Former Inmate: Marion County Jail Overrun with Drugs

INDIANAPOLIS — Behind the locked doors of the Marion County Jail, far more is happening than routine cell checks and mealtime, a former inmate says.

Rick, who has prior domestic violence convictions and served six to seven months in 2023, says the jail is full of drug deals, extortion, and a system that implicates both inmates and corrections officers.

“You make your lunch tray into a tool,” Rick said. “They use the light fixtures in the ceiling to create what they call a wick—so they can fire it up and smoke the KD. And the KD? It’s rampant in there.”

K2, also called synthetic marijuana or “KD” among inmates, remains a pervasive issue, Rick said.

The claims echo September 2023 reporting, when Marion County corrections officer Bryce Birdsong was charged with bringing Suboxone into the jail and selling it to inmates. Prosecutors said he made thousands of dollars from the transactions.

Rick, however, questioned details in the criminal complaint.

“I read the report about the officer handing off Suboxone in a cup during rec time,” he said. “But there is no rec time—not like that. They open an open bay area at 9 a.m. and close it at 3 p.m., but there’s no real way for that kind of handoff to happen with a cup the way they described.”