Snakes, cockroaches and mold make their home in the Volusia County sheriff's office's evidence building. Now the sheriff wants a new one -- before evidence is compromised.
All of the evidence from Volusia County’s major cases are inside a building built in 1938 as an old farm prison.
Today, employees are running out of space.
The paint is cracked, the roof is leaking and sheriff’s employees are worried the dilapidated building could compromise the evidence.
"If we stay in the condition that we are right now, we don't put any money into it, we could get to that crossroad," said evidence manager Jody Thomas.
Rain is the biggest enemy. In fact workers move fast to cover evidence with plastic sheets when rain moves in.
Workers showed us a picture of flood waters surround the building. Rain triggers moisture, causing paint to peel and metal to rust.
But a big safety concern are the amount of snakes, which Thomas says crawl in from the many gaps on old metal doors.
"We've had probably a dozen snakes in this facility over the last four or five years, some of which were poisonous," said Thomas.
Fortunately there are no rat problems since the snakes eat them. But there are plenty of cockroaches.
Thomas said all the water leakage is also creating mold, which could make employees sick.
He said it’s like a submarine crew trying to stop leaks with their fingers, but in this case he said employees are running out of fingers to stop the leaks here.
The Volusia County Council is currently looking at how much it could cost to replace the evidence building.
The estimate they have right now $13.5 million.