Where the candidates for sheriff stand on family visits, five weeks out

Tom Vaughn and Kelvis Williams agree the county jail holds too many people who belong in state prison. Neither has yet said in public whether families will be able to visit in person.

On November 3, Marion County elects a new sheriff, who takes office January 1. Whoever wins will decide whether families can visit people held in the Adult Detention Center in person. 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.

This page tracks what each candidate has said in public, in his own words, and what he has not yet said. Both get the same questions. I will update it as answers come in.

The tracker, as of September 30

• Asked in writing about in-person family visits: Vaughn, yes. Williams, yes.
• Public statement on in-person family visits: Vaughn, none found. Williams, none found.
• Committed to restore them, with a date: Vaughn, not yet. Williams, not yet.
• Wants state-sentenced people moved out of the jail faster: Vaughn, yes. Williams, yes.

Tom Vaughn (Republican)

His campaign site lists "A Safer, Smarter Jail System: Staffing, transport, and operational excellence," and commits to "the right staffing levels, safer facilities, and disciplined inmate transport," guided by "data and clear procedures."

In WFYI's voter guide, he said jails became the hospitals after state facilities closed, and that jail staff lack the training for it. He proposed more training and faster transfers of convicted people to state prison, saying people "who are convicted of a crime and are supposed to go off to prison" can end up in the sheriff's jail "for years."

On family visits: nothing in the campaign site or the voter guide.

Kelvis Williams (Democrat)

In Mirror Indy's voter guide, he said: "I support the pending litigation to take the more than 200 state convicts out of the ADC. And I support legislation to make the State of Indiana pay for the entire cost of housing IDOC convicts." He also lists "expanding reentry programs, reducing recidivism, and investing in youth diversion, education, and mentorship," and wants "better care facilities provided and funded by the state of Indiana for those who struggle with mental health and substance abuse."

On family visits: nothing in the voter guide profile.

Where they already agree

Both men name the same problem: people sentenced to state prison who are still sitting in the county jail. Both also name mental illness as part of what the jail is carrying.

The newest count came on September 28. At the Criminal Justice Planning Council, the Sheriff's Office reported 2,635 people in custody at the Adult Detention Center and 221 awaiting transfer to the Department of Correction, 186 of them housed in the jail. The office said the department's pickups have not improved, and that two weeks earlier it had begun moving some state-sentenced people to the Carroll County jail to make room for new arrests. A member of the planning council asked that the report again separate pretrial from post-conviction counts, noting that a significant number of people held are pretrial. Family visits and mental health care did not come up.

Once people reach state prison, the Department of Correction offers "traditional forms of visitation (contact and non-contact)," with video as an extra option. So faster transfers would bring some families back to a visiting room. They would do nothing for the more than 2,400 other people in the jail, many of them awaiting trial, some of them in its mental health units.

Why I am keeping score

My son lives with serious mental illness and spent nine months in that jail. 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.

I have asked both campaigns in writing whether they will restore in-person family visits, and by when. On September 25, I also asked the Sheriff's Office, under Indiana's public records law, for its ViaPath contract, any commission terms, and the policy behind video-only visits. I will publish the candidates' answers here side by side, as written, and I will publish what the records show.

What should change

1. Before November 3, each candidate should tell voters whether he will restore in-person family visits at the Adult Detention Center, and by when. A start date in the first 100 days would give families something to hold on to.
2. Before its October 19 vote, the City-County Council should ask the Sheriff's Office for a plan and timeline to restore in-person visits, starting with the mental health units. The Council's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to review the 2027 budget tonight at 5:30 p.m., and the public hearing is October 5 at 7 p.m.
3. The Sheriff's regular jail report to the Criminal Justice Planning Council should include visit counts, in person and by video, so the public can see what families actually get.
4. Video visits should stay, as one choice among two.

If you live in Marion County, you can send a short written comment to your City-County Councilor before October 5, and you can ask both candidates this question wherever you meet them.

Sources

1. Tom Vaughn for Sheriff, campaign site (platform checked Sept. 25, 2026)
2. WFYI, 2026 Voter Guide: Marion County Sheriff (Sept. 22, 2026)
3. Mirror Indy Voter Guide, Kelvis Williams
4. City of Indianapolis, Criminal Justice Planning Council meeting video, Sept. 28, 2026 (Granicus archive, clip 26290)
5. Indiana Department of Correction, Visitation
6. Marion County Sheriff's Office, Visit with a person in jail
7. City-County Council, 2027 budget presentation schedule
8. Mirror Indy, 2027 city-county budget calendar (Aug. 28, 2026)

Kate Vale, a mother in the gallery