Pasco Sheriff: We Need More Space to House Inmates

Pasco County’s inmate population has swelled.

In the first quarter of the year, the Land O’ Lakes Jail recorded an average daily inmate population that was about 11 percent over capacity. 

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and his command staff want to make it clear that the Sheriff’s Office want more space.

Maj. Ed Beckman talked to the Pasco County Public Safety Coordinating Council, which focuses on jail issues, on Friday about the high numbers at the jail.

“We really need to explore now adding onto the facility,” he said.

Nocco plans on making a request this year for funding to staff the third floor of the existing jail. He also has a long term goal of seeking a new annex at the facility.

Nocco told the council that the expansion is a public safety issue. The Sheriff’s Office has to make sure the agency maintains a safe ratio of deputies to inmates.

Financially, when the Sheriff’s Office reaches its limit of handling inmates, it has to send inmates to other counties. “Which would start costing our taxpayers more money,” he said.

Commissioner Henry Wilson, chairman of the Public Safety Coordinating Commission, told the Sheriff he would bring up Nocco’s concerns to the board of County Commissioners.

The average daily inmate population at the Land O’ Lakes Jail in the first quarter of this year totaled 1,449. The average inmate population recorded at the jail in the first quarter of last year 1,324.

In addition, the population of the juvenile assessment center swelled this year. The center recorded 374 inmates in the first quarter of this year. It recorded 359 in the first quarter of last year.

There are inmates sleeping on the floor, officials said. There are currently 415 inmates in temporary bedding at the jail. Of those, 256 will be given space if the third-floor expansion is approved.

Beckman and Capt. Ray Revelle, administrative services commander, said after the meeting that the proposed annex could house inmates and infrastructure like food, laundry and medical services.

Pasco County officials have been eyeing adding a courthouse in Central Pasco at the Land O’ Lakes Jail property. County Commissioners in January told staff to look into potential bond funding and concrete design and construction costs for the building.

Nocco, however, thinks a jail expansion should be “a priority.”  In one letter sent to county commissioners last month, he urged the courthouse idea be shelved until a jail expansion is approved. In another letter he wrote that the jail’s average daily inmate population is predicted to exceed 1,800 by 2017.

“I felt compelled to address the needs of the county detention facility to you and the Board before a final decision is determined on a central criminal courthouse,” he wrote. “Although we understand there is a need for additional criminal courtroom space, the need for a detention facility expansion is critical to the safety of our citizens and our deputies.”

What do you think should be done to best address Pasco County's swelling inmate population? Tell us in the comments section below. 

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