In January 2008, an 18-year-old inmate hanged himself from a jail window. He couldn’t know the trouble it would cause the Alachua County Commission and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Sadie Darnell has been pushing to get about 300 new, suicide-proof windows ever since that incident.
“We’ve had more start dates and delays than we have toes and fingers in this room,” she said at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting.
Commissioners said they’re working to get new windows, but the project has become larger and pricier than they expected.
“We all want the jail fixed,” said County Manager Randall Reid at the meeting.
Initially, the plan was to replace the windows in the jail’s common area, said Charlie Jackson, county facilities manager.
Now the plan is to replace almost every window in the jail, said Eugene Morris, spokesman for the jail.
Reid estimates new windows would cost more than $600,000. Jackson said the cost is about $250,000 over budget.
Darnell said she won’t allow another suicide. Since 2008, 16 inmates tried to hang themselves from jail windows.
“That’s just not going to happen on my watch,” Darnell said in an interview.
The mother of the man who committed suicide filed a lawsuit against the jail. Darnell said if the jail doesn’t fix the windows and another suicide happens, the jail could face more lawsuits.
Jackson said the project should start within two months.
