The Detention Center
Lake County Detention Center
- Operated byLake County Sheriff's Office (Corrections Bureau)
- Jail address551 West Main St., Tavares, FL 32778, across from the Judicial Center
- Rated capacity960 beds
- Average daily population828
- Year built1992
- Staff239 (179 sworn, 60 non-sworn)
- Second siteSouth Lake District Intake, 15855 State Road 50, Clermont — intake only, no one held over 12 hours (2019 sheriff RFP)
- AccreditationFlorida Corrections Accreditation Commission since 2006; medical department NCCHC-accredited 2017 (stated, no report posted)
- Video visitationSecurus Technologies
Source: Lake County Sheriff's Office — Corrections Operations · checked 2026-09-28
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✓PREA audits
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1992
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds960
Since then
- The sheriff's 2019 inmate medical RFP said no expansions were under consideration by Lake County
The Sheriff
Sheriff Peyton C. Grinnell
- Runs the jailYes — the Lake County Sheriff's Office Corrections Bureau runs the Lake County Detention Center
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Lake County Sheriff's Office — home page · checked 2026-09-28
The Judges
Florida's circuit and county judges are elected state judicial officers, not county officials. A judge sets the first conditions of release at first appearance, within 24 hours of arrest.
Who sets bail in Lake County
- Circuit Court: Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Citrus, Hernando, Marion and Sumter (Fla. Stat. 26.021). Circuit judges are elected circuit-wide to six-year terms and hear felonies.
- County Court: the Lake County Court. County judges are elected countywide to six-year terms and hear misdemeanors.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-28
The Board of County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. In most counties the sheriff runs it; in some, the county does.
- What they controlThe sheriff's budget, including its separate line for corrections and detention: the sheriff submits it by June 1 and the board may amend, increase or reduce it (Fla. Stat. 30.49). The board also owns the jail building, and it decides by ordinance whether the sheriff or a county corrections department runs the jail (Fla. Stat. 951.061).
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations where the sheriff runs the jail. The sheriff is separately elected, and can appeal the board's budget cuts to the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Administration Commission. No state agency inspects the jail; peer inspectors from other sheriffs' offices do.
- NoteCounty government site lakecountyfl.gov root was refused; board page not confirmed.
- The boardLake County Board of County Commissioners
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- The sheriff runs the Lake County Detention Center: 960 beds, average daily population 828, built 1992 (sheriff's corrections page).
- PREA: the sheriff's posted inmate handbook states a zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse and harassment and lists reporting routes, including a hotline number.
- Contracts: the sheriff posts a 2019 request for proposals for inmate health care (lcso.org/rfp/documents/InmateMedicalRFP.pdf) — a solicitation, not a contract — recorded no.
- Fees: the handbook lists only a $5 photo-ID replacement charge and says the jail may seek medical reimbursement; no phone, video, commissary or booking rates — recorded no.
- Bond: no bond or bail guidance found on the corrections page, inmate search page or handbook — recorded no. The corrections page may hold tabbed sections our reader could not expand.
- Budget: no sheriff or county budget document could be opened (lakecountyfl.gov refused) — recorded no.
- No jail administrator is named on the corrections page.
- County seat (Tavares) not confirmed on an opened county page — seat_source left blank.
- What was tried: lcso.org root opened but showed only social links; sub-pages found with one site-restricted WebSearch. lakecountyfl.gov root refused.
- State inspection/oversight: Florida requires every county jail to meet the Florida Model Jail Standards and to be inspected each year, but the inspectors come from other sheriffs' offices, not a state agency, and state law does not require the reports to be published.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Lake County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff is elected. So are the county commissioners who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-28 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered