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600 Inmates To Be Moved Out Of Old, Moldy, Leaky Jail
March 3, 2022
Escambia County plans to move 600 inmates out of the old county jail and annex due to mold, leaks and other unacceptable conditions.
The inmates will be shifted into four currently unused housing units, known as pods, in the new jail while about 200 minimum security inmates will move to the Work Release Center on Fairfield Drive. The move will begin next week.
The old jail and annex were built in 1981 and 1984 respectively but still house prisoners in addition to the new jail that opened last year. In the older facilities, there is mold growing on walls and ceilings, cracked windows, and leaks that have been repaired with tarps that catch water before it is drained away with a hose.
NorthEscambia.com was first last week to report on the problems in the old jail. Click or tap here for that story.
The Escambia County Commission is expected to discuss the future of the old buildings and if they should be repaired or replaced.
The Escambia County jail is managed by the county, not the sheriff’s office.
Contributed photos by Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
7 Responses to “600 Inmates To Be Moved Out Of Old, Moldy, Leaky Jail”
In 2013, Sheriff Morgan planned to ask for a $25 million increase to his budget but two days later dropped it to $15 million. Morgan and his staff did a poor job of explaining the need for the increase. The fact that he dropped it from $25 to $15 million almost on a whim actually undercut his case making it appear that he was throwing a number up against the wall. Robertson said, “We just don’t have the money right now.” At least with respect to capital improvements to the jail, that was not correct. The county could have funded jail renovations using local option sales tax. At the time, there already were plans for $8 million in work at the jail in the spring of 2014. The Sheriff’s office said in 2013, “We’re just trying to be fiscally responsible and take care of a problem that has been neglected for 20 years….” In the end, it all fell apart because both Morgan and the Commissioners were hard-headed, a situation made worse by Morgan’s arrogance. Negotiations about who would run the jail fell through and then the county took it over on October 1, 2013. When the jail blew up on April 30, 2014, it was under the control of the county. The BCC acted as if explosion was an act of God but, in truth, it was part of a long trend of neglecting the jail. County Administrator Wes Marino recently told Channel 3 that the problem described above in this posting was the result of “deferred maintenance.” On his blog Bergosh recently wrote, “It has simply been allowed to deteriorate due to poor maintenance for decades.” In sum, current and recent BCC members, in office from 2013 to present, are mostly to blame for this mess.
@Big AL
The commission’s did not take the jail from Sheriff Morgan he gave it away to them because he was fixing to get in trouble. Because he did not keep the jail up. spent the money on the ecso instead of a jail
Probably against many peoples opinion here, these inmates should be able to do their time in non environmental hazardous facility… Just living without health hazards is a far stretch from a stay at the Hilton as some of you have previously put it…
I’m no electrician, but I’m thinking that electrical box is not up to code.
Hell just tear it down and build a new one, they got an extra 100 million plus to throw away.
This time when you rebuild add a spa, pool, full gym, ETC. So the inmates will never want to leave, might as well make it open door, so they can come and go as they please and give them money, like an allowance.
US TAX PAYERS CAN AFFORD IT
I remember when the county took the jail away from Sheriff Morgan because they, the county commissioners thought that they, the county commissioners could run the jail better than the sheriff was running it. LOL, LOL. Look at it now. And now, the county commissioners are taking about giving the jail back to the sheriff. Every single one of the County Commissioners should be locked up in that jail and the key thrown away.
Probably against many peoples opinion here, these inmates should be able to do their time in non environmental hazardous facility… Just living without unnecessary health hazards is a far stretch from a stay at the Hilton as some of you have previously put it…