(This article may update.)
Eskenazi Hospital is being urged to seek other security arrangements after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced it will end its special deputy program.
“The County Jail should not be used as a default mental health treatment facility,” Sheriff Kerry Forestal said in a news release announcing the change. “Hospitals are places of care, and law enforcement should not be used to manage patients experiencing mental health crises.”
Todd Harper, a representative for Eskenazi, said the hospital had not received written notice of the program’s end at the time of publication.
“Our special deputies are part of the care team and are trained in crisis and mental health response,” Harper wrote. “Special deputies focus on intervention, safety, stabilization and connecting individuals to care.”
The news comes one day after a woman arrested in a case involving another hospital was found dead in her cell at the Marion County Adult Detention Center, which is run by the sheriff’s office. Jacqueline Denise Sublett, 58, was found dead early Jan. 15, 2026, and officials said it appears she died from natural causes. Sublett had been detained since August on charges tied to a mental health episode at a St. Vincent facility.
Eskenazi program ‘winding down for more than a year,’ sheriff says
The program, which granted limited law enforcement authority to hospital employees, had been “winding down for more than a year” and came after Eskenazi was granted an extension “to complete the process of establishing its own police department.”
Despite the extension, Forestal said, the hospital had not “completed the necessary steps” to form its own policing agency.
“We will continue to work with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office as we work through the remaining details and ensure a smooth, orderly transition of our security department,” wrote Harper, the Eskenazi spokesperson.
The sheriff encouraged the hospital to seek licensed security providers, a partnership with another law enforcement agency, or non-police personnel, according to the news release.
Forestal is giving Eskenazi 90 days to ensure a smooth transition and continued safety and care, the news release said.
Any arrest made by Eskenazi Hospital or Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County special deputies will need to be reviewed by a Sheriff’s Office supervisor before they’re booked into jail, effective immediately, the sheriff’s release stated.
The announcement also follows the sheriff publicly sharing concerns that ICE holds are leading to severe overcrowding at the Adult Detention Center. The facility will no longer keep ICE detainees for more than 48 hours, the sheriff said.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Stance on mental health reason MCSO ending Eskenazi program, sheriff says
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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