Video: Long-Awaited Expansion, Update Of Pasco Jail Gets Underway

LAND O' LAKES, FL — Four years after giving their approval for a bond issue to expand the county's jail in a 2018 referendum, Pasco County voters will finally see the results of their vote.

On Thursday, Pasco County commissioners broke ground for the expansion and renovation of the outdated, overcrowded Land O' Lakes Detention Center at 20101 Central Blvd.

Built in 1991 on 28.5 acres, the regional minimum security jail was built to house 1,100 inmates but currently has 1,540 prisoners who are overseen by 82 corrections employees. The sheriff's office books an average of 46 inmates each month.

"Purely and simply, we're overcrowded," said Pasco County Administrator Mike Carballa. "We can't just go and put up a no vacancy sign, right? We have to house these folks."

Pasco officials say it's doubtful that the county's crime rate will be going down in the near future.

In the more than 30 years since the jail was opened, the crime rate has increased exponentially as Pasco County has grown to become the 12th most populated county in Florida.

According to the website Crime Grade, Pasco County received a B grade in 2022 for its crime rate, lower than all abutting counties. Hernando received an A, Hillsborough a B+, Pinellas a B+ and Polk County received an A-.

Related: Land O' Lakes Detention Center Chief Correctional Officer Named

On average, a crime occurs every 55 minutes in Pasco County, according to Crime Grade.

While the need to house more inmates is apparent, Chief Corrections Officer Stacey Jenkins said that's not the sole reason for expanding and updating the jail.

She said it's also essential that the county make improvements to ensure the safety of the corrections staff.

At the same time, Florida corrections facilities have received state mandates to provide prisoners with medical facilities, mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

Additionally, jails are no longer simply holding facilities. Jails are also required to provide GED classes, computer education, financial classes, anger management counseling and vocational education programs to set the inmate on a more positive path once he's released.

Although the voters approved a $145 million bond issue to expand and update the jail, the price tag for the 386,477-square-foot expansion now sits at $208 million.

This includes the addition of 608 beds, a new security system, the ability to offer remote family visitation, an updated kitchen and laundry room, a new secure entry point, intake and release areas, a pre-trial hearing area, a visitation building and staff support and administrative offices.

“We thank the voters and know this expansion will be a great benefit to Pasco County,” said Pasco County Commission Chairman Jack Mariano. “The safety of our corrections officers is paramount, and this is a great win for our dedicated team members.”

The construction contractor, Moss & Associates, plans to complete the expansion by the summer of 2025.

"This is a big project, an exciting project," said John Bowden of Moss & Associates.

He said it will also be challenging because all work will have to be done without disrupting the existing jail.

"It's also going to be challenging but we've assembled an A+ team," Bowden said.

Up until Oct. 1, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office operated the jail. However, faced with increasing demands on the sheriff's office's time and resources, Sheriff Chris Nocco requested that the county form a new Pasco County Corrections Department and take over the jail's operation.

Jenkins, who was hired by the sheriff's office as a detention deputy in 1991, the same year the jail opened, was put in charge of the transition as well as the task of overseeing the expansion.

Since she was first hired, Jenkins has received her master's degree in criminal justice and was serving as the commander of the Court Services Bureau prior to her current appointment.

According to Pasco County's official history repository, Fivay.org, before the first jail was built in Pasco County, prisoners were housed in jails in nearby counties, usually the Polk County Jail in Bartow.

In 1889, the county commission levied an $18,500 bond to build a jail in Dade City, and then approved spending another $8,000 in 1919 to expand the jail's capacity to meet state requirements.

A new jail that included a room for the jailer, a kitchen and a laundry was constructed on the second floor of the Dade City Courthouse addition in 1940 after the original jail was condemned by state officials.

The Dade City Banner reported that "the new jail is modern in every way and, besides space for as many as sixty prisoners if necessary, has a room for the jailer, a kitchen and a laundry room. Side walls on the roof will provide a place for drying clothes without being in view of the street."

A later account reported that the jail in the courthouse "featured 16 two-man cells, two female and two juvenile cells, and a large bullpen holding cell which could hold 20 inmates."

In 1961, a new courthouse annex was built on Sunset Road in New Port Richey that contained cells for 20 inmates, and, in 1966, new jails were built on both sides of the county, allowing the sheriff to house as many as 124 inmates.

In 1981, the new sheriff's administration offices were built in the Pasco County Government Center on Little Road in New Port Richey that included a jail designed for 106 men, women and juvenile inmates. However, Sheriff John Short closed the jail on March 11, 1982, after discovering that inmates could escape through a false ceiling and gain access to the building's roof.

A new wing was added to the New Port Richey jail in 1985, increasing the capacity to 165 inmates. It was replaced by the current jail in 1991, originally built to house 352 inmates.

In 1998, the Dade City jail was converted to a holding facility for records and evidence and the New Port Richey Jjail was renamed the Detention West Facility and transformed to provide secure housing for "unmanageable" inmates in custody.

That facility now houses juveniles ages 14 to 17 who have been adjudicated as adults and inmates being held on misdemeanor or light felony charges.

Crime Grade gave Pasco County's the following grades for separate categories of crime:

• Murder - B
• Vehicle theft - A-
• Animal cruelty - A
• Kidnapping - B-
• Assault - B-
• Robbery - B
• Murder - B
• Burglary - B
• Identity theft - B+
• Vandalism - A+
• Arson - C-
• Theft - A