After years of talk and not much action, Monroe County officials are reviewing architectural renderings, square footage and cost estimates for a long-proposed justice center for a new jail and related offices.

The cost to taxpayers? About $225 million for a 237,161-square-foot, 3-level structure to be built on property at the Ind. 46 junction with Hunter Valley Road, just west of Bloomington.

The proposed justice center will contain a 404-bed jail, courtrooms and offices for the sheriff, courts, prosecutor, public defender, probation, community corrections and county clerk departments.

An alternative and more expensive option would add 96 jail beds and an inmate discharge resource center — and 5,000 square feet — to the complex. Expanding the jail to 500 beds would cost an additional $5

See Full Page