City and county form public working group to pick new jail site, promise recommendation within a month

City and county officials agreed on June 11 to form a public, time‑bound working group to evaluate candidate sites for a new county jail and return a recommendation to the joint body within roughly one month.

The vote followed hours of planning‑focused discussion during a joint meeting of county council and the Bloomington City Council, where council members said location must be decided before design and funding can proceed.

"This meeting is really a collaboration session to see how the city can assist the county in getting a jail built," Mayor Carrie Thompson said, adding that the county runs and will build the facility but that the city can help with expedited planning and zoning processes.

Council President Crossley and several council members emphasized a need for tangible next steps. Council Member Sydney Zulik proposed a small, cross‑jurisdictional subgroup to identify two or three viable sites and bring back a single recommendation. Legal staff advised that, because the subgroup would contain multiple public officials, its meetings must be publicly noticed under open‑meetings rules.

City council moved to participate in the working group and recorded a unanimous roll call; the city motion was seconded in the meeting. The county council then made a parallel motion to appoint a representative, include the commissioner, sheriff, judges, prosecutor and public defender, and direct the subgroup to evaluate two to three locations and recommend one. County council also voted unanimously.

The groups asked the working group to be public, time‑bound and to return thresholds, zoning implications and a recommended site to the larger joint body. "It might be worth meeting several times to talk about the criteria that we decided on and then come back to it as a group," one council member said.

Officials also asked that staff share prior site review materials where legally possible so the subgroup can avoid duplicating confidential or privileged work while maintaining public transparency.

The councils set an initial target to reconvene the larger joint body within about one month to receive the subgroup's recommendation. If any participating entity cannot take part, county members said the subgroup will continue work under the agreed timeline.

The meeting closed after members confirmed the working group will include city and county appointees and invited county stakeholders, with public notice and staff support to be arranged by clerks from both bodies.