Indianapolis could soon pick up the tab for ankle-monitoring and drug-testing fees currently charged to people accused or convicted of crimes, with a new $1.5 million annual bill potentially landing on taxpayers. Criminal justice reform advocates are pushing the city to eliminate the charges altogether, arguing the fees do more harm than good for people trying to rebuild their lives.
The proposal, reported by Citizen Portal on August 20 before IndyStar's October 2 article, comes from Marion County Community Corrections, which submitted the $1.5 million request to the Indianapolis City-County Council in August. According to reporting from Citizen Portal, the agency billed roughly $3.4 million in user fees in 2025 but collected very little of that directly from active clients, relying instead mostly on state tax intercepts to recoup the money. MCCC officials have argued that direct fee collection generates minimal revenue while creating severe financial barriers for people trying to re-enter their communities after a conviction, per the same report.
The budget request is now working its way through city government. The Indianapolis City-County Council's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee advanced its portion of the 2027 budget to the full council Wednesday, with city finance officials still reviewing MCCC's fee waiver request ahead of a final vote expected in mid-October, according to WTHR. During public comment, MCCC Board Chair Carlette Duffy testified that she personally paid $5,110 in user fees during one year while under community corrections supervision, the station reported.
What Happens if the Full Amount Isn't Approved
Not everyone is confident the full $1.5 million will make it into the final budget. MCCC Director Scott Hope told the agency's advisory board on September 17 that if the complete request isn't approved by the city controller and council, the agency won't be able to fully eliminate user fees and may only be able to offer narrower relief on specific drug-testing charges, according to Citizen Portal. The county's budget review runs through late September, with final adoption set for mid-October.
Those fees add up for the roughly 4,000 people Marion County monitors on any given day. Standard MCCC fee schedules currently charge defendants an initial $50 equipment installation fee on top of daily supervision rates ranging from $4 a day for pretrial home detention up to $14 or $15 a day for standard home detention and work release, according to Indy.gov. Case managers use financial analysis worksheets to evaluate indigency and potentially adjust those daily rates.
One of the Nation's Largest Monitoring Programs
Marion County runs one of the largest pretrial electronic monitoring programs in the country. Civil rights advocates with the ACLU of Indiana have reported more than 4,000 individuals monitored daily in Indianapolis, with private vendor Track Group billing up to $22 million annually for county monitoring services. Marion County shifted all pretrial electronic monitoring supervision to the Marion Superior Court Probation Division in 2021.
State law gives courts broad authority to impose these costs in the first place. Indiana Code § 35-38-2.5-6 explicitly grants trial courts the power to order defendants on home detention to pay daily monitoring user fees set by the court, on top of standard probation supervision fees, with maximum allowable daily fees capped by guidelines from the Department of Correction, per FindLaw. Intentionally removing, disabling, or tampering with an ankle monitor can constitute felony escape, according to Keffer Hirschauer LLP.
How Other States Have Handled the Same Debate
Indianapolis wouldn't be the first place to try phasing out these charges. California became a leading model for fee reform when it enacted Assembly Bill 1869 in 2020, ending the assessment and collection of 23 criminal administrative fees, including home detention and electronic monitoring fees, effective July 2021, per the Fines and Fees Justice Center. The state backfilled counties with $65 million to compensate for the lost fee revenue.
Nationally, electronic-monitoring fees have been the subject of a 50-state survey.
A System Already Under Strain
Electronic monitoring remains a significant part of Marion County's justice system.
With the City-County Council's public safety committee having advanced its budget recommendations, the fate of the full $1.5 million request now rests with the full council and city controller ahead of the mid-October adoption deadline. Whether Indianapolis taxpayers end up covering the complete cost, or only a narrower slice tied to drug testing, remains an open question MCCC leadership says hinges entirely on the final budget vote.
