After shelling out $179,000, the Alachua County Commission is one step closer to deciding whether to add more staff and services to the county’s jail.
The decision has been a topic of county conversation for the last year and a half.
In a presentation during Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, a criminal justice consulting firm recommended that the county hire more employees to run the Alachua County Jail.
In October 2011, the county hired Pulitzer/Bogard & Associates to research the jail’s efficiency and find areas that could be improved.
The survey collected by the firm showed inmates weren’t happy with the quality and quantity of the food they were given, their access to medical care and sanitation inside cell block air vents. Employees felt the facility was understaffed.
“It wasn’t like Trip Advisor where they gave a certain number of stars,” Bogard said of the survey.
David Bogard, principal at Pulitzer/Bogard & Associates, and the two other members of the firm told the commission they concluded that the county should consider hiring 34 employees to increase security, enhance maintenance and reduce employee overtime.
The decision to hire the firm to do the survey came after Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, who manages the jail, asked the commission to hire 46 employees, which would have cost the county about $2 million.
The firm surveyed 232 inmates, 163 current and former jail employees and 15 members of the public. The jail holds between 900 and 1,000 inmates and employs 330 people, according to the county Sheriff’s Office’s website.
The conclusion of the study comes at a crucial time, said Commissioner Mike Byerly.
The agreement between the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and the county expires this year, leaving management of the jail in question. Budget cuts are also on the horizon.
Commissioner Paula DeLaney said in an interview that she thinks the commission will vote to keep the jail in the hands of the sheriff.
Because the commission is trying to reduce spending, she said she can’t predict whether it will agree to hire more employees and add new programs to the jail.
Contact Adrianna Paidas at apaidas@alligator.org.
