by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter 

Two major Hamilton County government projects are now cleared for funding next year following a joint meeting of county leadership. County Commissioners and County Council members met yesterday to approve expansion of the county Government and Judicial Center and the County Jail.

Both projects are expected to actually get underway in 2018 to answer the need for more space due to the county’s continuing growth in population. The approvals, being recommended by the commissioners, come after months of study and debate.

The $25.4 million addition to the judicial center in downtown Noblesville is all that commissioners asked. The jail expansion, with a cost of $13.1 million, is a compromise of sorts between council and commissioners. Commissioners had asked to expand the jail to house about 220 more inmates, but the council wanted to add space for 120 new bunks.

The jail, built in 1994, has a capacity of 296, but often is overcrowded. The commissioners feel that building for future needs would be better than facing another expansion later. The compromise provides for a ‘shell’ that can allow the further addition of cells for an estimated $4 million.

The judicial center expansion will see a new addition to the west of the current 25-year-old building that will increase floor space by around 50 percent. More courtrooms, offices and storage space are planned. Tentative plans call for eventually moving offices, currently in the old courthouse, to the new structure.

County officials say the projects can be accomplished without any increase in the local property tax rate. The county has several million dollars in reserve and the ability to sell bonds that will take the place of an earlier bond issue that is soon to be paid off.