TICKETING IS EASING CROWDED LOCKUP, OFFICIALS SAY

INDIANAPOLIS- Marion County officials say a new strategy of ticketing
certain nonviolent offenders instead of locking them up seems to be working.

A federal judge threatened to fine the sheriff's department for overcrowded
conditions at the county lockup.

But by issuing tickets instead of making arrests for such offenses as
prostitution, shoplifting and marijuana use, officials have kept the lockup
under the court-ordered cap of 297 inmates since April 14. And since
Thursday, the temporary holding facility has met another goal by releasing
people or moving them to the county jail within four days.

Despite this success, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued a
schedule of fines under which the sheriff's department would pay from $200
to $500 a day for each inmate over the population or length-of-stay limits.
Moreover, the county would be fined an additional $10,000 if the inmate
count exceeds 337 or any inmate remains in the lockup more than 10 days.

Sheriff's Department attorney Christopher D. Seigel said Monday that
officials had hoped to avoid the threat of fines, which would go toward
lockup improvements.

"I wanted the fines to represent some sort of bite or sting," Barker told
The Indianapolis Star.

Her order allows the court to "step in where there may have been a failure
of political will and put money on the table," she said.

Indiana Civil Liberties Union attorney Kenneth J. Falk, who represents
inmates in the 30-year-old lawsuit over jail and lockup conditions,
predicted the threat of fines will be effective because officials hate to
lose control of spending.

Barker encouraged local judges to continue their efforts, such as having a
"duty judge" available at all hours to decide detention issues. Under the
present policy, people suspected of nonviolent, minor crimes, such as
prostitution or driving without a license, are only issued tickets ordering
them to appear in court.

The county hopes to open a new lockup in January.