Monday's budget hearing, and the jail question the Council has not asked

Family visits at the Adult Detention Center did not come up at the Sept. 28 planning council or the Sept. 30 committee vote. Before Oct. 19, one written question from one councilor would put an answer on paper.

On Monday, October 5, at 7 p.m., the Indianapolis City-County Council holds its public hearing on the 2027 budget. The final vote is October 19. Between now and then, the Council can still ask questions, and it can still change the budget.

One question has not been asked: what would it take to let families visit people in the Adult Detention Center in person again?

What happened at the last two meetings

On September 28, the Sheriff's Office gave its regular jail report to the Criminal Justice Planning Council. It reported 2,635 people in custody and 221 people already sentenced to state prison still waiting for transfer, 186 of them in the Adult Detention Center. Family visits did not come up.

On September 30, the Council's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee held its review of the public safety and criminal justice budget and voted to send it on to the full Council. According to the meeting recording, no councilor put a question to the Sheriff's Office. The jail, mental health care and family visits were not discussed.

What did come up shows how that room works. The Community Corrections director told the committee he had sent the city's Office of Finance and Management a $1.5 million request to end ankle monitor fees. Members of a reentry group used public comment to ask for an answer. Councilors pressed the finance office, which said it would respond to Council staff before the October 19 adoption. A dollar figure, a department on record, people in the seats and a deadline: that request moved.

Two other exchanges at that meeting point the way. The Council's chief financial officer said that answers to the follow-up questions committee members had asked during budget hearings were sent to councilors by email. And when a councilor asked whether the budget could still change before the final vote, the answer was yes. An amendment goes to Council staff for review before the full Council meeting.

So the tools already exist. A councilor can send one written question. If the answer calls for it, a councilor can propose an amendment.

The question

What would it take to restore in-person family visits at the Adult Detention Center, starting with the mental health units, and what would it cost?

Since the jail opened in 2022, family visits there have been by video only. The Sheriff's Office visitation page lists in-person visits for attorneys and professionals only. Once people reach state prison, the Department of Correction offers "traditional forms of visitation (contact and non-contact)," with video as an extra option.

A written answer would show whether the obstacle is staffing, the building, the vendor contract, or simply habit. On the contract, federal rules have banned jail commissions on calls and video visits since April 6, 2026, though providers may still add up to 2 cents a minute for a jail's costs and pass that money to the jail. On September 25, I asked the Sheriff's Office under Indiana's public records law for its ViaPath contract and any money the county receives from it. That request is still pending.

Why the Council should ask now

The sheriff runs the jail, and the Council sets its budget. A new sheriff takes office January 1, after this budget is already adopted. Both candidates, Tom Vaughn and Kelvis Williams, want people sentenced to state prison moved out of the jail faster. Neither has yet said in public whether families will be able to visit in person again. Their own words are side by side on our candidate tracker.

An answer on paper before October 19 would give the Council a number to weigh, and give whoever wins in November a starting point on day one.

Why I keep asking

My son lives with serious mental illness and spent nine months in the Adult Detention Center. In those nine months our family never had a single visit with him, in person or by video. I saw him only in brief glimpses across a courtroom at his few hearings. When he was moved to state prison, I could visit him in person again.

What should change

1. Before October 19, at least one councilor should send the Sheriff's Office the written question above, the same way other follow-up questions were handled this budget season.
2. If the answer shows a modest cost, the Council should consider an amendment or a budget note asking the Sheriff's Office for a plan and a start date, beginning with the mental health units.
3. The Sheriff's regular jail report to the Criminal Justice Planning Council should include visit counts, in person and by video.
4. Video visits should stay, as one choice among two.

If you live in Marion County, write to your City-County Councilor before Monday's hearing and ask them to send that one question. The Council roster, with each member's email, is linked below.

Sources

1. City of Indianapolis, Criminal Justice Planning Council meeting video, Sept. 28, 2026 (Granicus archive, clip 26290)
2. City-County Council, Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting recording, Sept. 30, 2026
3. WISH-TV, "Panel advances $400 million budget proposal for Indianapolis police in 2027" (Sept. 30, 2026)
4. Mirror Indy, 2027 city-county budget calendar (Aug. 28, 2026)
5. Marion County Sheriff's Office, Visit with a person in jail
6. Indiana Department of Correction, Visitation
7. Federal Communications Commission, staff notice DA 26-567 (June 8, 2026)
8. Federal Register, FCC final rule on incarcerated people's communication services (Dec. 5, 2025)
9. Unheard Indy, "Where the candidates for sheriff stand on family visits, five weeks out" (Sept. 30, 2026)
10. Indianapolis City-County Council roster

Kate Vale, a mother in the gallery