BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Due to state budget cuts, the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch (ISYR) will be permanently closed at the end of the month, and the property and associated equipment are set to be auctioned off.
The Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Camp is an academy for kids who hope to be future law enforcement officers, at-risk kids, young witnesses, and victims of crime. The cuts to the state budget prematurely ended a long-term training and leasing agreement between the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the ranch.
The 62-acre private training retreat has been paid for by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security since 2019. The ranch consists of a lodge, two cabins, a classroom building, animal kennels, 2 pole barns, 3 semi-private managed lakes, and wooded areas. These grounds were utilized for search and rescue, K-9, drone, and hazardous materials training. State agencies had also used the property for water diving and rescue exercises, hosting international and out-of-state guests, holiday celebrations, among other events.
The lease with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security was originally supposed to continue through 2029. The $48,000 gap in funding, however, was said to be too much for the volunteers of the ranch and donors to raise, given the other construction and operating expenses needed.
“With the help of some visionary sheriffs, generous donors and dedicated volunteers, our Youth Ranch trudged through its bureaucratic start-up years, we survived state-mandated COVID-19 business closures cancelling our special events and face-to-face fundraisers, we demolished unsafe facilities, remodeled existing structures, built two new year-round youth cabins and began construction on two others – despite the nation’s supply chain issues and runaway inflation,” said ISYR Executive Director Scott Minier. “But our most important accomplishment was engaging more than 2,000 K-college Hoosier students each year in our day visits, overnights, weeklong leadership academies and special off-season events like our increasingly popular Sheriffs’ Easter Egg Hunts, Sheriffs’ Pumpkin Painting Parties and Sheriffs’ Breakfasts With Santa – where law enforcement was able to bond with at-risk kids like never before.”
An appraisal of the property is currently being conducted, and the property is planned to be auctioned off from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST on May 31, as well as equipment, furniture, and accessories. Some of the accessories included are Polaris ATVs, fishing kayaks, two zero-turn mowers, power tools, commercial kitchen equipment, gas grills, and more. If a reserve bid based on the appraisal isn’t met, the property and improvements will be listed on the public real estate market with Greg Clingan Auction & Real Estate of Covington, Indiana. Any proceeds from the sale will be proportionally refunded to major naming-rights donors after other debts are satisfied. The auction will be held at 5325 North State Road 59 in Brazil, Indiana.
“In the end, Indiana still needs more than 14,000 law enforcement officers–city police, sheriffs’ deputies, and state troopers–from our state’s current K-12 student cohorts,” said Minier. “We hope state and local leaders can find ways to staff these needs and make our state safer and more caring.”
