The members of the Starke County Jail Committee are planning jail tours for next week.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem said that the members will be visiting the Porter County Jail and the Jasper County Jail to view the size of the facilities and to see if those jails would match the needs of a facility in Starke County.
Norem said that the Jasper County facility is similar to what the Committee is looking for in a Starke County facility. The committee will have to review the needs assessment study when it is completed in June to make a decision on the type of facility required. The needs assessment study is expected to be complete by mid-June, at which point that information will be relayed to the public during community meetings to take place the last week of June. The community meetings will be similar to those conducted in January.
The commissioners and members of the Starke County Sheriff’s Department have already toured the Porter and Jasper County Jails, but some of the committee members have not yet seen them.
