Hogsett’s criminal justice center could cost $575 million

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration on Tuesday estimated that its proposed new jail, courthouse and intervention center would cost between $565 million and $575 million.

City officials on Jan. 31 announced the new “community justice campus” would be located at the site of the former Citizens Energy coke plant, southeast of downtown.

A task force working on the project is slated to announce the financing, procurement and construction processes of the project on March 31.

In a Feb. 28 memo, the Indianapolis Criminal Justice Reform Task Force’s finance committee said the proposed consolidated jail—which would include a health facility and an arrestee processing and engagement center—would make up $365 million of the total cost.

A new building to hold the county’s criminal, civil and juvenile courts and affiliated offices could cost $195 million.

And an assessment and intervention center, which would include mental health and addiction clinicians and social service providers, would cost about $9.5 million.

Other miscellaneous renovations could be $74 million, which would come on top of the $565 million to $575 million for the complex, according to the estimates.

Courts are set to decide by May 1 the scope of participation, with a decision to come through the Marion Superior Executive Committee. That decision could impact project costs, as could factors such as environmental remediation expenses and various economic factors. 

Comparatively, under former Mayor Greg Ballard’s administration, the city had planned to spend $408 million on a courthouse and jail complex but later revised that cost down. The city would have spent $1.6 billion in total—including principal and interest payments—over 35 years to finance the project, which the City-County Council rejected.

The memo, released Tuesday, did not say how much Hogsett’s proposal with interest and financing would eventually cost the city. However, officials have estimated the city has $35 million each year for the next 30 years to pay for the development and construction of the campus, according to the memo.

HOK, a design, engineering and architecture firm, is serving as the city’s consultant on the project. That firm previously worked with the city under the Ballard administration and drafted the original requests for proposal.