BREVARD COUNTY, FL - After months of construction, Brevard County jail officials plan to start moving inmates from the overcrowded jail into one of four new concrete-frame tents Saturday.

Workers have completed fine-tuning the first tent, clearing construction and corrections officers have said they're ready to move up to 100 inmates into the first tent.

The sheriff's office plans to give reporters a tour of the tents this afternoon. All four of the olive-green structures stand 30 to 60 feet apart next to the jail entrance. Signs on 15-foot-high fencing warn visitors not to loiter or talk to inmates. The fence's looping razor wiring shines as nearby pine trees give shade.

Last year, county commissioners OK'd financing the $15.7 million jail expansion project. When the whole project is completed next year, more than 600 beds will be added to the jail in Sharpes.

In addition to the tents, a jail extension that would house nearly 300 more people is expected to be built by the middle of next year. That's expected to used for inmates with mental and medical problems.

The county jail has been struggling with overcrowding for two decades. The jail, built in 1986, was designed to house no more than 383 inmates. But by tripling or quadrupling inmates in cells and building a dormitory annex, the jail's intended capacity rose to 1,000 people. Still, It regularly houses 1,600 nowadays.

Low-risk inmates will stay in the tents to minimize risk, and there aren't enough of them yet to fill the four tents' total of 400 planned beds. Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker has dubbed the fourth one a "future tent."

The first three tents gradually will be filled during the next two months, with the second filled by mid-August and the third filled by mid-September, Parker said.

The project has required troubleshooting. The sheriff's office had struggled to find correction officers and considered delaying moving inmates. However, correction officers eventually were hired to fill vacancies and new posts. There are enough new hires to oversee inmates going into the first three tents.

Two officers will monitor 100 inmates in each tent, and more officers at the main jail facility will use surveillance cameras to further monitor the tents.

The annex, a prior expansion of the jail, will transition into a place for female inmates. They'll be moved from the main jail facility as men are moved to the tents. That will clear room at main jail facility for higher-risk male and female inmates. Parker estimated the population at the main jail facility may ease by 15 percent in the months to come.