriff Plasse and Chief of Operation Derek Fell say the new facility will still allow for a significant amount of room.
“We’ve got dedicated space that will never have to be repurposed for any other reason other than programming classes to get inmates the help they need,”Plasse said.
“This new facility will definitely relieve some of the issues we’ve been experiencing as far as overcrowding and just the conditions in general,” Fell said.
The new Vigo County Sheriff’s Office featured a sheriff’s conference room, an expanded training room, as well as a workout room. As for the jail there’s more specialized cells as well as a medical unit.
Fell said over the next few weeks the office will train the jail staff at the new location.
“It’s important to understand the operations of the computer system, master control, as well as the changes to the booking area,” Fell said. “The training is aimed to familiarize our staff with the space, so we can run a secure and efficient facility once we move inmates into the new facility.”
The Sheriff’s Office is not announcing exactly when they will relocate the inmates to the new facility due to security protocols. However, Plasse said it will be sometime in June or July.
