Pictured left to right: Florida Accreditation Office Executive Director Stacy Lehman, Captain Jeffrey Vajdik, Major Brian Meinberg, Accreditation Manager Amanda Lewis,
Captain Debra Kiner, Captain David Parisi, Lieutenant Blair Waller, FCAC Commission Chair and Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Chief Laura Bedard
Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman is pleased to announce that the Sarasota County Correctional Facility was re-accredited by the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission (FCAC) at a ceremony October 9 in Sanibel, Florida.
Jail policies, management, operations, and support services were scrutinized by assessors over a three-day onsite visit in August. The assessors praised the agency for a flawless onsite visit, its tenth in a row, complying with all 256 applicable standards required for re-accreditation. This accomplishment earned the sheriff’s office the commission’s prestigious Excelsior Award for the fifth time. The commission also complimented the agency on the number of correctional facility programs offered addressing mental health, substance abuse, and in particular, the veterans assistance program.
“It is critical for us to be reviewed by our peers and to meet professionally accepted national and state standards to ensure best practices within our agency,” commented Sheriff Hoffman. “The hard work of our Corrections Operations and Services Bureaus does not go unnoticed. We are proud of them, and they should be proud of the work they have done to be recognized for this achievement.”
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) correctional facility was the first in the state to become fully accredited in 1998. The correctional facility’s medical services are accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC). Additionally, SCSO is accredited by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA), the Emergency Operations Bureau’s Public Safety Communications section is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA) for law enforcement dispatch, and the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) for medical and fire communications. The agency’s Property and Evidence Section is accredited by the International Association for Property and Evidence (IAPE), and lastly, the drug lab received its accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).