Pinellas County Jail Inmates

Inmate housing system
Pinellas County Jail groups its inmates according to crimes, such as misdemeanors, sex crimes, felonies, violence, and others. Inmates are held in divisions: North, South, and Central. Pinellas County has many different buildings for differing levels of security. The South Division holds inmates on maximum security. Here the blocks are named with an alpha-numeric system: Alpha, Delta, Bravo, Echo, Charlie, and F-wing. The Central Division holds inmates on minimum security and uses a number system of the floor number plus the pod number. The North Division holds various inmates and has a letter system. Each lettered barrack holds different kinds of inmates: A holds women-both sentence and non-sentenced, B holds men of misdemeanors, C holds non-sentenced men of felonies, and F holds women felons.

Behavior
Though individuals are broken up a lot of fighting and bullying happens at Pinellas County. For some inmates there is a lot of racial and social tension, for other there is no difference. Many choose to stay out of the way and in their beds. A common rule in Pinellas County is to respect others' space. Those who choose to stay out of trouble often get off on good behavior. This can be five days of good time each month. Smuggling contraband, smoking, and fighting decrease and nearly eliminate the chances for some inmates to be released early.

Recreation
Pinellas County has high control for sound. It is often quiet in the pods, but when there is less supervision sometimes trouble can pop up. This can cause problems for anyone in the vicinity. Inmates use the majority of their leisure time watching television, playing basketball, cards, games, dominoes, putting together puzzles, and reading magazines and books. Inmates often get along with others and an item trade system happens occasionally so when inmates are released they leave with different items than when they entered.

Exercise
Former inmates say it is difficult to stay in shape while in jail because there is not much to do, but this is not the case for road workers. Road workers are outside five days a week for eight hours whereas the other inmates are only allowed outside an hour a day. Church services are available if desired.

Phone and visitor policies
Inmates have access to phones nearly twenty-four hours of the day, except for during the times of lockdowns. There are typically eight phones in a pod for making local calls for two and a half dollars for twenty minutes. All call are recorded and screened by the jailing staff. Inmates are also allowed visits daily. Three people can visit one inmate for twenty minutes at a time. The waiting period is reasonable, and visits take place through web cameras and telephones.

Meals,commissary, and medication
Three meals are served a day. Breakfast is at three in the morning, lunch is at ten, and dinner is at four in the afternoon. The food is normally rated low with cereal as the favorite item. Anything else can be bought via commissary. A nurse brings medications every day.

Clothing
When entering Pinellas County, inmates are given an orange uniform of matching top and bottoms, tennis shoes, undergarments, a white t-shirt, and an ID card. Sweatshirts are usually on high demand because of the cold. Inmates wear different colored uniforms depending on the security level and whether or not they are sentenced.