The Support Division is made up of the following Units:
- Booking
- Classification
- Commissary
- Farm
- Food Service
- Intake & Release/JAC
- Property
- Road Gang
- Sentence Calculation
- Transport One
- Transportation
- Uniform Cleaning
- Vocational Programs
- Warrants
- Warrants Clerical
The Support Division offers programs and
classes for inmates and is funded at virtually no cost to
Manatee County. The Inmate Work Farm operation began in 1993,
with the aim of lowering food costs for the jail, while teaching
inmates a trade and good work ethics. From a modest beginning of
one chicken house with 2,000 laying hens and a row crop
vegetable garden, the Inmate Work Farm has grown to 3 chicken
houses and 6,000 laying hens for egg production, hydroponics
greenhouses, a cattle operation and meat/fish processing,
tank-grown tilapia, and fresh lettuce and vegetables, all
to offset skyrocketing food costs for inmates.
The Food Service Unit is composed of Production, Bakery / Diet, Prep, Food Transportation, Staff Dining, and the Meat Processing Production Component. This section is responsible for the preparation and delivery of all inmate meals, providing meals to all satellite facilities, and preparing meals for the staff and guests.
The Road Gang provides labor for road and ditch projects obtained from Manatee County Public Works and is responsible for the outside grounds at the Central Jail and other assigned facilities.
The Inmate Farm Unit administers the planting, growing, and harvesting of fresh vegetables and the preparation, preservation, and distribution of those and other vegetables and items as required. This unit is also responsible for all animal husbandry projects and functions.
Under the Corrections Bureau, the Transportation Component manages the safe and secure transportation of inmates. This is accomplished by utilizing trained and experienced deputies to prevent against escapes and to ensure the safety of the inmates, staff, and the public. The Transportation Component consists of 9 deputies and a fleet of 14 vehicles.
Vocational Programs offers
inmates MTI-sponsored classes in Diesel Mechanics, Carpentry,
Welding, and Horticulture. The tuition for MTI is paid from
the Inmate Commissary Fund, and credits earned can be continued
upon the inmate's release from jail.
The Warrants Deputies Unit is responsible for the service of criminal warrants.
Other cost-cutters include Auto Body
and Paint where agency and county vehicles are repaired
and painted; the Horticulture Program produces
fresh vegetables; the Aquaculture Program's tilapia fish
are raised for inmate consumption; the Sewing Production
Unit makes all inmate uniforms, underwear, sheets,
pillowcases and other items (watch for new screen-printed
shirts and embroidering); the new Mattress Plant
made over 950 new mattresses the first year; the Hydroponics
Program turns out 11,000 heads of lettuce in 60-day cycles;
the new Grist Mill grinds whole dent corn for half
the cost of purchased corn meal and grits; Meat and Fish Processing
turns out inmate entrees and reduces food costs; and the Road
Gang Unit uses inmate labor to save the county hundreds of
thousands of dollars per year in labor costs for projects county-wide.
We have a "Graze Green" forage production, feed lot operation and Brangus herd development, making us the only agency in the world involved in this type of
forage/cow/calf production operation.
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