- This past week, elected Sheriffs from all over Indiana met in the City of Muncie for the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association (ISA) Summer Conference.
Sheriff Dave Wedding of Vanderburgh County and Sheriff Greg Oeth of Posey County were both recognized by the ISA membership. Sheriff Wedding was elected vice-president of the ISA while Sheriff Oeth was awarded Sheriff of the Year.
Both Sheriff Wedding and Sheriff Oeth have worked hard to raise the profile of issues facing Indiana’s local jails. Both Sheriff Wedding and Oeth sit on a bi-partisan committee of sheriffs who are committed to addressing mental health treatment, opioid addiction, overcrowding and staffing issues in our jails. Together they have traveled to the Indiana statehouse and to Washington D.C. in an effort to secure the funding necessary to address these critical issues.
Thanks in part to the efforts of both Sheriff Wedding and Sheriff Oeth, progress is now being made at the state level to address the effects of House Bill 1006 (which shifted low level offenders from state institutions to our local jails).
Sheriff Dave Wedding explained, “Electronic home detention, treatment courts and other programs are effective… but some offenders simply need to be in jail. We must house violent offenders and repeat offenders who do not respond to probation.” Sheriff Wedding added, “Sheriff Oeth has been a true ally in our mission to seek additional state funding for the supervision and care of our local inmates.”
