Correctional Officers and Employees Week

48:18All right. If you're here for correctional officers and employees week, please step to the podium. I see a couple. Mm-hmm.

48:26They brought their view with them.

48:30Look at that.

48:31Oh wow.

48:33What is this?

48:36Oh

48:42All right. Shall I go ahead and read? Okay. Resolution number 26-209, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring the week of May 3rd through 9th, 2026 as Pasco County Correctional Officers and Employees Week. Whereas on October 1, 2022, Pasco County assumed all duties and responsibilities of the management and operation of the Pasco County Jail in Lando Lakes, Florida. And whereas

49:12the Pasco County Jail is documented as the tenth largest county correctional facility. in Florida due to housing over one thousand offenders. NRAS correctional facilities across the United States, both public and private, military and civilian, are run by highly qualified and experienced men and women with a deep understanding of the challenges and difficulties within their profession. And RAS correctional officers are highly trained professionals dedicated to maintaining secure facility. Sorry, maintaining

49:42secure correctional facilities and ensuring public safety for our communities. And RAS correctional officers and and professionals serve admirably in many different capacities, including jail administrators, supervisors, officers, and support staff. And they work in very demanding and stressful conditions, face many challenges, and put their lives at risk every day. ANRAS Correctional Officers and Employees are responsible for the custody, care, safety, security, and reform of thousands of

50:13offenders every year, as well as the maintenance of safe and secure facilities.

50:30While preparing them for community re-entry. And RAS correctional officers and employees rise to meet any challenge faced with courage, honor, and excellence. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby proclaims the week of May 3rd through 9th, 2026, as Pasco County Correctional Officers and Employees Week and encourages the citizens of Pasco County to join in expressing appreciation. for the hard work, extreme diligence, exceptional service, and unwavering dedication provided by the individuals

51:00who work in our county correctional facility. Dunner resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this fifth day of May 2026.

51:08Approval. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye.

51:12Welcome Chief Jenkins and and your team. You know, it's been what three and a half years now since the transition and talk about overcoming so many challenges for you and your team as we embarked on essentially creating an entire new brand. of government and services in a department for the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners. And It's a It's oftentimes that your

51:42crew is overshadowed by the Sheriff's Department. But know that you're not forgotten about. We appreciate your work. We understand that when you become a corrections officer, that you're dealing with someone who has really hit a low point in their lives. And you all have a calling And to do this duty, and you're there to protect them, protect one another, protect those folks from their from themselves and our community. And so you really are

52:12doing humane work for the folks that are in your care and that this county is responsible for. And so for that, we're forever grateful. for you all choosing to do this this job and to keep everybody in your care safe and as healthy as possible while keeping you all safe, knowing to keep yourselves from being burnt out from the constant I'm assuming controlled

52:43chaos that can go on in the facility. So that it's our honor to have you here today and to recognize your work and for us to tell you thank you and that we appreciate you and that we're here for you and that we hope that all your days are are full of uh safe and health and good practice. So we're glad to have you here today. Yeah. Chief Jenkins.

53:08Good morning, Chairman Mariano and Honorable Commissioners. I'd first like to thank Commissioner Weightman for sponsoring this resolution. Since 2022, this staff has probably served under the Board of County Commissioners. Many of our citizens may not have an understanding of the work done by Members within the facility. But today I want to highlight the tenure and experiences of the members who are in today. I have civilian control room operators, Amanda

53:39Lindsay. She's one of our most junior members in the control room, followed by one of our most senior with CRO Keith Blair. These civilians provide control and security of the facility by being individuals responsible for door controls, access, and security points of the facility. They're also another set of eyes for our sworn officers. Officer Hardin has six months on the job, Officer Tidwell with a year. Corporal Lindsay, seven years, and

54:09Sergeant Cloritas, 17 years, all work within inmate housing. Officer Shane Banner has nine years working within our classification section. He's responsible for classifying inmates in the appropriate spots within the facility, ensuring their safety. Lieutenant Ann Phillips has 27 years experience within housing, intake release, classification, and now professional development. She's charged with our accreditation process. Last week we underwent

54:39our floor model jail standards inspection, which looked at our entire operations to include inmate programs. intake release, inmate housing, religion, food service, and these inspectors noted zero violations within our facility.

54:58Lastly, I I want to not lastly because I also have Captain Hagen here who was a surprise to me this morning, but I welcome him also. But I also want to acknowledge Corporal Steve Olson, who has 18 years experience, and he is currently assigned to our jail expansion. He's been instrumental in overseeing the construction, clearing construction workers for uh site site work. Um Commissioner Weightman, you've expressed in the past that you

55:28are now working Of the County Jail.

55:32Five wardens.

55:34That's correct, sir. So in appreciation of your commitment and support to corrections and his leadership, who should be recognized as correctional professionals, we would like to present each one of you with a piece of jail history. These jail bars were taken from an area of the East Jail, the Old Jail, currently being renovated during phase two construction. We felt it well suited to provide each commissioner with this memento, in addition to the

56:04corrections challenge point, provided only to the members who went through the transition with us. On this point, You will see Pasco County Corruptions was established in October 1, 2022. In addition, um Corporal Olsen created these. Um, you know, as they're removing items from the jail, we decided to put some of them to good use, but you'll also see they will have uh the thin gray line. Which supports correctional officers

56:34and correctional employees. So we'd like to present these to you and look forward to getting our photograph taken with you. But thank you, County Administrator, and thank you, Board, for supporting County Jail.

56:48Thank you, Chief. And it's important to note, and I I missed this in my opening remarks, but Since taking since the county's taking over the jail, we've exceeded the model standards for jailing, correct? Every every year? So you guys are exceeding uh baseline standards if you want to

57:06Yes sir. We're we're exceeding baseline standards and we are also also um accredited by the Florida Correctional Association.

57:13Yeah. Mr. Cabal?

57:21So again, Chief, I want to thank you and and the team for everything that you do. I know I've I've been to the facility several times, respect uh exactly the hard work that goes into it. You often talk, Commissioner Weightman mentioned it, that this is a calling and and I see that it's evident it's evident in the uh the familial um uh relationship that you have with the team and that you guys are you guys are all in when it when it comes to uh to doing the hard job that you are asked to do. It's been a pleasure. Our anniversaries are the same day actually. Uh you know and uh so so coming having uh

57:51having you in the family has been been an amazing experience and it's just been it's just been great to watch watch this grow, look at the culture that you've established within within the facility and with your team and how it just mirrors and merges so perfectly in what we do here at the county. So can't thank you enough for the hard work that you guys do, you know, both on Sworn and Civilian, you knock it out of the park every single day. So thank you for that.

58:14All right, come down. Take up it and stay up here. Do we want to hold things up now? I think you should hold

58:23them like this. That's a and have us duck, right? Should we duck into them like this?

58:33I

58:33want

58:33to stand to the side of the line.

58:38Yeah, County the

58:39attorney succeeds.

58:48You're not

58:49in jail at all.

58:50Here, we'll just get you a window there.

58:53Well we're just opening a notch seven to the notch.

58:55Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, you want me to pull down here.

59:01Okay.

59:02It's heavy, huh?

59:03It is.

59:18Yeah. Thank you.

59:58Thank you all for your service.