IDOC owes Marion County nearly $600K for housing state inmates

INDIANAPOLIS – County sheriffs across the state said the Indiana Department of Correction owes them, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars for housing their inmates.

The state claims it ran out of money to reimburse those counties. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said the Adult Detention Center has been backed up over the last year or so with inmates sentenced to the IDOC, but during that time, the IDOC stopped sending payments for holding them.

An MCSO spokesperson said in a statement, in part:

“The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has a longstanding positive relationship with the Indiana Department of Correction… Fortunately, with Governor Mike Braun’s appointment of Commissioner Lloyd Arnold, the situation has improved. The MCSO met with Commissioner Arnold and his staff early on to address concerns. Serious progress has been made to reduce the backlog. The MCSO remains committed to working with the Braun administration, Commissioner Lloyd and the Indiana General Assembly to address any and all remaining issues.”

Over the past two weeks, 155 inmates have been removed from Marion County’s custody. As of today, they say 130 remain. However, the IDOC still owes $590,300 to Marion County alone for the period from April through December 2024.

Marion isn’t the only county that’s been housing state inmates on their own dime. President of the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association and Tippecanoe County Sheriff Bob Goldsmith said he also stopped receiving payments nearly a year ago.

“Anybody that’s sent to the Department of Corrections that’s in county jails, the state’s supposed to be paying us $37.50 per day per inmate,” Sheriff Goldsmith said.

Meanwhile, the IDOC pays roughly double that to keep a prisoner in one of its own facilities, with an average per diem of $79.85. So, the state technically saves money by leaving an inmate in a county jail.

“The DOC isn’t taking all the inmates that have been sentenced, we’ll say, in a timely manner,” Goldsmith said. “They’re backed up at RDC, and we understand that. But, that makes it difficult here.”

Goldsmith said the per diem cost covers everything that goes into housing an inmate – from food, lighting, sewage to manpower, and the lack of reimbursements is hitting smaller Indiana counties the hardest.

“There are other sheriffs that are having to house inmates and other facilities because they are overcrowded,” Goldsmith explained. “And in some cases those sheriffs are paying the other sheriff that per diem.”

The question remains, why is this happening? When asked, a spokesperson for the IDOC said in a statement: “Funding for this expense has been exhausted for State Fiscal Year 2025. IDOC is working with the State Budget Agency on available options. We are continuing to communicate with counties about this issue.”

“I know right now when they say they don’t have any money, I have to trust that they’re looking for ways to fund this and make it right,” Goldsmith said.