White County commissioners allow submission of 2026 IDOC grant applications for supervision, work release

White County commissioners on Friday voted to allow a county program official to submit two grant applications to the Indiana Department of Corrections for calendar year 2026 funding for community supervision operations and for a residential work‑release center.

The action, moved by a commissioner identified in the transcript as Commissioner 3 and seconded by Commissioner 4, passed on a voice vote after a short discussion of budget details and operating costs. "Commissioners, I'm here before you today to, share with you my budget," the applicant said, describing the two proposals and asking permission to file them on the DOC website.

The grants are intended to support ongoing community supervision operations and the county's newly opened residential work‑release center, which the applicant said has been in operation about 42 days. For the community supervision operations, the applicant said the total requested amount is $1,179,174.05, including an Indiana Department of Corrections request of $518,007.13 and project‑income (PI) funds of $331,115.45. The applicant said portions of the request would come from the county general fund as well; several dollar amounts for the residential work‑release application were unclear in the record and are not specified here.

Commissioners and other speakers pressed for clarity about which costs are expected to be covered by grant awards versus county funds. One commissioner noted that last month's utility bill for the building was about $4,500, and participants estimated annual utility costs could run to roughly $50,000 at current usage levels. A commissioner said the county likely will need to commit an additional roughly $40,000 in county funds beyond what is currently budgeted to cover building utilities and related costs. The transcript also records an estimate that project‑income funds may fall short of projections by approximately $5,000 per month; the applicant said he is pursuing additional grants from the Bureau of Justice Administration and other sources to help close funding gaps.

The applicant said the PI funds come from fees collected from participants on monitoring or in work release; those funds were also described as having been appropriated by the county council. The applicant said he had reviewed detailed line items with his advisory board and that the advisory board approved the two applications the day before the meeting.

Speakers discussed the possibility of serving offenders from surrounding counties if capacity allows, and mentioned discussions with Carroll County about a potential contract for beds. Commissioners also discussed whether utility costs should remain in the commissioners' budget for the moment to preserve the grant applications' structure; one commissioner said the grant submissions as presented "are perfectly right where they need to be." The applicant said he will obtain a required signature and upload the applications, and that the application deadline is the 11th, which created the need for the special meeting.

The record shows the commissioners approved the motion "that we allow [the applicant] to apply for his grants" and later approved a motion to adjourn. No roll‑call vote or individual vote tallies appear in the transcript; the approval was recorded by voice vote (aye). The transcript records that the applicant will secure a signature from "David" before submitting the applications.

The discussion highlighted uncertainty about operating costs for the new residential facility, the short timeframe since it opened, and the county's exposure for utilities and ongoing maintenance. The applicant said he will pursue additional grant funding and present a consolidated budget for normal processing in the regular meeting cycle next year, rather than by special session.