Marion County sheriff warns bail changes could stress already full jail

Driving the news: Indiana lawmakers are considering giving judges more opportunities to deny bail to people who've been arrested and are awaiting trial.

• Republicans have proposed a change to the state's constitution, which currently allows for bail to be denied only to those charged with murder and treason.
• Should lawmakers pass the proposal, it will go to the voters in this year's general election.

Between the lines: Marion County's current predicament is driven by detainees being held for ICE and the state.

• Forestal said the Indiana Department of Correction continues to force his office to "house approximately 175 convicts who should be in state prison facilities."
• Because of the overcrowding, the county will no longer hold ICE detainees for extended periods, Forestal said, and ICE has agreed to begin transferring detainees to be held for longer than 48 hours to other facilities.

What they're saying: "We cannot continue to operate like this," Forestal said in a statement released this week after the jail hit capacity.

• The statement raised concerns about the effect bail changes would have.
• "While Sheriff Forestal supports ensuring violent and repeat arrestees are not released back into the community before facing justice, bail policy changes carry real and immediate fiscal and operational consequences," it said.

The other side: When these concerns about the effect of bail changes were brought up during a legislative committee this week, state Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) suggested Marion County should have built a bigger detention center.

• "When a community like Indianapolis decides to build a new jail, and they decide to do so at a lower capacity than the jail that they tore down ... I'm sorry, but, my God, no doubt we have a problem," Freeman said. "What in the world does the Indianapolis City-County Council think is going to happen in a growing community the size of Marion County when you build a jail that's smaller than the one you tear down? I have no words for that."

Reality check: The new facility isn't smaller.

• Between all of the county's old facilities, there were 2,500 beds to house inmates, according to a report from the Indianapolis Criminal Justice Reform Task Force.
• That report says, though, that poor design meant that only 2,200 to 2,300 beds could be used at one time.
• The new facility has 2,700 beds — though the budget caps its capacity at 2,400 inmates — plus an additional 300-bed mental health unit.

What's next: The series of legislative proposals that would change Indiana's bail procedures could get a final vote in the Senate as early as Thursday.