Construction begins for Liberty County Sheriff’s Office complex

LIBERTY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Liberty County’s new sheriff’s office and jail facility is under construction.

In 2016, it was Liberty County Sheriff Eddie Joe White’s vision to build a new administrative facility and county jail. Current Sheriff Buddy Money kept that vision alive. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement helped make it a reality with a substantial grant.

“We got $22 million for a new Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Jail and Administrative Complex,” Liberty County Clerk of Court Daniel Stanley said. “Currently, we are the last county in the state of Florida where the jail is attached to the courthouse or any public facility, and the sheriff’s office has been displaced, they’re in three different places.”

Immediately after the groundbreaking, Culpepper Construction crews got to work on the project. But, they can’t build the main infrastructure until they demolish the old Department of Juvenile Justice building that’s on the site.

“They have a lot of asbestos and other hazardous materials that will cost more money to abate and renovate than it would be to just tear them down and start over from scratch,” Stanley said.

Sheriff Money said he looks forward to consolidating all of his operations into one location.

“You have to drive over to the jail or they have to drive to you, we use inmates to clean the sheriff’s office so they have to load them up, take them down there, and do that,” Money said. “When we’re all underneath one roof, so to speak, they won’t have to do that. We’ll all be there so it’ll be much easier, be much more efficient.”

All of the inmates are currently housed in one large dormitory. The new facility will have two-person cells.

“We’re able to have cells that we can put people in for medical problems or if they have other types of problems, we can secure them in there keep them safe, give them the medical needs that they need, give them the help that they need,” Money said.

Construction should be complete before 2026.

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