Marion County does not lack evidence that the operation of its jail needs urgent reform. In recent years, our newsroom has documented preventable suffering and deaths among those being held behind those walls—people including Scott Whitley, Maniesa Fletcher, Jacob Oakie, Juan Miranda-Valentín, Dennis DiGenova and Mayra Ramirez. Surveillance video, medical files, and state reports tell a consistent story: policy on paper isn’t protecting people in custody, and the jail’s death rate has far outstripped national norms.
This is not only about humane treatment promised under our U.S. Constitution. The failure endangers the public—not just people behind bars.
Consider Kendra Boone, whose family sought help for her as she experienced a mental-health crisis the night before she allegedly stole a sheriff’s cruiser and crashed it on Feb. 1, 2024, killing herself and three innocent people. Her parents called the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for help the night before; Boone left before deputies arrived. At the press conference after the incident, instead of using that tragedy to talk candidly about how often deputies confront untreated illness with too few options, Sheriff Billy Woods emphasized Boone’s criminal record and called her “a moron” while insisting the deputy “did absolutely nothing wrong.” That may express frustration, but it didn’t address the gap that put Boone—and the public—at risk. We need an actual continuum of care, not post-hoc blame…