ACLU Sues Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Monroe County Jail Conditions
INDIANAPOLIS — The ACLU of Indiana has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Monroe County officials, citing chronic overcrowding, collapsing infrastructure, and unsafe living conditions at the county’s aging jail facility.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, July 10, 2026, comes after nearly two decades of litigation and failed promises by county leaders to resolve the facility’s ongoing issues.
The legal action names the Monroe County Council, Monroe County Commissioners, and the Monroe County Sheriff as defendants. Filed on behalf of all current and future incarcerated individuals, the suit argues that the current state of the jail violates the Fourteenth Amendment rights of pretrial detainees and the Eighth Amendment rights of convicted individuals.
This is not the first time the county’s jail has faced intense legal scrutiny. The ACLU of Indiana originally sued over jail conditions in 2008, which led to a court-approved settlement in 2009. For the last 17 years, that agreement was repeatedly extended as county officials continuously promised to build a new, modern facility. However, after the county repeatedly failed to move forward with construction plans, the long-standing settlement officially expired, and the original case was dismissed in June 2026—making this brand-new lawsuit necessary.
The more than 40-year-old facility routinely holds significantly more people than it can safely accommodate. According to data cited in the lawsuit, between June 2 and July 3, 2026, the jail held an average of nearly 260 people daily. The functional capacity of the facility is approximately 229.
The ACLU argues that this persistent overcrowding creates volatile tensions that lead directly to inmate violence. Furthermore, the lawsuit details a laundry list of severe infrastructure failures within the jail, including:
Extreme internal temperatures due to inadequate climate control
Widespread mold and crumbling walls
Broken plumbing and failing sanitation systems
Severe limitations on disability access
Failure to properly separate inmates based on their unique medical and security classifications
Ken Falk, Legal Director at the ACLU of Indiana, leveled the blame squarely at county leadership, noting that the community’s sheriff has long acknowledged the facility’s extensive flaws but lacks the funding authority under state law to fix them.
“Monroe County officials have known for years that the jail is overcrowded, unsafe, and falling apart,” Falk said in a statement. “They have had nearly two decades to find a lasting solution, yet people are still being held in unconstitutional conditions that threaten their health and safety. Studies have documented that the jail is dangerous and inadequate… the county officials who could solve this problem have not listened.”
The federal lawsuit seeks a court order forcing Monroe County to finally address the structural deficiencies and bring inmate populations down to constitutional and safe standards.
