All public fingerprinting services suspended at Sheriff’s Office facilities as of March 24

Persons strongly encouraged to go online or call the department for assistance

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office consolidated its administrative personnel and a number of its facilities into its headquarters on Cattleridge Boulevard near I-75 in Sarasota. The department is asking the public to refrain from coming to the facility during the COVID-19 crisis. File photo

With the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office continuing to take precautions and modify law enforcement services at the recommendation of local and state officials, more changes went into effective on March 24.

The Sheriff’s Office “is temporarily suspending all public fingerprinting services” at both its Sarasota headquarters, located at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd., and at the county’s correctional facility, located at 2020 Main St. in Sarasota, the department said, with emphasis, in a news release. The public will be notified when services resume, the release added.

All sex offenders and predators no longer are required to report to the county’s correctional facility, the release continued. Instead, it stressed, they are being asked to report to the agency’s headquarters, located at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd., Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., for registration.

Because of statutory requirements, all criminal and career offender registrations will still take place at the Sarasota County Correctional Facility, located at 2020 Main St. in downtown Sarasota, the release pointed out.

All other in-person law enforcement services remain available to the public; however, members of the public strongly are encouraged to connect with the Sheriff’s Office via telephone or online whenever possible, the release points out. By visiting http://www.SarasotaSheriff.org, a person can complete a public records requests, make payments for specialty details, and pay inmate commissary, telephone, and tablet fees. The public also can connect with the agency on social media via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

For general inquiries, call 941-861-5800. For non-emergencies, call 941-316-1201, and as always, during an emergency, “call or text 9-1-1,” the release says.