Sarasota commissioners weigh cheaper jail plan that buys only a decade of relief

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - For decades, Sarasota County has struggled with a problem it has yet to solve — a jail built for 773 inmates that now holds well over a thousand. Hallways double as sleeping quarters. Inspections flag chronic overcrowding. And every proposed fix has come with a price tag large enough to give taxpayers pause.

The most ambitious plan promised a generational solution — a new criminal justice complex designed to vastly expand capacity and carry the county well into mid-century. Its latest cost estimate: as much as $630 million, to be paid for only if voters agreed to shoulder the debt.

This week, commissioners signaled a shift in direction.

At a meeting Wednesday, they voted to explore a more modest option to demolish just the jail’s west wing and build an eight-stor