Sheriff Forced To Turn Inmates Away After COVID-19 Outbreak

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — With a record number of employees and inmates at the Pinellas County Jail testing positive for the coronavirus, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said he'll start turning away inmates charged with lesser crimes.

Gualtieri made the announcement Thursday during the Pinellas County Commission meeting after 18 inmates and employees tested positive for the coronavirus."

"We've got a big problem at the jail," he said. "We've got an outbreak. It's a significant issue."

Currently, Gualtieri said, the jail has enough isolation facilities for current inmates who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

"But I'm concerned about new people coming into that environment," he said. "We're going to have to come up with alternatives. We have to flatten the curve."

He said he's told the county's police chiefs that the jail will have to turn away inmates "unless we absolutely have to book them."

Gualtieri sounded the alarm after 13 staff members and five inmates tested positive for the coronavirus in the past two days. Another 14 jail employees are awaiting test results.

He said most of the staff members either work in the inmate records department or work as detention deputies in the jail's North Division. The five inmates who tested positive were housed in C Barracks at the jail in Clearwater.

"We have 30 people in the records department, an entire shift, out for 14 days on home quarantine," he said. "There's going to come a point when we can't just shut everything down."

To curb the spread of the coronavirus in the jail, Gualtieri said he's implementing the following measures:

• No inmates will be transported to the courthouse and all court appearances will be by video conferencing.
• Judges have been asked not to remand defendants to custody. When necessary, the defendants will wear a mask and be transported in the compound transport van.
• No inmates will be transported to the Florida Department of Corrections or any other correctional facilities.
• Law enforcement agencies are being asked to refer all misdemeanor cases to the State Attorney's Office or issue notices to appear and not make physical arrests except for those charged with domestic violence, violations of injunctions or people who are threat to public safety.
• Law enforcement agencies are requested not to arrest anyone on a misdemeanor warrant unless it involves domestic violence or a violation of an injunction. Instead, officers and deputies will tell the person to report to the jail and purge the warrant by paying the bond.
• If a person is arrested on a misdemeanor warrant, the sheriff's office will contact the duty judge and seek to have the person released on his or her own recognizance.
• All corrections staff, county staff and contract staff will be required to wear a cloth or surgical mask while in the jail. N95 masks (with filtration systems) will be worn by staff when they're in the presence of inmates with suspected or known positive results.
• All inmates will be issued and required to wear a mask when leaving their housing area or having direct contact with staff. All inmates may wear masks in their housing units.
• The inmate commissary items will be sanitized before arriving at the jail and distribution will be by jail staff only.
• Social workers and chaplain staff will communicate with inmates through the inmate kiosk system.

Gualtieri said these measures will remain in effect until further notice.

"We have to make significant changes," he said. "Some of the people we've tested were asymptomatic and that's concerning."