Council mulls axing applications’ prior-conviction box
City-County Councilor Vop Osili thinks the city could level the job-seeking playing field for ex-offenders by eliminating the question of past convictions on job applications.
Prisons
Articles
State sentencing overhaul to take another year
Legislators stung last year by county prosecutors who opposed a sweeping plan to overhaul Indiana’s criminal sentencing scheme won’t push the issue this year. Sheriffs now are worried that an attempt to reduce crowding in state prisons could aggravate overpopulation in their jails.
Lawmaker: Prison land sale may pose safety threat
Democratic state Rep. Scott Reske said the sale of nine tracts of land surrounding the Pendleton Correctional Facility would cut in half a state-owned buffer zone between Pendleton's Fall Creek Elementary School and the town's two prison facilities.
SHELLA: Indiana Legislature likely to deliver the unexpected
If you want to know what really matters in the upcoming legislative session it’s likely impossible to find out now.
Critics: City’s effort to help ex-offenders ineffective
Three years after Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard launched a city office designed to help ex-offenders avoid a repeat prison visit, some of those original supporters say the city’s Office of Re-Entry Initiatives not only has fallen short of that goal but has accomplished little else.
Budget cuts will limit Indiana inmate education
ndiana lawmakers' decision to cut off grants to state prison inmates attending college could make it harder for prisoners to find employment when they're released, supporters of the program fear.
Prescription drug abuse growing problem in Indiana
Prescription drugs are playing an increasing role in the drug-related crimes that are filling up Indiana's prisons, prison officials and prosecutors said.
Daniels’ plan on sentencing changes appears dead
Daniels had made revamping of the criminal sentencing laws one of his top priorities for this year's legislative session, but lawmakers handling the bill said Tuesday they hadn't been able to reach a compromise and didn't expect more action before the General Assembly's April 29 adjournment deadline.
Prosecutors buck effort to trim state prison costs
Angry prosecutors have derailed a legislative plan to reduce Indiana's corrections costs by shortening some criminal sentences, and now the state seen as a national model for fiscal austerity could be forced to find millions of dollars for new prisons.
Senate committee passes sentencing-reform bill
An Indiana Senate committee has passed a plan that would keep violent felons in prison longer and reduce punishments for many thefts and drug crimes.
New state prisons chief, utility board member named
Gov. Mitch Daniels has appointed a new leader for Indiana's prisons system and selected a new member for the state utility commission to replace a member ousted because of an ethics controversy with Duke Energy.
Indiana chief justice endorses sentencing changes
A report suggests allowing judges to sentence people convicted of lesser felonies to community corrections, which would help free up prison space for the state’s worst offenders and potentially saving more than $1 billion that would otherwise go toward building new prisons.
Indiana prisons chief heading to Florida
Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott, who takes office on Jan. 4, on Tuesday named Indiana corrections chief Ed Buss to run Florida’s massive prison system.
State lawmakers face tough choices over prison costs
Indiana lawmakers will swim rough political waters next year when deciding whether to spend millions more on overcrowded prisons or reducing prison sentences and being seen as soft on crime.
Initiative aims to cut Indiana prison costs
Indiana will soon get its first comprehensive review of the state's criminal code and sentencing policies since 1976,
and officials hope the project will save taxpayer money and reduce how frequently released inmates return to prison
City program gives firms incentive to hire ex-offenders
A pilot project is providing jobs for 70 ex-convicts, with their $10-an-hour wages covered
by Uncle Sam for six months. City officials hope they can then transition into other jobs or receive recommendations that
help them to find other work.
Ivy Tech takes over state prison GED classes
The Indiana Department of Correction plans to shed the jobs of 118 teachers for GED, literacy and vocational classes at prisons
by turning those programs over to Ivy Tech Community College.
Biomass boilers could save Indiana prisons $36M
New biomass boilers at four Indiana prisons are projected to save the state $36 million over 10 years. The Indiana Department
of Correction says it dedicated the first of the new boilers last week at the Pendleton Correctional Facility northeast of
Indianapolis.
Column was disrespectful of Americans who support marijuana’s legalization
Marijuana legalization deserves a thoughtful debate, not ridicule from Morton Marcus.
$40M prison work program helps inmates, businesses
If you’ve ever cooked a hamburger over a grill at Shakamak State Park, sat in a hospital waiting room chair, or sipped from a water fountain, you may have used products made by Indiana convicts. Although offender work programs have been around since the 1920s, most Hoosiers know little about the Indiana Department of Correction’s prison-based industries, which generate $40 million a year in revenue.