![The Santa Rosa County commissioners at the May 10 meeting approved $733,659 for the jail to cover funding costs for the 2018 fiscal year. [FILE PHOTO/PRESS GAZETTE]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-6be073a6-e4b1-4225-e053-0100007fcfd8-f1ce6b0b.jpeg)
MILTON — The Santa Rosa County commissioners at the May 10 meeting approved $733,659 for the jail to cover funding costs for the 2018 fiscal year. This funding will go toward the renovations to the jail annex as well as staffing of additional maintenance medical, and law enforcement staff needed to accommodate the building.
Sheriff Bob Johnson thanked the commissioners for the funding and said how much it was needed.
“We are very pleased with the Board of County Commissioner’s decision to fund the transition of our old work release center into a 120-bed jail annex.” Johnson said. “The Board of County Commissioners showed tremendous foresight in realizing the need to expand our jail due to the rising population.”
Johnson said the first phase of the project will start soon and that they will have an additional 60 beds within the next three months which will alleviate the overcrowding that is expected to occur this summer.
While the addition of the annex will help with growing inmate numbers the jail faces, it will not completely solve it, according to Johnson. The ultimate goal is to see an expansion of the existing jail that would accommodate 500 more inmates than the current maximum capacity of 682.
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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Santa Rosa Jail recieves funding for improvements