In 2012, the Harrison County Jail started the process to achieve accreditation. After reviewing and/or rewriting all policies and procedures, the department started the process of implementation and documentation to show compliance with all 141 expected practices.
In 2014, the facility held a mock audit to determine our standings with ACA (American Correctional Association). The facility passed the mock audit with a score of 100% on the mandatory expected practices and 94.5% on the non-mandatory expected practices.
After a few modifications, the staff felt confident we were ready for the Initial Audit. In June 2014, the facility went through the ACA Initial Audit for Core Standards. During this 2 day process all policies, procedures, and documentation were thoroughly reviewed by the ACA audit team. After the audit, the audit chair recommended accreditation with a score of 100% on the mandatory expected practices and 97.8% on the non-mandatory expected practices. Although the audit team recommended accreditation we still had to go before the Hearing Committee in Salt Lake City Utah for our final hearing.
Sheriff Seelye and Jail Commander Amanda Stone attended the panel hearing on August 17, 2014, where our facility was awarded full accreditation under the Core Standards with a score of 100% on the mandatory expected practices and 98.9% on non-mandatory expected practices.
We are now only the second jail in the state of Indiana to receive such a distinguished accomplishment.