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After years of talk and not much action, Monroe County officials are reviewing architectural renderings, square footage and cost estimates for a long-proposed justice center for a new jail and related offices.
Architect renderings showing the proposed Monroe County justice center, which will contain a new jail, courtrooms and justice-related offices including the prosecutor, public defender, probation and county clerk.
The cost to taxpayers? About $225 million for a 237,161-square-foot, 3-level structure to be built on property at the Ind. 46 junction with Hunter Valley Road, just west of Bloomington.
The proposed justice center will contain a 404-bed jail, courtrooms and offices for the sheriff, courts, prosecutor, public defender, probation, community corrections and county clerk departments.
An overhead rendering of the proposed Monroe County justice center.
An alternative and more expensive option would add 96 jail beds and an inmate discharge resource center — and 5,000 square feet — to the complex. Expanding the jail to 500 beds would cost an additional $5 million, and a resource center for inmates being released would add another $900,000 to the cost.
The size of the new jail has been a point of contention between county council members, the commissioners and the sheriff. The 404 beds in the primary plan breaks the number down to 296 for general population prisoners, 60 for those needing medical or mental health care, 20 for short-term prisoner stays and 28 for inmate workers.
The jail portion of the proposed Monroe County justice center.
In October 2024, despite pushback from Ellettsville officials and others who oppose the jail being built on what’s called the North Park property just off Ind. 46, all three country commissioners voted to purchase the 52 acres for the justice center. The land cost $11.4 million, about $219,000 an acre.
The area had long been eyed for commercial and residential development.
If the proposed schedule is followed, bonds to finance the project would be sold this coming January and construction would begin in October 2026. The move-in date is set for June 2029, about four years from now.
Architect renderings showing the proposed Monroe County justice center, which will contain a new jail, courtrooms and justice-related offices including the prosecutor, public defender, probation and county clerk.
An illustration of the planned Monroe County justice center.
Design drawings show scale
These drawings from jail design firm DLZ, which the county hired to plan and oversee the project, depict the proposed building outlines from above and from the east, west, north and south.
An aerial view of the proposed Monroe County justice center.
An image depicting the proposed Monroe County justice center from the east and west,
The proposed Monroe County justice center shown from the north and south.
Public meeting set to unveil plans
Details about the proposal will be presented to the public during a special Monroe County Council work session scheduled for Friday, Aug. 29, at 11:30 a.m.
The session will be in the third-floor meeting room at the courthouse. Those unable to attend in person can watch on Microsoft Teams. The link is here: County Council special work session – State of Indiana
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What we know about Monroe County plan for new jail and justice center
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