Starke County Jail Meetings Planned for Later this Month

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee will be holding informational meetings on the jail situation in the third week in January. Although dates and locations have not been established, the Committee has agreed to meet at three sites.

The meetings are being held in the early stages of the Committee’s work to provide Republican Representative Doug Gutwein, of Francesville, with more information to present to the state legislature. Gutwein has agreed to author CEDIT legislation that could fund, or partially fund, whatever is decided by the committee as the best remedy for the aged jail structure.

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State Legislators to Help Author a Bill to Help Pay for Starke County Jail

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

Financing possibilities and informing the public have been topics the Starke County Jail Committee has been working on recently. The committee has discussed holding informational meetings throughout the county to bring the public up to date on various options for rehabbing or building a new jail.

Fires, escapes, and a class action lawsuit have brought attention to the liabilities at the jail. Reportedly the second oldest county jail in the state, the facility has been overcrowded at times throughout the past year.

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Starke County Commissioners Hear Update on Jail Committee

Posted on Author WKVI
Scott Cherry explains Skillman's part in the Starke County Jail project

The Starke County Commissioners were brought up to date on the activities of the Starke County Jail Committee last week. Commissioner Kathy Norem, who heads up the committee, introduced Scott Cherry, Account Executive with the Skillman Corporation, a construction management firm with headquarters in Indianapolis and a regional office in Merrillville.

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Starke County Jail Committee to Consider Number of Prisoners When Planning New Jail

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

As the discussion of a new Starke County Jail has progressed, the question is how many beds the facility should have. In recent months, the county jail has had times when the facility was housing up to 80 prisoners.

When planning for a new jail that could be in operation for 40 years, it is important to consider how many prisoners could be housed at one time.

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Starke County Commissioners to Hear from Skillman Corporation Representative about Jail Construction

Posted on Author WKVI

A representative of Skillman Corporation out of Merrillville will be in attendance at the Starke County Commissioners meeting tonight. After listening to a presentation from Scott Cherry last week, the Starke County Jail Committee voted to invite him to the Commissioners’ meeting to discuss jail construction and remodeling. Cherry oversees all operations from the Merrillville office.

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Senator Jim Arnold Gives Project Advice to Starke County Jail Committee

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee met this week. Eight of the ten members were in attendance and heard presentations from two construction project management companies. Representatives from CCI in Ft. Wayne and The Skillman Corporation regional office in Merrillville were on hand to answer questions about jail construction.

Also on hand to address the group was State Senator Jim Arnold of LaPorte. Senator Arnold went through a jail building project when he was the Sheriff of LaPorte County and had this advice for the Committee.

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Starke County Jail Commitee Meets

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee met Friday afternoon at the Starke County Courthouse. The committee has been assembled to look at options for building a new, or renovate, the troubled Starke County Jail.

The committee concentrated on the Needs Assessment Study on Friday and were left with assignments to complete before the next meeting on November 14th.

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Starke County Council Approves Money for Special Legislation in Funding Jail Project

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Council approved a $25,000 request from the Commissioners that would be used to secure the assistance of Umbaugh and Associates and Ice Miller, LLC in pursuing special legislation that would help in the funding of a jail project once the scope of that project is determined.

The committee selected to study how to correct problems at the jail was brought up to date this week on what would happen if a Federal Court judge was to mandate that a new jail be built. Starke County already has a class action suit against it, and with the condition of the jail it is not out of the realm of possibility that other law suits could be forthcoming in the future.

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Starke County Jail Committee Hearing Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI

The first Starke County Jail Committee meeting will be held this evening. Commissioner Kathy Norem will chair the meeting. Norem announced last week that Todd Samuelson from Umbaugh and Associates will be at the first meeting. Samuelson is an expert on financing, and is expected to explain options as the committee moves forward making decisions on how to correct problems associated with the deteriorating Starke County Jail.