Interior Renovations Complete At Sheriff's Office

BROOKSVILLE - The cramped quarters inside the sheriff's office earned some much-needed relief last year when dispatch moved out.

But it was only the start of a yearlong facilities overhaul in a bid to free up more space.

Deputies may be the public face of county law enforcement, but there's a building full of support staff, both sworn and civilian, backing them up at 18900 Cortez Blvd.

Like any business, there are people making sure paychecks go out on time, drumming up public relations and ordering uniforms. In addition to the everyday operations, a law enforcement agency also needs a place to store evidence, analyze crime patterns and plan operations. But as the sheriff's office took on more personnel to match the rising population, office space became a prized commodity. Lt. Jim Walker recalls sharing one office about the size of a storage closet with 15 other deputies when he oversaw the traffic division.

"We have to make the best of usable space," Walker said.

The completion of the emergency operations center next door played a big role in easing the squeeze. Dispatch relocated from the heart of the building to the second floor of the EOC. That freed up space for the two districts' staff to move in and their vacant offices gave room for other divisions to stretch their legs and so on.

"Basically, we leapfrogged over each other," Walker said.

Using impact fees from the county, the sheriff's office spent a little less than its construction budget of $274,000 to knock down walls, add new floors and set up new cubicles.

The year of renovations inside just wrapped up, but the work isn't finished quite yet. Officials have turned their attention to the rear of the property, where construction has begun on large garages. The first, 30 feet by 80 feet in size, will house the sheriff's mobile command center, a semi tractor-trailer truck that's currently kept off site because of its size. Its neighbor is a 100 by 40 garage that will keep the special operations vehicles - including the SWAT team's vehicle, the livestock trailer - out of the elements.

That's phase one, which was awarded a bid price of $117,119.

The second phase will entail building a new driveway off Clinton Boulevard for the semi-truck. In addition, a new purchasing and supply building will be erected and a fourth bay for the garage. The steel frame of the new building, which will measure 100 feet by 50 feet when complete, has already been bought for $34,000. The final cost will include the construction bids, which are not being accepted at this point.

"We've been in this building since 1991," Walker said. "It's run its course."