BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
LAKE BUTLER—Union County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for the county’s public safety complex, which will house the county’s emergency operations center and jail.
Sheriff Brad Whitehead told the crowd of around 50 that the county’s current jail, built in 1923, is the oldest continuously operating jail in Florida and possibly in the nation.
He said that Phase 1 of the project, the emergency operations center will be the lifeline of the county and will house the county’s vital communications infrastructure.
“The building will also serve as our epicenter during hurricanes, tropical storms, and emergency disasters in Union County,” he said. “Then, during Phase 2, we will construct the Union County Detention Center.”
Whitehead thanked the board of county commissioners and the Lake Butler City Commission for its support. He also thanked County Judge Mitchell D. Bishop and EMS Director Tim Allen for their assistance.
The sheriff added that the project would not be possible without the support of State Rep. Chuck Brannan and State Senator Jennifer Bradley.
“They fought constantly for this project, making it a top priority in the State of Florida,” he said of the two lawmakers. “They have secured close to $10 million for this project and will continue to work hard to complete this for the citizens that will benefit in Union County.”
Whitehead emphasized that the new facility “will not cost the taxpayers of Union County a dime.”
Bradley said her and Brannan’s efforts to secure funding for the facility were partly due to Bradley chairing the Senate’s Civil and Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee and Brannan chairing a similar committee in the House.
“On this site, we’ll have the bricks and mortar and be able to have the facilities that we need,” Bradley said, “but more importantly, it’s the hearts of the people that are going to fill that space. Our first responders, our law enforcement, our correctional officers. That’s the heart and soul of what we’re doing here today.”
Brannan, who spent a career in law enforcement before his service in Tallahassee, said he continues to think of himself first as a law enforcement officer.
“I’m just a policeman that got elected to the legislature,” he said.
Brannan recalled working for the U.S. Marshall’s Service in 1986 and exchanging prisoners with deputies at the Lake Butler lockup.
“You needed a new jail back then,” he said, “and that was 37 years ago.”
Brannan said he and Bradley have secured nearly $10 million for the facility and will look for more during the upcoming legislative session.
“It’s a hard fight,” he said. It’s not easy dollars to come by, but we realize the need, and it’s important.”
