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Sheriff Set to Take Over Bay County Jail
10/08/08 - 08:54 AM

WMBB News Department

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Tomorrow the Bay County Jail will be under new management.

Sheriff Frank McKeithen is set to take over the jail on Thursday, after Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, notified the county it would no longer operate the facility.

“We’ve worked just 24 hours a day for the last four months trying to get prepared and trying to be ready,” says Sheriff McKeithen.

McKeithen says he thinks he can run the jail with a staff of 250. The employees already have their uniforms, designed with the same color scheme as the sheriff’s office uniforms.

Sheriff McKeithen says employee morale is high.  “They’re beginning to transition to sheriff’s office uniforms so they look like the sheriffs office. They’re all excited. We even heard the inmates were excited, not sure about that. We’ll find out,” says McKeithen.

The sheriff’s office will operate the jail with a $17 million budget. Bay County Commission Chairman Jerry Girvin says it might cost more than CCA, but he believes this a good move for the county.
   
“It may be well worth that to have a higher comfort level on the idea that it’s being run competently and the chances of any issues are much less,” says Girvin.

The sheriff says one major change has to do with visitation.

“People are having to wait for hours to visit someone, and they may still have to do that for a period of time, but that’s one of the first things… we’re already working on that,” says the sheriff.

The sheriff’s office hired about 150 of the former CCA employees. Many of the others were offered other positions with the company.

You’ll also notice a change in what the inmates wear. “There will be no problem recognizing the inmates at the Bay County jail. They will be the traditional black and white stripes, and they’ll have to love them,” he says.

CCA has had its share of incidents. Within the past five years, four inmates held four jail employees hostage, a federal inmate committed suicide, and an inmate gave birth behind bars. Bay County’s jail was one of the first jails in the country to be privately operated.