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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Marion County Sheriff’s Office is suing the state Department of Correction over the time it takes to transfer people who have been sentenced for serious felonies into state custody.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement late Wednesday that the department frequently misses a deadline set by state law to transfer those convicted of a Level 6 or more serious felony within five calendar days of sentencing. The office says inmates often are left in the Marion County Adult Detention Center for weeks after sentencing.
A complaint filed in Marion Superior Court said there were 258 felony-sentenced inmates awaiting transfer as of Wednesday in the Marion County Adult Detention Center. The lawsuit notes that those inmates accounted for 10% of the detention center’s population and created severe overcrowding.
The Department of Correction did not respond to requests for comment from The Indiana Lawyer.
The lawsuit, signed by Sheriff Kerry Forestal, notes that the presence of these inmates places a significant burden on staff in his office. It adds that inmates stuck waiting for the transfer also can’t get access to educational and job training programs typically available at prisons but not local jails.
The sheriff’s office said that the delays can cost taxpayers money because the county spends about $85 a day to house each inmate but receives $42 in reimbursement from the Department of Correction.
“The law is clear about when these convicts are supposed to be transferred,” Sheriff Kerry Forestal said in the press release. “We are simply asking the Court to require the State to follow that law.”
The sheriff’s office is seeking an injunction mandating that the Department of Correction accept convicted felons within five days of their sentencing.
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