Bradford County ICE Detention Campus (Douglas Building)

Facility Overview

A proposed 3,000-bed ICE detention campus on a 30-acre county-controlled site with an existing 100,000 sq ft warehouse (the “Douglas Building”) off US Highway 301 near Starke, Florida. The Sabot Consulting briefing package (December 16, 2025) describes a phased buildout from 1,000 to 3,000 beds over 38 weeks using a county-led IGSA model.

Construction Timeline

Phase 0 (Weeks 1-6): Site prep, demolition, grading, utilities, CCTV
Phase 1 (Weeks 7-18): Warehouse converted to 1,000-bed facility with intake, medical, segregation, admin, kitchen
Phase 2 (Weeks 19-28): Four modular housing pods (+1,000 beds)
Phase 3 (Weeks 29-38): Four more pods, full 3,000-bed capacity

Construction uses “hard-panel wall systems appropriate for secure detention environments, with fabric-tensioned roof systems” and “opaque fencing approach and muted external signage, reducing visual prominence and avoiding an outward presentation that ‘advertises’ the campus as a detention facility.”

Financial Model

Phase	Beds	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost	Per-Bed-Day
1	1,000	$8.08M	$96.9M	$269
2	2,000	$14.2M	$170.2M	$236
3	3,000	$19.9M	$239M	$221

County cost recovery: $80K-$199K/month depending on phase.

Environmental Contamination

The Douglas Building site has groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds that FDEP has monitored for nearly 15 years. Contamination has spread to ~30 surrounding properties. A September 2025 Arcadis report found migration continues. The Sabot proposal lists “vapor intrusion” as an issue requiring evaluation.

Commission Timeline

July 2025: Sheriff Smith approached by former Osceola County Chief Deputy working with Sabot
December 16, 2025: Sabot briefing package prepared (DRAFT)
January 15, 2026: Commission votes 3-2 to advance proposal
January 30, 2026: Community protest
February 28, 2026: WUFT reports contamination levels
March 3, 2026: Sheriff’s report to commission defending proposal
April 7, 2026: BOCC agenda: FDEP site access agreement AND sheriff’s lease for “temporary ICE detainment facility”
April 16, 2026: Commissioners decline to approve the sheriff’s 5-year lease; item tabled. A competing bid — OM Imports, offering a 3-year lease at $50,000/year for ordinary industrial/warehouse use — is on record and cannot be evaluated alongside a sole-source ICE lease. County orders a new competitive-bid round for the Douglas Building.
May 2, 2026: Community-led public information event (“Community Conversation on ICE Detention Center”) at Bradford County Library, Starke.
June 18-25, 2026: Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” Everglades detention facility fully evacuated and closed by Gov. DeSantis after 11 months; some detainees relocated to Baker CI (“Deportation Depot”) ~30 miles from Starke, others sent out of state. DeSantis frames the closure as a handoff to permanent federal detention capacity — leaving open whether Bradford’s IGSA proposal is meant as part of that successor capacity.
As of July 2026: Proposal remains paused/tabled, not withdrawn. County does not expect the item back before the board “at least for the rest of the year” per commissioners; Sheriff’s office calls the pause a “bump in the road.”

Key Actors

Sheriff Gordon Smith — project champion, framing as economic development
Commissioners Carolyn Spooner and Danny Riddick — voted no (3-2 split)
Sabot Consulting / Darren Chiappinelli — prepared briefing package
WWALS Watershed Coalition — environmental advocacy, pushing for halt until FDEP studies complete

Detention Pipeline