ANDERSON – Madison County officials are hoping that the third time is the charm when it comes to operating a women’s work-release center.
Madison County has received a $341,104 grant from the Indiana Department of Correction to partially fund a women’s work-release center.
Ann Roberts, executive director of the Madison County Community Justice Center, said she will have to request additional funding from the Madison County Council from misdemeanant funds for the operating costs.
Commissioner John Richwine said Tuesday the women’s work-release center will be opened before the end of the year.
“We don’t have a location,” he said. “We have a location under consideration.”
Richwine said initially the center will house 12 women with a capacity of between 24 and 32 women when fully operational.
Roberts said the Community Justice Center is in the process of purchasing beds and interviewing potential employees.
Twice before, Madison County attempted to operate a women’s work-release center in the late 1990s and again in the early 2000s without success. Those efforts failed because of a lack of referrals from the courts, or enough women offenders to support the program.
Madison Circuit Court 3 Judge Thomas Newman said the news of the women’s work-release center comes at a good time for everyone involved in the justice system in Madison County.
Indiana’s new criminal code, which took effect July 1, shifts emphasis on punishment and rehabilitation from the state to individual counties and communities. Newman said the added facet to community corrections is long overdue.
“This will allow our women here to have the same opportunities and enjoy the benefits of work release,” Newman said. “We’ve tried to get it off the ground, but now it will have the appropriate support system. We’ve needed it for a long time.”
Earlier this year, the commissioners received bids to convert a building that was formerly part of the Triple-L youth center at the intersection of Mounds and Rangeline roads to a women’s work release center.
Two companies bid on the work. Fredericks Contractors submitted a bid of $269,039 for the work release center and $110,000 for parking lot improvements. Myer Construction bid $325,091 for the work release center and $105,000 for the parking lot work.
No contract was awarded as the county was awaiting word on the state grant.
At the time, Roberts said the county submitted a request to the state for $399,000 for operating costs. She said the largest expense is staffing for the facility that operates around the clock, every day of the year.
“Unless there is some state funding, the women’s work-release center probably won’t happen,” she said. “We need a women’s work-release center.”
The proposed center would house 24 women, who would be charged $13.57 per day. That would generate approximately $119,000 per year if operating at capacity.