ICLU Puts Pressure On County
By Stacey Creasy
PLYMOUTH�County officials say a letter from the Indiana Civil Liberties Union further proves the need for a new jail before the county finds itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit.
If all three Marshall County Commissioners are present at March 17 meeting, they expect to select a site for a new county jail.
�I expect it to happen,� said commissioner Kevin Overmyer. �The writing is on the wall,� he added, referring to the letter from the ICLU.
Overmyer said the county received the letter from the ICLU Monday. The letter was in response to complaints from jail inmates regarding a heating problem at the jail last week.
The county has been cited numerous times over the past seven-eight years for overcrowding, lack of access to a law library and lack of recreation facilities in the jail.
State and federal laws require detention facilities such as county jails to provide access to a law library as well as recreation time.
Jailers also claim inmates are much easier to handle and there are fewer fights if inmates have some form of recreation.
The overcrowding is also a humane issue. The Marshall County Jail was constructed in 1974 to house 44 inmates. It is not uncommon to have more than 50 and up to 60 prisoners in the jail. There was one weekend last year when Marshall County Sheriff Bob Ruff had 84 inmates for the jail. He was one person away from sending prisoners to Pulaski County, at a cost of $35 per inmate, per day.
The latest complaint that prompted the inquiry from the ICLU dealt with a boiler breakdown at the jail that created heating problems for 7-10 days according to Ruff.
�We had a part in the boiler that went out,� Ruff explained.
The part and the boiler are old enough that the repair part could not be immediately located.
�The part had to be ordered,� Ruff added. �That caused some problems because,without that part, the maintenance people had to keep relighting the boiler.�
By the time the part arrived, about 10 days later, the pilot on the boiler had to be lit nearly every hour, which kept the boiler from heating the jail properly.
�It got pretty cold in here,� Ruff stated. �It was during that cold spell.�
Ruff was referring to a period in which the temperature stayed well below zero l for several days.
At least one of the inmates filed a complaint with the ICLU. Ruff said it is �a legitimate complaint even for the people here (jail employees).� He also used the problem as further proof the county needs a new jail.
�What if we would not have been able to replace that part?� Ruff asked. �We would have had to move all these people out of here.�
Overmyer said the time has come to select a site. It will likely take one to two years to build a jail and more problems could arise in that time period.
The only plans presented to commissioners for a jail call for a one-story, 160-bed facility that will set-aside 40 beds for a work release program. Of the 40 beds, 32 are for men while 8 are for females.
The commissioners have three sites to select from as the new home for the county jail. The former Oliver Ford site, the seven acres offered by the Van Vactor family or the county farm.
Sources close to the story claim the former Oliver Ford site is out of the running due to costs.
County attorney Jim Clevenger sent a letter to the ICLU explaining the problem with the boiler. County officials are hoping the ICLU will be content with the explanation since the county is moving forward with a new jail.
No one from the ICLU office in Indianapolis could be reached for comment.
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