MONROE COUNTY, Ind. – The ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit over what it calls “unconstitutional conditions” at the Monroe County Jail.

This comes after the advocacy group previously suggested it would take legal action to resolve a lengthy dispute over the facility’s safety.

The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of two individuals currently incarcerated at the jail. It cites chronic overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure, unsafe living conditions and the county’s inability to remedy the problems.

The dispute originally flared in 2008, when the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit challenging conditions at the jail. That led to a 2009 settlement in which county officials promised a long-term solution. Over the years, the deadline for improvements has been extended multiple times.

While the county appeared to embrace a brand-new justice complex near I-69 and State Road 46, those plans stalled when the county council voted down the project due to cost concerns.

The ACLU said the settlement has expired and the original lawsuit has been dismissed, necessitating the filing of a new one. The lawsuit claims conditions at the jail violate the 14^th Amendment rights of people awaiting trial and 8^th Amendment rights of people held after conviction.

The lawsuit names the Monroe County Council, Monroe County commissioners and Monroe County sheriff as defendants.

In a news release, the ACLU cited several problems at the jail, ranging from overcrowding to “extreme temperatures, broken plumbing, mold, crumbling walls, limited disability access, and failures to safely separate people with different medical and security needs.”

Ken Falk, legal director for the ACLU of Indiana, said officials have had long enough to fix the numerous issues.

“They have had nearly two decades to find a lasting solution, yet people are still being held in unconstitutional conditions that threaten their health and safety,” Falk said in a statement. “Studies have documented that the jail is dangerous and inadequate, and the sheriff has been candid about its many problems. However, the sheriff’s role under Indiana law is limited, and the county officials who could solve this problem have not listened.”

The ACLU is asking the court to certify the case as a class action and seeks a permanent injunction “requiring defendants to take all steps necessary to ensure that the conditions of confinement at the Monroe County Jail comply with the United States Constitution,” among other relief.

FOX59/CBS4 reached out to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office regarding this lawsuit. Officials with the office stated that they are “declining to comment on pending litigation.”

Read the full complaint here.

Indiana has more than 100 coal ash sites − more than any other state − and state officials are looking to create a permitting program for the hazardous waste just as the federal government is proposing to roll back cleanup requirements.

The program would be one of the few in the country mandating utilities apply for a permit to dispose of and manage coal combustion residuals in what are known as impoundments or ponds.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management on June 26 applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking for approval to oversee disposal and management of the waste power plants create after they burn coal to produce electricity.

Coal ash contains pollutants such as arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury and other heavy metals linked to cancer, heart disease and reproductive failure. These hazardous substances can contaminate groundwater and blow around as dust if utilities do not properly dispose of them.

Since 2015, the EPA has set federal requirements for proper disposal and management of coal ash, adding regulations in 2024. IDEM’s application would shift oversight responsibility for coal ash dumps from the federal government to the state.

But as the request wends its way through the approval process, questions remain about how protective a program would be as the Trump administration rolls back safeguards for human health and the environment near coal ash disposal sites.

Indiana to be early adopter of coal ash permits

Gov. Mike Braun said in a news release dated June 30 that Indiana is taking early and decisive action to create the permitting program.

Only five other states (Georgia, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming) have created coal ash permit programs of their own. Two others (Virginia and Louisiana) have similar applications pending with the EPA.

Brian Wolff, the assistant commissioner for IDEM’s Office of Land Quality, said he and others at the state agency have worked with staff at EPA to help ensure the application’s success.

“We are not flying blind,” Wolff said, “we are fairly confident within three months we will at least have a notification the application is complete and accepted and put up for public comment.”

The program, if accepted, would be the largest in the country due to the sheer number of coal ash sites in Indiana, Wolff said.

“We have a lot of coal facilities but then a lot of them have multiple impoundments. And each one has to get its own permit issuance for closure,” Wolff said.

If the application proves successful, the permitting program will have nine full-time employees with support from other branches within the department. Fees for the coal ash site permits and other certifications will fund the program, according to IDEM’s application.

Federal changes concern local advocates

The process to get the application completed began with a 2021 bill requiring IDEM to make rules around coal ash permitting in the state. IDEM’s Environmental Rules Board gave the green light in December 2025 and the department sent its application at the end of June 2026.

Indra Frank, coal ash advisor with the Hoosier Environmental Council, has been following the process from the beginning and has some concerns.

Frank said she is keeping an eye on the federal changes EPA is proposing to coal ash requirements that could affect Indiana’s program.

Indiana law says IDEM cannot create rules for coal ash that are more stringent than federal rules. Federal law doesn’t allow states to create rules less stringent than federal regulations, so the potential state-run program will follow EPA’s guidance.

“Right now, the federal rule is in good shape: it has provisions in place that protect human health and environment,” Frank said. “The problem will come as EPA has proposed some really lousy provisions to the rule and if they go ahead and move forward, then Indiana will also have those provisions.”

The specifics of how federal changes might affect a state program are still unclear.

Federal change could create a weird patchwork of regulations for a while before the situation solidifies, which may frustrate residents near these coal ash sites who are eager for intervention, said Gavin Kearney, an attorney with the national advocacy group Earthjustice.

“Imagine a concerned community trying to figure out what a permit is actually trying to do and who is responsible for it,” Kearney said. “It adds up to a lot of confusion and makes it hard for folks to understand if their water is being protected and what to do to address those concerns.”

IDEM’s Wolff said if EPA approves the state program, the permits will offer some stability even if federal rules change once more in the future.

“Once we issue permits for closures (of a coal ash site), it’s kind of locked in to conform to the requirements within the permit,” Wolff said. “That kind of takes you away from the shifting winds of politics however it swings.”

IDEM would likely have to adopt a rule change if certain federal proposals do move forward, said agency spokesperson Allen Carter. That would be a routine process and would not interrupt the permitting program while changes are under review.

Public still has opportunity to provide input

The EPA has up to 180 days to review IDEM’s application. If approved, it will go through a hearing process with public comment.

Earthjustice’s Kearney said the EPA has shown an interest in expediting state-run coal ash permitting programs and the process is likely to move quickly.

IDEM’s Wolff also was optimistic EPA would turnaround the application quickly, estimating a decision could come early next year since the state agency worked closely with EPA to provide all the necessary information.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on BlueSky or Twitter @karlstartswithk

IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.