Facing potential $700-million expense for new jail, County Commission settles on 2 location options and directs staff to work on refining figures

Earliest projection for occupancy of new jail would be April 2033, with November 2026 bond referendum still planned

This graphic shows the parcels owned by the City of Sarasota and the county in what county staff refers to as the Correctional Campus in downtown Sarasota. Image courtesy Sarasota County

This week, stressing the urgency of the issue, the Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to direct county Capital Projects Department staff to undertake a more thorough analysis of two of three options regarding the construction of a new jail and Criminal Justice Center in downtown Sarasota.

The expense of the facility, board members stressed, is of major concern, as Brad Gaubatz, a manager with Capital Projects, pointed to a total in the range of $650 million to $700 million.

“The impact of a $700-million project is gasping, right?” Commissioner Teresa Mast said. “It’s just one of those things that takes the wind out of your sail.”

Yet, those figures are based on current construction costs, Gaubatz said. The earliest staff anticipates the building to get underway is April 2031, as shown on one of his slides, with occupancy not until two years later

Image courtesy Sarasota County

Maj. Brian Meinberg, commander of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Courts and Corrections Division, stressed the overcrowding in the jail when Chair Joe Neunder asked him for comments during the Jan. 28 commission meeting in downtown Sarasota.

“Right now,” Meinberg said, “I believe, other than Pasco County, we have the most overcrowded jail in the entire state of Florida” — and Pasco is constructing a new jail, he noted.

“We’re less than 100 [people] away from sending inmates to another facility,” Meinberg told the board members, and that would entail a “very high cost. … It could be tens of millions of dollars a year,” if such action had to be pursued.

Several years ago, Meinberg explained, the commissioners first began looking at the potential construction of a new 200-bed correctional facility, to ease the overflow in the jail. “Since then,” he added, “the jail population has been steadily increasing,” partly because of changes in state law.

Later calculations pushed the population planning for that new facility to 300, he continued.

Yet, even with 300 extra beds for inmates, Meinberg pointed out, “We would be treading water, [though] we wouldn’t be underwater, as we are now.”

The daily population counts are putting the jail about 360 people over its operational capacity, he added. “We actually hit 400 just a month or so ago.”

These are the jail population projections that the Sheriff’s Office provided to county staff for its work on the jail options. Image courtesy Sarasota County

“There’s no question in my mind we  need to move forward with all due speed,” Commissioner Ron Cutsinger said of planning for the new jail. He added, “This [issue] is reaching a critical stage, and we’ve got to move as quickly as we possibly can to get this done.”

Cutsinger made the formal motion calling for staff to delve into two of the three location/construction options Gaubatz had presented to the board that morning.

“I agree with Commissioner Cutsinger,” Commissioner Mark Smith said in seconding the motion. “This is the highest priority that I believe we have. There’s real urgency.”

Nonetheless, Smith said, “The sad thing about it is we’re looking eight years down the road before we’re able to get out of this mess.”

Image courtesy Sarasota County

Smith also referenced concerns that Commissioner Tom Knight — the former three-term sheriff of the county — has emphasized since Knight’s first meeting, on Nov. 19, 2024, following election to the board. The commissioners, Smith said, may need to look at halting other planned projects that are just in the design stage, “to make the numbers work” so the county can pay for the jail. (See the related article in this issue.)

The commissioners already have planned a referendum during the 2026 General Election to allow the county to issue bonds to assist with the jail initiative. Yet, Knight this week expressed worry about the financing of the project if the bond referendum were to fail.

Referencing debt service on bonds being used to help pay for construction of a variety of county projects, Knight asked, “What’s that going to cost the taxpayers on their TRIM notices when this is all done?” referring to new bonds to help pay for the jail, as well.

Deputy County Administrator and Chief Financial Management Officer Steve Botelho told Knight that if the total project cost for the jail ended up being $700 million, the debt service on 30-year bonds — with 4.5% interest included — would be $43.4 million per year for the county. That would add $94 annually to the property tax bill on a parcel with a value of $300,000, Botelho’s slide showed.

This is the first slide that Deputy County Administrator Steve Botelho showed the commissioners, in regard to debt service on bonds for the jail project. Image courtesy Sarasota County

If the expense ended up being $500 million, Botelho added, the extra tax payment for the owner of a parcel with a $300,000 value would be $67 per year.

However, Botelho noted, staff did not factor into those calculations the additional money that would be necessary to operate the new facilities year-to-year.

Mast did emphasize to Gaubatz her concerns about the inclusion of a $110-million escalation figure in the overall estimate of the construction, along with $84 million included for contingency purposes. “When I look at a $200-million cushion,” she said, “that’s brutal for me; that’s very challenging.”

Gaubatz told her that staff would work on refining those numbers, as well. Staff members would continue their collaboration with architectural consultants under contract, including a firm with expertise in designing jails (SMRT Architects with multiple U.S. offices), he told the board.

Concerns over Main Street/U.S. 301 parking lot and need for City of Sarasota approval of final plans

Commissioners did make clear during their Jan. 28 discussion that staff’s Option 1 was off the table because it would entail construction on the county’s parking lot located at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Main Street in downtown Sarasota.

Mast pointed out, “That is prime real estate,” though Commissioner Mark Smith alluded to the fact that the county had tried years ago to sell the land to a developer for a hotel, and that effort failed.

Karen Rushing, clerk of the Circuit Court and county comptroller, emphasized the need for parking for customers at that location. “It’s up to 1,000 people a day,” she said, who need ready access to her office for a wide variety of assistance — from applying for marriage licenses and passports to seeking help in dealing with domestic violence situations.

“Just wanted to remind the board how many people actually are coming into that building,” she said, referring to the Historic Courthouse complex, which stands between Main Street and Ringling Boulevard.

Yet another factor in the discussion this week regarded the City of Sarasota.

Capital Projects Manager Brad Gaubatz addresses the commissioners on Jan. 30, 2024. File image

Cutsinger did ask Gaubatz whether City of Sarasota leaders had expressed reservations about any of the options staff had proposed.

Gaubatz responded that he would leave any comments to city representatives. However, he added, “All of [the options] require action from the City Commission, based on what we have right now.”

Then County Administrator Jonathan Lewis told Cutsinger, “We’re going to have to coordinate with the city. … We’d want to be good neighbors …”

Addressing the entire board, Lewis added, “You all would probably have to work with the city board.”

Commissioner Knight alluded to members of the public often inquiring how the jail ended up in downtown Sarasota in the first place. That situation just involved, he indicated; it was not a matter of design. Yet, he pointed out, “Moving [the criminal justice] operations out of that area [would not be] good,” as so many attorneys have their offices nearby, and the court facilities stand on the eastern portion of Ringling Boulevard.

The preferred options

Of the two alternatives the board members chose in directing staff to undertake more in-depth analysis, Option 2 calls for constructing a new Criminal Justice Center on the site of the county’s parking garage at the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and School Avenue. After that project was completed, the new jail would be built on the property where the Criminal Justice Center stands.

These are details about Option 2. Image courtesy Sarasota County

The new structure will include what has been called the Community Reintegration Center. It will hold individuals who have been incarcerated for mental health and substance abuse issues, so they can receive the appropriate treatment with the hope that that will reduce recidivism. Commissioners have discussed that project for the past several years, with a pilot, 40-bed program having been created in a renovated facility on the property of First Step of Sarasota.

That option also entails demolition of the West Wing of the jail — the oldest part of the facilities — after the new jail has been completed.

The other alternative, Option 3, makes use of a parcel for sale at 2100 Main St., near the intersection of East Avenue and Ringling Boulevard, Gaubatz of Capital Projects noted.

(A News Leader search of the records maintained by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office found that the Main Street site was home to the First Church of Christ Scientist. Its 2024 market value, listed on Property Appraiser Bill Furst’s website, was $1,881,500. The owner is a limited liability company located in Washington, D.C.)

These are facets of Option 3. Image courtesy Sarasota County

The new Criminal Justice Center (CJC) could be built on that parcel, at grade, with additional parking provided next to the Ringling Boulevard parking garage. “Even with the purchase price,” Gaubatz noted, “it’s still a cheaper option that a facility on top of a garage.”

When Cutsinger asked whether the county already was under contract to buy the Main Street parcel, Gaubatz told him that no such action had been taken.

Then the new correctional facility, plus the Community Reintegration Center, would be built on the former site of the CJC; again, the West Wing of the jail would demolished after that building was completed.

Both options would entail operational functions on the ground level of the new jail, including the sally port where individuals are brought for booking and incarceration, Gaubatz said. Levels 2 through 4 would have four pods with 60 beds each, for a total of 240 new beds. The fifth level would be “shelled space,” so extra pods could be created later, as needed.

Image courtesy Sarasota County

The allowable height for the new jail facility is 140 feet, a slide showed.

Gaubatz explained that, in working with the Sheriff’s Office staff, the Capital Projects team had determined that the rated capacity of the new jail building would be 720 when it opened in 2033. The operational capacity — calculated at 85% — would allow for 612 inmates.

If the fifth floor were finished, his slide showed — around the year 2042 — the rated capacity would be 960 inmates, with an operational capacity of 816.

Maj. Meinberg noted during his remarks that the operational figure relates to the need to separate certain members of the jail population from others. For example, juvenile offenders cannot be housed with adults, and men must be separated from women.

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