In advance of lower-risk offenders staying in local jails instead of going to state prisons, counties across Indiana have requested more than $17 million from the state.
The counties are trying to get a slice of new grant funding coming from the Indiana Department of Correction. However, for the first round of appropriations this fiscal year, the DOC only has $5 million to give.
Sixty applications came in to the DOC by the Sept. 18 deadline asking for a total of $17.4 million. Some of the applications were submitted from regional groups, so the total number of counties involved in this round is about 70.