Indiana DOC grant cut reduces Marion County community‑corrections funding by about $1.3 million

Marion County Community Corrections Director Scott Hole told the Marion County Community Correction Advisory Board and Local Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council on July 17 that the county's 2026 grant award from the Indiana Department of Corrections was reduced from nearly $8,200,000 to $6,900,000.

"We did receive the 2026 grant award letter from the Indiana Department of Corrections," Director Scott Hole said during the meeting.

The cut, Hole said, largely reflected statewide decisions by the department and affected programs that in past years had been funded through the DOC grant. "The jail treatment programs, pretrial service programs, and prosecutor diversion programs were zeroed out across the state," he said. Problem-solving courts also sustained cuts in varying amounts, he added.

Why it matters: those programs provide treatment and diversion options intended to keep people out of the criminal justice system. Board members expressed concern about lost services and the potential downstream costs if people cannot access treatment or diversion locally.

Hole said the Indiana Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council (JRAC) and the state-level Justice Reinvestment effort were discussing alternative funding avenues for the programs that lost DOC support but provided no details. "They are exploring other funding opportunities specifically for those programs that were zeroed out," he said. He did not specify what sources JRAC was considering or whether those discussions would restore funding to Marion County.

Board chair Paige Bova Kervin asked for clarity about the specific local impacts: "The programs that we're losing, what are we losing?" Hole said he could not address every local program in detail at the meeting and encouraged board members whose programs were affected to speak to specifics in future meetings.

Hole said the cuts reduced the county's total award by about $1.2 million statewide and that restoring funds would likely require action in a future legislative budget cycle. "That's gonna be at least two years out because it wouldn't be until the next budget cycle for the legislature," he said.

The board did not take formal action on the DOC award at the July 17 meeting. Members were briefed and asked questions; Hole said he would bring additional information as it becomes available and noted that state JRAC conversations may produce alternative funding but offered no timeline or guarantees.

The advisory board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 21 at noon in the same room.