Lt. Justin Arnholt
The Bartholomew County Sheriff Department will use an online, legal-based guideline system approved by the county commissioners Monday to help reduce litigation filed against the department.
The system is basically online training, so when complaints and grievances are made regarding treatment of an inmate, jail personnel will know how to move forward, jail commander Capt. Justin Arnholt told the commissioners.
“If anyone makes a grievance, we can go into this program, type it up, and it will show us every case law that has dealt with that particular issue,” Arnholt said. “It gives us guidance on how to address grievances and keep things running efficiently.”
The cost for the online system from the National Institute for Jail Operations includes an implementation fee of $3,750. After that, the county pays $325 a month for a minimum of three years, the jail commander said.
But taxpayers will not be footing the bill. The jail is going to pay for the new system out of the commissary funds that each inmate puts money into for purchasing food, hygiene, and property items, Arnholt said.
Arnholt said he estimates about 90% of the grievances jailers receive deal with medical issues, food and religion.
“If we don’t answer those correctly, it gets turned into a tort claim and becomes tied up in the legal system,” the jail commander said.
Larry Kleinhenz, who has served as a county commissioner since 1992, says he’s amazed by the variety of complaints he’s been made aware of over the past several years.
They range from ill-fitting shoes, inadequate bedding and uncomfortable temperatures to a bullying cellmate, inadequate recreational time and a corrections officer who allegedly dislikes an inmate, Kleinhenz said.
Arnholt also announced Monday that the older part of the jail has been now reopened. He’s referring to the cell block with dormitory-style cells utilized for drug treatment programs and to house those accused of low-level crimes, Arnholt said. This part of the jail is referred to as Cell One by corrections officers, and requires six corrections officers to staff it at all times.
Cell One has been closed for several weeks while workers installed a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. While the HVAC system is still 10% incomplete, Arnholt said Cell One is now comfortable enough to house inmates again.
