The Brevard County Jail Complex is located in Sharpes. It is owned and maintained by the Board of County Commissioners and operated by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. The jail is accredited through the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission. The main jail opened in 1986 with beds for 386 inmates. Currently the Jail Complex routinely houses over 1,800 inmates daily with 1,321 permanent inmate beds. There has been a jail as long as there has been a sheriff and a county court. The jail was formerly located in Titusville, Florida, in the Courthouse complex. In 2013, the jail re-introduced chain gangs as a deterrent on crime in a pilot project. Ex-convict Larry Lawton was critical of this, saying a better use of law enforcement resources would be to combat drug addiction because he says it is a "contributing factor" to criminal activity. The Brevard Correctional Institution is located west of the county jail. Despite its name, it is operated by the state. It was built in 1977. It houses up to 1,000 inmates. It employs 238 people. In 2010, it cost $30.8 million to operate. In 2011, it needed $6.2 million to repair. The state decided to close it. References External links Brevard County Sheriff's Office Census-designated places in Brevard County, Florida Census-designated places in Florida Populated places on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida