Clay County is moving toward a decision on a consolidated Public Safety Complex that county officials say could cost between $200 million and $400 million. The project would bring the Sheriff’s Office, Fire Rescue, emergency management, and 911 dispatch together on one campus.
Four firms are competing to design, build, and finance the facility. The Board of County Commissioners will hear presentations from all four bidders at a workshop on October 13, 2026, starting at 9 a.m. Commissioners will score the proposals later that same day at their regularly scheduled meeting.
A Long Time Coming
The idea traces back to at least 2020, when Clay County hired Mission Critical Partners (MCP), a Pennsylvania-based public safety consulting firm, to study combining the county’s two 911 dispatch operations.
At the time, the Sheriff’s Office and Clay County Fire Rescue ran separate call centers. The county’s contact for that work was Troy Nagle, who was the county’s Information Services Director. Nagle is an Assistant County Manager.
MCP’s original assessment led to a colocation plan for the two dispatch centers. In January 2021, the firm proposed managing the construction and technology work for that merger, for a fee of $522,020.
That project was focused narrowly on dispatch. It did not include the sheriff’s administrative offices, fire rescue headquarters, a fleet center, or a training complex.
The idea grew from there. In March 2023, Sheriff Michelle Cook told county commissioners the county needed a “campus-style complex,” modeled on a similar facility in Nassau County. She said the county’s practice of spreading staff across multiple buildings was not sustainable.
“We’ve got to start moving forward,” Cook told commissioners at the time. “Piecemealing us into portions of another building or putting 20 people over here, 10 people over here is just not the way to do business.”
By November 2023, the county was asking the state for funding through a formal legislative request. That filing cited a “high level assessment” by an independent third party as the basis for consolidating the county’s 911 operations. Mission Critical Partners did that assessment in 2020.
What The Complex Would Include
As currently described in the county’s state funding requests, the complex would include a multi-agency warehouse, a fleet center, an administrative building, a 911 call center, and a training complex, all on one campus.
County officials have also held early talks with St. Johns River State College about relocating its law enforcement academy to the same site. That piece of the plan is still active, according to the county.
The site under consideration is a more than 53-acre parcel near the First Coast Expressway, in a planned development called Peters Creek Industrial Park, across from the Clay County Fairgrounds. The county has not yet purchased the land. It has issued a Notice of Intent for the property.
The Procurement Process
The county issued its solicitation, RFP No. 25/26-085, in April 2026. It is structured as a public/private partnership under Florida Statute 255.065, which allows local governments to have private firms design, build, and finance public projects rather than paying for construction upfront.
Bids were due June 15, 2026, and were opened the next day. Four firms submitted proposals. An evaluation committee reviewed the bids over the following weeks.
The Board of County Commissioners is now scheduled to hear from all four firms directly at the October 13 workshop, then score the proposals that same day.
A Wide Cost Range
County officials say the total cost of the complex is estimated at between $200 million and $400 million. The final price will depend on negotiations with whichever firm the county selects.
That is a far larger figure than earlier public estimates suggested. Previous state funding requests described individual pieces of the project, such as $20 million for a combined communications center or $4 million for utility infrastructure, but never a total project cost.
The estimate's scale raises the stakes for the October workshop. With a range that wide, commissioners will have significant room to negotiate on price, scope, or both once a firm is selected.
How The County Says It Will Pay For This
Clay County disclosed a projected $44.5 million General Fund deficit at a budget workshop on June 9, 2026, just before the bid opening for the public safety complex. Sheriff Cook warned in June that response times could suffer without action.
Asked whether that deficit affects the public safety complex, county officials said it does not. They said the deficit is in the county’s Operating funds, while the complex will be paid for through Capital Improvement funds, a separate budget category. The county did not specify which specific revenue sources will fund the Capital Improvement side of the project.
How Clay County’s Plan Compares
Sheriff Cook’s original comparison point, Nassau County, has built a 40-acre Public Safety Training Complex in phases. The first phase, a gun range, opened in 2021 for $1.6 million.
The second phase, an indoor training facility, opened in June 2025 for $7.95 million, funded by a state legislative grant and impact fees. Nassau’s project is focused on training rather than a full administrative consolidation.
St. Johns County has taken a different approach, building a series of smaller combined fire station and sheriff’s office facilities across the county rather than one large campus.
The second of four planned facilities, a $13 million, 20,000-square-foot building combining Fire Station 22 with a Sheriff’s Office operations center, is under construction now and expected to open in early 2027.
What Happens Next
The October 13 workshop will be the first public opportunity to see detailed proposals from the four competing firms, including their own cost estimates. Commissioners are expected to score those proposals the same day, a step that would move the county closer to selecting a development partner for the complex.
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Nice article. I'm impressed with the detail and probably a lot if research.
She said "...20 people over here, 10 people over here is just not the way to do business..." . Conversely, if you have everyone operating in the same spot, this could be a vulnerability especially for first responder or disaster management situation. It could cause silo-ing of operations. Barring a command center jn a disaster (which I thought was at clay county fairgrounds), With good training, decentralizing can be a strength. Now, if you are an administrator and want everything under one wing and meetings easier,etc one campus would be tidy and efficient.
Also, I thought this was the age of zoom calls and app-for-that administration. Why do you need new bricks and mortor?