Amid talk about the need for budget cuts, the Charlotte County jail is saving the county money by putting inmates to work. Sheriff Bill Cameron and corrections officers on Monday showed off housing units that are being painted by inmates at an approximate savings of $104,000.
Two of eight “pods” housing close to 500 inmates are finished. The others will take about six weeks. Based on quotes from contractors, the project would have cost $120,000; the in-house cost using inmates will be $16,144, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The county provided the paint and materials. The jail provided the labor. Cameron said the inmates are benefiting as well. “They’ve got long, hard days sitting in here doing nothing. They would rather be productive,” he said. “They still want to feel self-worth.”
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The Charlotte County Jail is the latest corrections facility in Southwest Florida to ban visitors from coming into direct contact with inmates.
The jail … unveiled its new video phone system this week. Visitors come to a building next to the jail, pick up the receiver, and start their visit. Deputies say the system helps keep contraband such as weapons and drugs away from inmates. That’s the number one reason the facility phased out direct visits, said Major Thomas Rodgers, the jail’s top administrator. “They’ll leave [the contraband] inside the facility, whether it’s in the bathroom or up in a ceiling tile, anywhere visitors can leave it,” Rodgers said. “Then inmates as they clean the facility will come around and grab it.”
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The Charlotte County FL Jail is nearing capacity, but the future of an expansion project to ease overcrowding may be in jeopardy. In a tight budget year, no project is safe from budget cuts.
“It would be a problem due to the fact we wouldn’t have anywhere to put the inmates,” said Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport. A $40 million expansion at the Charlotte County Jail is already underway. It will include 448 new beds designed to ease overcrowding. But the next phase of this project may come to a halt. “It’s a very expensive expansion, and money is allocated for it, however, there are things we may to consider before that happens. We don’t know for sure,” said Charlotte County Commissioner Tom D’Aprile. Charlotte county commissioners are looking to save money in a tight budget year.
Sheriff Davenport says he’s running out of room to put inmates
“In the long run, if you just stop the project, ultimately it’s going to cost this county much more in liability you’re going to take on,” said Davenport. The sheriff says if the expansion project is delayed, he will eventually have to send inmates to jails in surrounding counties. He says that would not be a long-term solution to the overcrowding problem.
More on this story from NBC.
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