Commissioners can have jail their way

Monday, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Wendell Hall presented the Santa Rosa County Commission five options for expanding the 500-bed Santa Rosa County Jail by 128 beds.

The idea to expand the county correctional facility was first suggested by Sheriff Wendell Hall last October.  The expansion would mean a 10,000 square foot dorm-like addition to hold an additional 128 inmates.

As of Monday, the county jail was packed to capacity with 520 inmates, 68 of which are federal prisoners, according to Department of Detention’s Major Woody Seevers.

“We did have inmates sleeping on the floor, but we added some bunks that we got from the Walton County Jail. We installed those and we were at least able to get the inmates off the floor,” says Seevers.

Seevers reports at the first of the year, the jail had up to 627 inmates at one time.

The Department of Detention is responsible for the operation of the Santa Rosa County Jail, which was constructed in 1997. The existing facility has a rated capacity of 506 inmates.

Seevers says the county jail has many functions that are important to the community.

“We provide health, education, medical, spiritual, and rehab programs to those incarcerated. These are tools that can help an individual gain employment upon release. Our inmate work crews perform many duties that would otherwise be a cost to the taxpayer such as maintaining the facility, grounds and building projects. These duties benefit county agencies, the community and other non-profit organizations,” says Seevers.

Peter Brown Construction of Niceville and Clemons Rutherford and Associates of Tallahassee drafted the plans shown to the commissioners by Hall. The costs of the plans range from $3.4 million to $3.8 million. The construction could take eight to nine months.

Hall says he has met with the designers on numerous occasions to discuss what design would be the best fit for the county. “We talked about what would be the best plan, offering the most expansion capability and the best plan to stay within our budget,” says Hall.

Hall says he believes the expansion could be paid for with federal inmates, who earn $49 each per day from the U.S. Marshal's Service.

“We need to be very prudent with taxpayer money,” said Commissioner Tom Stewart.

When Hall was pressed about which option he could pay for, option two or option four, he stated he could pay for option four, but it may take a couple of years longer.

The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners has previously endorsed the idea of expanding the jail and they could choose a design as soon as Thursday's meeting.

Option 1    $3,359,842    none
Option 2    $3,528,483    horizontal 128 beds
Option 3    $3,598,175    vertical 256
Option 4    $3,720,719    horz/vert. 640 beds   
Option 5    $4,143,363    vert/horz. 640 beds