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| Temporary tents pitched for Fla. jail |
| By Palm Beach Post |
| Published: 07/26/2004 |
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Some St. Lucie County, Fla. jail inmates may be living in tents, a plan used in the mid-1990s until a thunderstorm damaged the tents. The tents, if approved, would be used instead of the previously discussed "low-tech" barracks or metal building. Sheriff Ken Mascara first objected that the tents don't meet code requirements such as for fire protection but then said he's willing to use them to house 100 prisoners. Former Sheriff Bobby Knowles opened "tent city" for male and female inmates at the jail in the mid-1990s. He followed the example of the sheriff in Maricopa County, Ariz., who houses large numbers in tents despite the desert heat. Commissioners told their staff to research putting new tents on the concrete slabs left from Knowles' tent city. Toilets and showers are on the site. Estimated cost of the tents is $56,000. Mascara said 25 inmates in rented cells in Highlands County can be brought back to live in tents. The rental fees are costing the county $1,000 a day. County commissioners decided metal buildings would take too long to install and cost too much to operate. Estimated cost to build is $611,000 and to operate is $950,904. Once a 288-bed jail addition opens in June, prisoners can be moved inside and the tents folded for later use. Commissioners agreed to give Mascara $1.2 million of the $1.5 million he had requested to pay cost overruns in this year's budget. Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson first balked at the budget supplement. Mascara said it was impossible to foresee the population boom in the jail this year. |
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