MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA, Ind. — The Madison County Detention Center has enough beds for 207 inmates.
On Sept. 13, however, the jail was housing 227 inmates, according to sheriff Scott Mellinger.
"We are 22 people over capacity, which means there are 22 people sleeping on a cement floor with a three-inch-thick foam-padded mattress. That creates all kinds of security issues," Mellinger said.
Overcapacity has been a challenge all year, according to the sheriff, who said the jail could be 20-50 people over capacity on any given day.
Jail staff say they are forced to play "musical chairs," especially with "keep separate" inmates, which means inmates have a history and cannot be in the same cell.
"That is probably the toughest job we have currently any time you are overcrowded," Mellinger said.
Since the early 2000s, Mellinger said illegal drug use has taken off locally, contributing to the increasing number of inmates.
"On any given day, 70-80% of our offenders are in jail because of something to do with illegal drugs," Mellinger said. "Buying, selling, or committing crimes so they can have resources to get drugs."
Major Joey Cole with the sheriff's department said the second floor of the detention center houses maximum-security inmates.
"We have 16-plus inmates in a cell block, and we only have eight chairs for them to sit in," Cole said.
What may only seem like an inconvenience to people outside the jail, staff inside say these kinds of shortages can lead to major security concerns.
For example, officers are forced to step over inmates at night to get a head count in each cell. That puts both officer and inmate safety in jeopardy.
"Everybody that is in jail today, they are felons or at least charged with a felony," Cole said.
That includes 10 other inmates being housed in other county jails because there is no more room at the Madison County Detention Center.
That comes at a cost of $40 per day per inmate, according to the sheriff.
"$40 per day per inmate may not sound like a lot of money, but it adds up extremely quickly," Mellinger said. "We have averaged paying $20,000 per month this year to house inmates out of county."
Mellinger said some of that money comes from taxpayer dollars.
Madison County residents also saw their income taxes go up to help pay for the new jail. While he knows some people don't agree with the money being spent, the sheriff hopes residents will at least value officer safety and decide to support the plan.
"Whether or not the citizens care about inmate safety, that's up to them, but we care about it. The law mandates that we care about it," Mellinger said.
In Anderson, the Community Justice Center (CJC) operates what Mellinger refers to as a "mini jail," called the Madison County Correctional Complex (MCCC).
"Most of the people there are people who would be in this jail if we had enough beds," Mellinger said.
According to Mellinger, the MCCC was initially designed to hold misdemeanor offenders only.
"I'm going to estimate that, today, 75% of the people in MCCC have felony charges," Mellinger said. "If we didn't have CJC running that complex, we would be in a real crisis because they house over 100 people there typically, and there is no way we could absorb 100 people."
Cole said the Madison County Jail, which has been used since 1984, only adds more challenges to an already overcrowded space.
"Plumbing is just horrible today," Cole during 13News' visit.
Decades-old pipes keep this building functioning, just like the elevators that transport inmates from floor to floor.
"It's hard to describe to people how much time it takes to move people in that building, but it's truly unexpectable," Mellinger said.
Mellinger said an architect has been hired for the new jail project, which is waiting to be assigned a property. However, the delay is also contributing to the overcrowding inside the jail.
"We should have had a new jail completed and moved into two years ago, and it probably would have saved this county over $30 million because of price increases, so it does effect everybody," Mellinger said.
As the project moves forward, jail staff say they appreciate the support from the Madison County Council.
"Our County Council has stepped up when we needed them," Mellinger said.
Now, Mellinger and the Indiana Sheriffs' Association are calling on state leaders to invest in more mental health facilities. The sheriff said that could decrease prison counts and help inmates get the help they really need.
"I've never seen sicker people in our jail than I see right now," Mellinger said. "I'm talking about physical health and mental health. We are easily the largest mental health facility in the county, and that shouldn't be."
Additionally, local changes to the state's pre-trial release program could keep more people in jail for a longer period of time.
Madison County adopted the program more than two years ago, but the county says it no longer has the human resources to keep the program alive, according to Mellinger.
"Those changes, in my opinion, will absolutely cause a significant increase in the number of people who are in our jail," Mellinger said.
In the meantime, the sheriff is asking for moral support from the residents of Madison County to support his staff working inside the jail.
Currently, the detention center has 45 officer pay slots, but Mellinger said the jail would operate more efficiently with eight more openings.
Officer burnout, combined with a lower number of people applying to work at the detention center, has lead to massive turnover, according to the sheriff.
"That puts huge stress on everybody else," Mellinger said. "It creates a lot of mandatory overtime. You can't continue to operate a facility safely when a third of your staff has been hired in the last six months."