County mulls jail expansion
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Wendell Hall won't be putting up tents any time soon for federal inmates. But, county commissioners voted to ask for bids from architects on a more permanent addition to the jail.

The sheriff came back to commissioners Oct. 11 after working with county staff with a proposal for a jail expansion that would either be metal or the same block and concrete the current building is made from.

"Estimates we have for a metal building, in round numbers, are at $3.1 million," the sheriff said. "But if we build it from block and concrete, identi- cal to what we have now, estimates put the cost at $3.2 million."

He proposed an open bay dorm, like the tents, with 128 beds. He said the revenue from the additional federal inmates the jail expansion would pay for the cost.

"We would be able to immediately increase our federal inmate population by 50, and that would bring into the budget another $1.788 million a year. That means we could raise over $5,365,500 over the first three years after the addition is open," Sheriff Hall said.

County Commissioner John Broxson said, "Of course, we would need to borrow every bit of this money, since we do not have it in our budget. So we will need to know, as close to the penny as we can get it, what the up front costs on this project would be. This is not a roadblock, it is just saying we really do need to know before we get too far into such a project what the real costs will be."

Sheriff Hall responded with: "I am recommending this even if it means we have to borrow all the money. We are overcrowded at the jail, with or without any federal prisoners. For me, as sheriff, to recommend doing nothing when we are growing 8 to 10 percent a year in jail population is not a solution. The problem is not going away."

The sheriff said right now there are 575 inmates in the jail, and he said a "good number" for capacity is 480. There are people sleeping on "boat beds" on the floor, he said.

"The jail was opened in 1997, and it has made it 10 years," Hall said "But the county is growing so fast that we are continually overcrowded now."

Broxson asked if the overcrowding could be lessened from some inmates being released with GPS bracelets.

"We have great judges here, and they do what they say they will do," Sheriff Hall said. "And when you have misdemeanor violators sent home on probation and told that if they are seen in front of the judge again they are going to jail, when they violate in two weeks and are seen before that judge they are sent to jail. And we have to have room for them."

He said the size of the single floor expansion would be 5,300 square feet. If the commissioners decided to build a second story, then the expansion would provide about 10,000 square feet. "And there is room on the other end for a second wing, too, for later expansion. This jail was built with expansion in mind," Hall said.

Commissioners voted to ask for bids from architectural services and construction management services for an addition to the jail.