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Manatee County Jail

600 301 Blvd W # 202
Bradenton, FL 34205-7953
(941) 747-3011

Interview with Ryan, Angel, Dale and Peter

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Ryan: 15 days including days served.
Angel: 30 days
Dale: 4yrs DOC 5yrs Felony Probation
Peter: My sentencing was seven months

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like? If you didn't where did they they take you instead?
Ryan: I spent 2 days in booking in a holding cell. They would let you out of the cell for 2-3 hours a day in the dorm area. There are 4 tables in the dorm area. In the cell, there are 4 bunks with 12 people in the holding cell. Whoever is the strongest and biggest gets the bed first. One day I saw a short and skinny white guy that came in with an attitude... and he got the bed. You got to walk in there with 13 or 14 other guys you don't know, mexican, blacks, whites, puerto ricans. You looking at everybody and you have decide if you are going to be quiet or stand up for yourself ... with attitude you are getting shit done. I didn't talk to anyone in the holding cell.
Angel: Yes I waiting in a holding cell for about an hour and a half
Dale: I spent time in the Courtroom holding cell. Once we got back to the Jail. They transferred me to General Population where alot of people were waiting on the Prison Bus. I was in a Working Pod.
Peter: Yes we were put in to a holding cell. The was about 10 of us in there. We were given a bagged lunch to eat while we waited for about 45 minutes.

If you know somebody serving time in the Manatee County Jail you are probably wondering what to expect. Read real interviews from ex-inmate of the jail who explain what day-to-day life behind bars is really like.

Presentencing in Manatee County
When you are facing criminal charges in Manatee County there will probably be a warrant out for your arrest (unless you are caught in the act, such as a DUI). You can either expect the police to stop by your house or a summons to appear in court.

One former inmate reported that the difference between a public defender (PD) and a private attorney dropped a 90-day sentence to a 15-day sentence. This doesn't mean that public defenders aren't good, but they might be so overworked that they can't focus as much on your case.

Getting along with other inmates
There are always some inmates you aren't going to get along with - don't try to make friends with everybody in there. It won't work. Keep to yourself and try to avoid getting caught up in jailhouse drama. Having so many people in such a small area (with nothing to do) makes people start stuff just to pass the time. Make sure you aren't at the other end of it.

Inmates like to play cards, checkers, read books and workout. Only the P-pod offers television but it might be pretty hard to convince everybody in there to watch what you want.

Visitors and telephone calls in Manatee County Jail
One nice thing about Manatee County Jail is you are allowed to have visitors as often as you like as long as they schedule it ahead of time. This means that you could potential get seven visits in a week (although it is unlikely that you will be able to actually get this many scheduled). The downside is that these "visits" are actually just video phone calls. They do this to keep people from trying to smuggle in contraband.

Phone calls can be made from 8AM to lockdown (in the evening) as long as the guards turn the phones on. They are $2 for 20 minutes (a pretty reasonable price for a jail phone call, actually) or you can buy prepaid phone cards on commissary.

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