INDIANAPOLIS — Marion County's new state-of-the-art Criminal Justice Center is officially open and city leaders say the massive project signals a new culture in the local justice system — one that values the humanity of inmates and takes a unique approach to mental health and addiction treatments for inmates.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and other city leaders cut the ribbon on the new Indianapolis-Marion County Community Justice Campus (CJC) on Monday.
The campus, which took years and hundreds of millions of dollars to build, is now a fully operational site on the city’s southeast side.
The CJC now houses multiple levels of the justice system, including both the Marion County Superior and Circuit courts, the adult detention center and the Assessment and Intervention Center (AIC).
But, as Indianapolis City-County Council President Vop Osili explained, the CJC "is much more than a new set of buildings."
"It reflects the new culture of our local system of justice, one centered on our commitment to value the humanity of incarcerated persons, to treat mental and behavioral health challenges, including addiction, as medical problems, and to see the period of incarceration as one during which individuals can receive help to make better choices when they leave," Osili said.
The AIC is playing a big role in that shift in the justice system that Osili described.
The AIC, which opened to the public in December 2020, is a pioneering mental health and addiction treatment facility to help keep nonviolent, low-level offenders out of jail, provide wrap-around support services and reduce recidivism.
GALLERY: Ribbon cutting for new Indianapolis-Marion County Community Justice Campus
In addition to this, the new adult detention center offers improved physical and mental health services for inmates, including modern medical facilities, enhanced addiction treatment and Sheriff Kerry Forestal's new Suicide Prevention Advocates.
And the new courthouse features a robust legal resource center that will help people navigate the court system and, Marion Superior Court Judge Amy Jones said, enhance "their access to justice."
Although the campus is entirely open for business, Hogsett emphasized leaders should not lose sight of the goal to keep improving the flawed criminal justice system.
"As we mark this occasion, we recognize that our work to reform our criminal justice system is not finished. Because we did not set out to build buildings, we set out to change as many lives as possible," Hogsett said.