INjail system would be one of first in nation to link county jails statewide

In an effort to connect all the county jails under one digital management system, the Indiana Supreme Court has worked to create a platform called INjail that many believe to be one of the first of its kind in the nation.

The impetus came six years ago when the Jail Overcrowding Task Force issued a report that found a gap in data being collected from jails and difficulty for the myriad of jail management and court systems to communicate with each other.

In all, there are 20 different jail management systems used in Indiana. If the state can combine them into one, the hope is that overcrowding could be eased by finding unused space in other counties when inmates could be transferred.

It would also help guarantee that accurate and timely information is being shared across the state by all arms of the court and criminal justice system.

Chief Justice Loretta Rush said the information is all is silos now. “If somebody’s in one county and gets released, and there’s a hold on another county, that person can just be let go.”

The hope is all that will change once INjail is elevated from a pilot project to a full-fledged statewide system. Rush is trying to make that happen by asking the Indiana General Assembly for $3 million over the next two years to implement the program statewide.

At the moment, only four counties are on the new system as part of a grant-funded pilot project. They are Elkhart, Grant, Martin and Warren counties.

In those counties, even the public can use the system to search for someone’s name to see if they’ve been arrested.

The system has provided a magnificent technological leap for rural Martin County, home to Shoals and Loogootee in southwestern Indiana.

“They had no way to do any kind of electronic records tracking. They didn’t even have a computer,” said Megen Morgan, project manager with the Indiana Office of Court Technology said.

Now, she said, inmate information is smoothly entered and tracked. “They have just flourished with it,” Morgan said.

Officials in the other counties also sing the project’s praises.

“Since implementing INjail, Elkhart County has experienced substantial improvements in booking efficiency, improved inmate housing management, and officer reporting,” Elkhart County Sheriff Jeff Siegel wrote in a letter. “The system’s ability to interface with state applications has ensured that vital information is accessible exactly when it is needed most by our local, state and federal justice partners.”

Siegel gave the example that INjail provides more professional and standardized mug shots that have simplified their booking procedures.

“This capability has not only strengthened operational efficiency but also reinforced public safety and justice system accountability,” Siegel wrote.

What does it do?

In Indiana, most of the jail management systems are fairly simple with the booking information at the time of arrest.

INjail connects to many other data systems, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Offender Management System, the Indiana State Police Criminal History Repository, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, the Indiana Prosecutor Case Management System and many more.

Morgan said the new system substantially improves fingerprint collection.

Under other systems currently in operation, an inmate may be released before authorities realize that person’s collected fingerprint scan is faulty or unreadable.

That doesn’t happen with INjail. The system quicly flags a faulty fingerprint scan for a retake.

“The goal is to try to stop that process before they get out the door, get that notification back and get those prints collected,” Morgan said.

When a person is being prepared for release, the system will also let the authorities know if they need to be held for charges in another jurisdiction.

The system also helps public defenders and probation officers keep track of clients and offenders. And it tracks participation by inmates in education initiatives or Alcoholics Anonymous.

“It’s huge,” Morgan said.

Expansion plans

INjail plans to expand to Fountain, Hendricks, Jennings, Marion, Morgan, Putnam, and Tippecanoe counties within the next year or so.

But Rush wants to take the project statewide. That’s why she’s asking the Legislature for $3 million over the next two years.

The system is funded by federal grants at the moment.

Mary DePrez, executive director of the Office of Court Technology, said the court’s first three grants totaled $4.3 million and now the project has started spending its last grant of $1.5 million.

“We’re hoping to make it through the end of this year on that grant funding, we might be able to make it into the first quarter of 2026 just depends on how much more development work we do,” DePrez said. “We still have a long way to go.”•