Okaloosa County’s jail is currently housing 728 inmates in a facility rated for 594, forcing officials to use makeshift sleeping arrangements to accommodate the overflow population, according to discussions during the county’s July 22 budget workshop.
- The overcrowding situation has long-reached the point where officials place upside-down totes on floors with mattresses on top to elevate inmates above floor level, meeting standards that prohibit sleeping directly on the ground, Chairman Paul Mixon explained during the workshop.
Corrections Director John Moring, who has been in the position for four months, attributed much of the population increase to mental health issues, noting some individuals are admitted four times in one week with few alternative placement options.
Despite the challenges, the jail has made significant improvements in mental health services. The facility now employs licensed clinical social workers and has the capability to provide medication to inmates on the day they are admitted, according to discussions during the workshop.
- “You do have licensed clinical social workers on staff now, correct?” Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel asked, to which Moring confirmed. When Ketchel inquired about medication access for inmates coming off their prescriptions, Moring assured her that they could provide medication “that day.”
The facility’s challenges extend beyond overcrowding. The jail’s door system is no longer in production and hasn’t been manufactured for decades, requiring officials to find parts wherever possible to maintain operations.
“Many of the parts and pieces to keep it working are manufactured somehow, somewhere very strategically, wherever we can find them,” Mixon said.
Less than 6% of the jail population consists of sentenced inmates, with the majority being pre-trial detainees, officials noted during the workshop. According to stats from Moring, well over 80% of people that are processed into Okaloosa County jail leave with no criminal record.
- “It takes a conviction to have a criminal record,” said Okaloosa County Chairman Paul Mixon. “In the United States of America you are innocent until proven guilty.”
In fiscal year 2024, the facility admitted 6,985 inmates and provided 241,535 jail days. Through June 15 of this fiscal year, the jail had admitted 4,743 inmates for 114,653 jail days.
Commissioner Mixon indicated that work toward addressing the facility needs is already underway, mentioning that a committee has been working on plans for a possible new jail. Jason Autrey, Deputy County Administrator of Development Services, provided additional details about the planning process, saying that the county has engaged a consultant to develop a master plan for a 2,000-bed facility. However, he acknowledged the financial challenge ahead.
- “The cost on that is exceptional. So we’re trying to find ways that we can address our current demand looking forward and how are we going to pay for this kind of approach,” Autrey said.
Autrey noted that the county is about 80% complete with the master planning process, which will include phasing options that officials plan to present to the board. He indicated that finalized plans from the consultant should be ready for board discussion within two weeks of the July 22 workshop.
Commissioner Ketchel emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating that building a new jail is one of her priorities. She also advocated for expanding mental health services.
“I’d like to see a mental health diversion program added to that unit as well,” Ketchel said, noting the county needs such capacity in both the south and north ends.
Commissioner Drew Palmer praised the jail staff for their exceptional work under difficult conditions.
- “What your team does is just exceptional given that you’re running 30 to 40% over capacity, and just the environment in which those residents and employees are in as well,” Palmer told Moring. “ Thank you to your team for what you guys are contending with, and I think that all of us are committed up here to ensure that we improve that in the future.”
Moring acknowledged the continuous challenges faced by facility maintenance and the IT department in keeping the aging infrastructure operational, thanking them for their support in trying to modernize systems while properly housing inmates.
The present Okaloosa County Jail opened in 1963. The last building expansion took place in the early 2000s.
3 Responses
Couldn’t they just use that giant rusted boat that the county bought for over a million bucks (with plans to submerge it as am artificial reef) and use it to house criminals?
There are several inaccuracies in your article. For example, inmates sleep on hard plastic “boats” without mattresses and it is not even remotely accurate that 80% of inmates leave the jail with no criminal record. 100% of inmates leave with a criminal record. Once someone is arrested there is a criminal record. How that record is handled in the criminal process is what determines whether the record is permanent or eligible for a seal or expungement. And in some cases defendants may be ineligible for a seal or expungement due to a prior criminal history which may have an adjudication of guilt as to an offense.
As to licensed mental health counselors, this is misleading. A LMHC performs an initial assessment to determine whether an inmate is a danger to himself or others. They are not licensed to prescribe medications and they do not perform any counseling.
One must wonder whether our elected officials are getting the whole story or omitting unfavorable information from the public.
This isn’t just a detention issue. I have volunteered at OCJ for the past 9 years. Based on my own experience with inmates there, they do sleep on “boats” and the pods are extremely over crowded. Part of what my group does is to help those inmates who may have a drug or alcohol issue. We do this for free and we would never accept payment for this work. When these inmates are released, pending further adjudication, but who have so little in resources and insufficient community-based support (housing assistance, robust vocational training, and peer support mentored by those who’ve overcome similar challenges in their own lives), they just end up back in the system despite their best efforts. These folks need to be helped by the community so that they can build new, stable lives away from the influence of the hardships most were born into and resulted in further poor life-choices.
OCJ is a rotating social-service pit stop. I pay bed-tax on my beach front rentals. I am very fortunate because I was born with half a chance at a decent life. Locally, many business owners bring in offshore employees instead of hiring locally…while recent inmates cannot find employment. These folks are not totally responsible for the crappy hand life dealt them. How about we allocate some of our tourist revenue to building a legitimate support system for these humans who want another chance?