County spending on jail diversion services this fiscal year adds up to more than $8.5 million
The average length of stay in the Sarasota County Jail for inmates convicted of felonies jumped from 72.22 days in 2015 to 158.81 days in 2025, a 120% increase, as shown in data that Sarasota County staff recently shared with the County Commission.
In comparison, the average length stay for inmates with misdemeanor convictions rose just 6% during the same 10-year period. In 2015, it was 30.42 days; in 2025, the figure was 32.12 days.
The data also note that, from 2015 to 2025, the daily average of inmates charged with misdemeanors climbed 69%, while the average daily tally of those with felony counts rose 12%.
All of the above numbers were provided in materials that Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis emailed the county commissioners on March 11.
On Feb. 10, during the Sarasota County Commission’s most recent discussion about plans for a new jail structure in downtown Sarasota, Commissioner Tom Knight — a former three-term sheriff in the county — requested data about the detention center population and county-funded jail diversion programs.
Capt. Debra Kiner, a member of the Sheriff’s Office’s Corrections Services Bureau, reported that day that the operational capacity of the jail is 773 beds. However, she pointed out, the daily average number of inmates in 2025 was 1,091.
The average daily jail population in 2015 was 916, the relevant chart shows. The 1,091 figure that Capt. Kiner cited on Feb. 10 marks a 19% increase.
The same chart notes that the month with the largest average daily population in 2025 was January, when the tally was 1,175. February 2025 was in second place, with 1,126. The lowest figure for 2025 was in December: 1,024.
The chart with the average daily number of inmates charged with misdemeanors shows that the 2015 figure was 128; in 2025, it jumped to 217.
The Average Daily Felonies chart notes 717 inmates in 2015; the 2025 number was 803.
The chart with data about the average number of inmates awaiting trial or sentencing on misdemeanor charges put the increase over 10 years at 157%; for those with felony status, the figure was up 35%.
In his March 11 email, which The Sarasota News Leader found through the county website, Lewis reported that he also had listed the jail diversion programs that the county is funding this fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2025. The total county expense for this fiscal year is $8,528,403.
The largest single amount — $2,762,502 — is going to the RESTORE program at Lightshare, with which First Step of Sarasota merged.
As the Lightshare website explains, RESTORE stands for rehabilitation, education and support toward offender reintegration.
The RESTORE program grew out of what began on Nov. 22, 2021 as the Community Offender Rehabilitative Treatment (CORT) pilot program; it ended on Sept. 30, 2024, as noted in a presentation to the County Commission on March 26, 2025.
Over its three-year existence, a report said, the program “diverted 316 felony inmates” from the jail. “Each diverted inmate saved an estimated 106.34 jail bed days, translating to a cost savings of $12,604 per client,” the report continued. “Additionally,” it pointed out, “with 86% of CORT program graduates avoiding recidivism within 12 months, long-term savings extended beyond initial jail bed reductions.”
The total net savings of the program through 2025, the report said, was $1,682,164.
In July 2024, the County Commission agreed to use funds from what was being called a “global settlement” of litigation regarding opioid production and distribution to pay for the permanent RESTORE program that succeeded the CORT program.
As explained in a document included in the agenda packet for the board’s regular meeting on July 10, 2024, RESTORE is “a new, expansion program designed for low-level, felony male inmates of the Sarasota County jail, ages 18 and older, who present with a history of opioid, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders, which are chronic in nature and warrant a residential structure to promote lifestyle changes and recovery.” The document added, “Priority placement will be given to inmates suffering from opioid use disorders.”
Further, that document explained, “This 40-bed, secured, Level II residential treatment facility, operated by Lightshare Behavioral Wellness & Recovery, Inc. (Lightshare) will serve as the only residential, lock-down facility in Sarasota County for qualified inmates …”
RESTORE is expected to serve 100 individuals this fiscal year, as noted in the chart that County Administrator Lewis sent the commissioners.
The second most expensive jail diversion program in the county, as shown on the chart, is the Drug/Veterans Court, which is to receive a total of $1,331,799 this fiscal year out of county General Fund revenue and 12th Judicial Circuit Court Administration funding. That court program is expected to serve 170 people, the chart says.
The General Fund’s primary source of revenue are the annual property tax payments. That fund pays for expenses of county departments and those of the county constitutional officers — such as the sheriff — whose operations do not generate sufficient money to cover their costs.
The chart also shows that the Salvation Army will be paid $377,775 for beds to serve 200 clients of the Sheriff’s Office’s Homeless Outreach Team.
Another $358,815 has been allocated to the DUI Court, with the money also coming from the General Fund and Court Administration.
