Panel hears warnings on rising Indiana prison population, local corrections funding shortfalls
Indiana lawmakers heard stark warnings that the state’s prison population is again nearing capacity while funding for local alternatives is shrinking.
Prisons
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Bill aims to keep state from releasing non-resident prisoners in Indianapolis
House Bill 1087, authored by Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, would require the Indiana Department of Correction—with some exceptions—to return offenders to the county where they lived when they were convicted.
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Indiana DOC to begin jail payments to counties
The Indiana Department of Correction will begin sending payments to dozens of counties on Monday to cover costs for housing state prisoners, ending months of delays.
DOC to request $15.8M for planned immigration detention site
The funding request, which is summarized in the agenda for Wednesday’s State Budget Committee meeting, says the agency needs the funding to prepare the correctional facility for ICE detainees.
County jails on the hook as state stops paying prisoner costs
County jails haven’t received payments in months, and there are still four months left in the July-to-June fiscal year.
Congress OKs bill overhauling oversight of troubled federal Bureau of Prisons
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and the bill’s two other sponsors, Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., launched the Senate Bipartisan Prison Policy Working Group in February 2022 amid turmoil at the Bureau of Prisons.
Prisoners are part of hidden U.S. workforce linked to popular food brands
In a sweeping two-year investigation, The Associated Press found goods linked to prisoners wind up in the supply chains of everything from Frosted Flakes cereal and Ball Park hot dogs to Gold Medal flour and Coca-Cola.
Worker shortage leads firms to hire more ex-offenders
More than ever, Indianapolis-area companies are becoming so-called “second-chance employers” willing to hire people with arrest records and providing additional services to ex-offenders needing first jobs.
Larry Nassar, once employed by Indy-based USA Gymnastics, stabbed in federal prison
Larry Nassar, a former doctor who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts, was stabbed multiple times Sunday during an altercation with another inmate, sources told the Associated Press.
Former Muncie mayor leaves prison after bribery conviction
Dennis Tyler, Muncie’s mayor from 2012 through 2019, was released Thursday from the Federal Correctional Institution in Morgantown, West Virginia, with more than six months remaining on his one-year term.
Indianapolis-based Chuqlab offers crime-fighting transcription tech
Founded in 2019, Chuqlab offers transcription technology for law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and operators of jails and prisons. The company recently received a state incentives offer based on its hiring plans.
Indiana lawmakers eye returning to more prison sentences
A big jump in Indiana county jail overcrowding has state lawmakers looking to partially roll back a nearly decade-old criminal sentencing overhaul.
Westfield man gets 30-month prison sentence for defrauding employer
The former practice administrator for an ophthalmology practice with offices in Indianapolis and Avon was accused of diverting $270,000 from his company’s accounts to himself in more than 500 transactions.
Ex-Muncie mayor sentenced to year in prison for bribery
Dennis Tyler was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison on federal charges of taking a $5,000 bribe in exchange for steering city projects to a contractor.
Indiana sees big cost jump with new prison medical contract
The four-year contract with Centurion Health will pay an average of about $160 million a year to the company that submitted the most expensive of four vendor proposals.
Ponzi schemer Cochran escalates fight for early release on COVID grounds
Jim Cochran, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the Fair Finance fraud, says he has undergone a religious conversion that no longer makes him a risk to society.
Indiana prison on lockdown amid COVID-19 outbreak
A total of 238 inmates were quarantined Wednesday at Miami Correctional Facility, which has a total inmate population of about 3,100.
Terre Haute prison inmate with COVID-19 dies; 3 others have virus
Some prisoners at the federal prison in Terre Haute have asked for early or home release because of the pandemic, including former Indianapolis-area executives Paul Elmer and Thomas Buck.
Huge virus outbreak in Ohio prisons highlights risk at U.S. lockups
A massive coronavirus outbreak that has sickened nearly 4,000 inmates in Ohio has highlighted the dangers lurking in the nation’s correctional facilities during the pandemic.
Imprisoned exec says COVID-19 risks justify his release
The virus-wracked federal prison system has been broadening the ranks of inmates eligible for transfer to home confinement as officials seek to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Residents at 29 nursing homes, state prison inmates infected with COVID-19
Both types of locations are considered serious in a pandemic, because the virus can spread quickly in confined spaces. In addition, elderly people in nursing homes or prisons with underlying medical conditions are considered especially vulnerable if they are infected.