The House Courts & Criminal Code Committee heard Rep. Frye’s HB 1065 on creating a regional holding facility. The bill provides that a county sheriff may contract with the Department of Correction (DOC) to transfer a confined jail offender from a county jail to a regional holding facility established and operated by the DOC if the county jail is overcrowded. The bill also states that reimbursements paid by the state to the county for the costs of incarcerating a confined jail offender shall be used to pay for a confined jail offender housed in either a regional holding facility or a county jail. Additionally, the bill includes that the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute shall identify any federal, state, or local grants that can be used to assist in the funding and operation of regional holding facilities.
An amendment was taken by consent to keep the Level 6 offenders separate. Representatives from the Association of Indiana Counties, DOC, Indiana Sheriffs Association, and Indiana Public Defenders Council testified in support of the bill. The amended bill passed 7-3
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1065