‘Unconstitutional conditions continue’: Federal judge calls for prison population reduction ahead of July 8 Allen County jail case hearing

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — Two years ago, federal judge Damon R. Leichty of the Northern District of Indiana made no secret of his outrage at Allen County commissioners and the sheriff during a hearing on the status of the Allen County Jail.

Three months earlier, he had written a detailed opinion on a series of conditions he said were “abhorrent and unconstitutional” at the 40-year-old facility after siding with the ACLU of Indiana and inmates in a federal lawsuit.

Conditions were inhumane, Leichty concluded, due to overcrowding and understaffing in a prison in poor condition. He demanded that the population be reduced to 585, a near impossibility given the rules that segregate prisoners and create special units such as medical custody and solitary confinement.

Allen County commissioners, the sheriff and the Allen County Council will meet July 8 on a Zoom conference, the second in less than a month. In a motion filed last week, Leichty argued that unconstitutional conditions still exist and called on the criminal justice system to address the population pressures every day and every week.

The jail, originally built in 1981 and later expanded, was in such poor condition that former Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux decided to turn its maintenance over to a board of commissioners.

Structurally, little has changed in the prison – pipes are in constant disrepair and metal bed frames are rusting.

Allen County Sheriff Troy Hershberger and his predecessor, Gladieux, have managed to recruit more detention officers, often with the prospect of promotions, which has made the job more palatable in the grim atmosphere of gray walls, soot-covered windows and the dangers of elevators and stairwells as a lone officer carries inmates in and out of the jail. The detention center currently has 161 detention officers, well short of the 201 needed to be approved and funded by the county council, Leichty said.

Meanwhile, three male inmates have died at the prison in the past nine months — two suicides and an overdose in February, which Leichty included in his latest motion.

Leichty also noted that the prison population has increased by more than 100 people compared with the same time last year and that more people are sleeping in “boats,” plastic frames used when cells become overcrowded. That has led to more violence between prisoners, Leichty noted.

The current trend in prison design is to spread out the PODS from a central monitoring station, allowing fewer officers to monitor inmate movements. The POD design also places water and utilities outside the cell so inmates can’t flood the floor and clog the sink. And because it’s single-story, inmates can’t pass drugs, smuggle drugs or make threats through the “bowl,” a common practice in older, multi-story prisons like the current one.

After filing a lawsuit in January 2020 and waiting for a federal decision, it seemed that the best solution to reduce the prison population and address the problems would be to build a new prison. However, renovation was considered, a costly project that would not be sufficient due to the county’s growing population.

On Wednesday, Chris Cloud, the commissioners’ chief of staff, said the commissioners and later the Allen County Council had to “face the reality that a new jail is needed,” even if it wasn’t their first choice.

The project, estimated to cost about $300 million, has burdened local officials, Cloud said, and it hasn’t been easy for them to do. The council, responsible for funding the prison, was divided for months until another hearing on the prison, which came in 4-3, in February 2023.

“You’re taking on the most expensive project that our county will ever take on, and a project that it seems like some members of our community are very much against and will fight to the bitter end to stop,” Cloud told WANE 15 on Wednesday.

Ultimately, though, “the commissioners and everyone involved want to alleviate the unconstitutional conditions at the Allen County Jail. That was the whole point of the lawsuit — asking for those conditions to be eliminated,” Cloud said.

Because of a lawsuit from the Indiana Tax Attorney, construction has been halted. Once construction begins, the process will take three years, Cloud said.

“What we all really want is to see a new prison built that will alleviate these unconstitutional conditions,” Cloud said.

The latest prison conditions documents, prepared by Judge Leichty, can be read below.