After years of operational struggles, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons says a transfer of jail control is possible — but warns it won’t happen overnight.—
The question of who should run the Escambia County Jail has lingered over local government for years. On this week’s episode of We Don’t Color on the Dog, Sheriff Chip Simmons gave his most direct answer yet: the jail should come back under the sheriff’s office—and he has the résumé to back that conviction up.
A History Most Sheriffs Don’t Have
Simmons isn’t approaching this issue from the outside. He started his career as a corrections officer, worked 12-hour shifts at the jail, and later—while serving as assistant county administrator — found himself thrust into the role of chief corrections officer after the previous one was removed.
- “I know it needs to be fixed,” he said. “This is not guesswork anymore. Something needs to change.”
Simmons understands the operational complexity of the facility, the staffing challenges, and the management structure required to run it safely and effectively.
Why the Sheriff Should Be in Charge
Simmons made a clear philosophical argument: jail administration is a law enforcement function, and it should be led by someone with law enforcement expertise.
- “Most counties understand it is a law enforcement function and we need an individual with a law enforcement expertise to be the decision maker,” he said, noting that only about 10 Florida counties currently run their jails independently of the sheriff.
The structural advantages under the sheriff’s model are also practical. The sheriff meets with command staff daily, the facilities are in close proximity, and accountability flows more directly from the top.
The Complications Are Real
Simmons was careful not to oversell the transition. He remembers well how long the original handoff took — months stretching toward two years in 2013 and 2014— and that some ripple effects are still being felt today.
- “Can it be done? Of course it can be done,” he said. “But I just think there needs to be a lot of conversations about that.”
Among his key conditions: the road camp, which has already been integrated with the jail, should be included in any transfer. And critically, whoever runs the facility must treat its employees fairly—a pointed reminder that staffing and morale have been persistent pressure points.
The Property Tax Wildcard
The biggest unknown is financial. Proposed property tax reform at the state level threatens to compress county budgets in ways that could make absorbing the jail’s costs politically and fiscally difficult.
- “I’m a little leery about the property tax issues that are going on because that’s going to make it more difficult,” Simmons acknowledged.
The funding question is one that neither the sheriff nor the county commission can solve unilaterally. The jail would represent a substantial new line item in the sheriff’s budget request to the board.
The Path Forward
The bottom line, in Simmons’ view, is straightforward: the jail needs to work, the employees need to be treated right, and the community deserves a structure built for accountability.
“The days of pothole politics are over,” he said. “You should just go ahead and make decisions based upon what’s right for the community.”
Our Discussion of the County Jail
Complete podcast video here.
Wow. Hopefully the BCC will see the wisdom of this. The transfer was never ultimately successful. Although it may have changed, a few years ago they hadn’t even been able to integrate the tech properly between the jail records and the County IT, and waaaaay too much was still happening on paper. On a philosophical level, it makes sense to have the Sheriff in charge with a direct investment in crime prevention to keep it from overflowing (ICE’s best attempts aside). Pipe dream alert: perhaps he can be successful with somehow wringing far more mental health and substance abuse services than our area has been willing to provide, and work more closely with Juvenile Justice to get that horrible child incarceration number down. Thank you, Sheriff Simmons, for being willing to take it back on.