State agencies spent $5 million on travel in 2024 fiscal year
Indiana’s state agencies collectively spent $5 million on travel during the 2024 fiscal year, with the favored hotel chain being Holiday Inn.
Department of Correction
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Inmates seeking COVID compassionate release face higher hurdle with 7th Circuit ruling
Since March 2020, attorney Kathryn DiNardo has taken up dozens of cases through the Indiana Federal Community Defenders from inmates hoping to be released early because of the pandemic. Those cases are but a drop in the bucket of inmates who have applied for compassionate release, and a July ruling from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has seemingly further dwindled their chances of success.
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Indy woman tries to aid incarcerated son filing pro se lawsuits against prison guards
A pair of complaints filed in 2021 by Pendleton Correctional Facility inmate Danny Johnson is showing the lawsuits can add to the frustration and sadness felt by the families who have relatives behind bars.
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DOC partnership provides Narcan kits to released inmates
In light of an increase of relapses and overdose numbers, the Indiana Department of Correction this month announced it would start offering naloxone, an agent used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, to every offender released from a DOC facility.
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Web Exclusive: Pendleton inmate wins $425K solitary settlement with help from Chicago, pro bono attorneys
A Pendleton Correctional Facility inmate will be paid $425,000 by the state after spending four years in isolation for a disciplinary violation he says he didn’t commit. But the settlement might not have been agreed upon without the help of a Chicago-based justice center that says it advocates for underdogs.
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Articles
Former addiction counselor sentenced for dealing meth, narcotics
A former addiction counselor was sentenced to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for dealing methamphetamine and narcotic drugs to patients in recovery, according to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
DOC educational credit time not guaranteed for inmates in program, COA affirms
A woman convicted of multiple drug-related crimes received the correct amount of educational credit time and did not have the right to immediate discharge from prison, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Monday.
Lawsuit challenges state’s handling of mentally ill
With allegations that individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial are being left to languish in Indiana’s county jails, a federal lawsuit filed in May by Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services is bringing renewed attention to the treatment of mentally ill inmates in the state’s criminal justice system.
Bill allowing Level 6 felons to go to DOC headed to governor’s desk
A bill allowing Level 6 felony offenders to serve their sentences in the Indiana Department of Correction for mental health and addiction treatment is headed for the governor’s desk.
Drug offender wrongfully placed in DOC instead of county jail, COA rules
A trial court abused its discretion when it ordered a man to spend 1½ years in the Indiana Department of Correction for Level 6 felony drug possession charges, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed.
Indiana Senate endorses bill allowing Level 6 offenders to go to DOC
A bill allowing Level 6 felony offenders to serve their sentences in the Indiana Department of Correction for addiction and mental health treatment has passed the full Indiana Senate, setting the bill up for final consideration.
After failed amendments, IN Senate set to vote on bill allowing Level 6 offenders in DOC
Efforts to amend a bill that would undo a key tenet of criminal justice reform legislation has failed in the Indiana Senate, setting the bill up for a final vote in the upper chamber.
Bill allowing Level 6 offenders to go to DOC heads to full Indiana Senate
A bill that would roll back a major provision of Indiana criminal justice reform legislation is headed for the full Indiana Senate, but concerns still linger over whether the state is doing its part to provide treatment to criminal offenders with mental illnesses and addictions.
House endorses bill allowing Level 6 offenders to go to DOC
In endorsing legislation allowing more people convicted of Level 6 felonies to be sentenced to the Department of Correction, an Indiana House Republican said the move was the result of learning from recent data. But some House Democrats said the bill was actually a sign that the Legislature had failed in its wide-ranging criminal justice reform bill passed nearly a decade ago.
Police investigate Indiana prison inmate’s death as homicide
An inmate died after suffering severe injuries at a northern Indiana prison and his death is being investigated as a homicide, state police said Thursday.
COA allows prisoner’s negligence complaint to proceed
The Court of Appeals of Indiana is allowing a negligence complaint by a prisoner against the Indiana Department of Correction to proceed, partially reversing a dismissal by the Perry Circuit Court.
US prisons face staff shortages as officers quit amid COVID
Staff shortages have long been a challenge for prison agencies, given the low pay and grueling nature of the work. But the coronavirus pandemic — and its impact on the labor market — has pushed many corrections systems into crisis.
Man sentenced to prison for string of arsons in Indianapolis
A man has been sentenced to prison for a string of arsons over a number of years in Indianapolis. David Bradshaw will serve 32 years in the Indiana Department of Correction as part of a 40-year total sentence, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said.
DOC: Indiana lethal injection drugs long expired
A lawsuit that sought information about the drugs Indiana plans to use in lethal injections and that motivated the Legislature to use a late-night session to keep the veil of secrecy intact has come to a close, with the state paying more than $800,000 in legal fees and disclosing that its supply of lethal injection drugs has long been expired.
Indiana sees big cost jump with new prison medical contract
Indiana could pay about 50% more a year for prison medical services with a new contractor picked by state officials.
In third appeal of burglary case, COA rules released defendant can’t be resentenced
Taking his case to the Indiana Court of Appeals for a third time, a man who served his sentence for burglary convictions and was released will not return to prison after the appellate court determined the trial court lacked authority to order the man’s resentencing.
Governor signs post-release mental health treatment bill
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday signed into law a bill that will provide extra time for offenders to secure mental health treatment upon their release from the Indiana Department of Correction.
Justices: Juvenile convicted of attempted murder failed to show parent ‘essential’
When juvenile defendants are tried in adult court, parents who are also witnesses may be excluded from witness-separation orders if their children establish them as “essential” to the presentation of evidence, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled. However, applying that holding to the facts of the case before them, justices concluded an Elkhart County teen failed to establish his mom was “essential” to his attempted murder defense.
Druidism must be recognized in Department of Correction, judge rules
Druidism could soon become a formally recognized religion within the Indiana Department of Correction after a federal judge granted injunctive relief to a prisoner who claimed his religious rights were violated by the lack of communal Druid services in the DOC.