Pinellas Inmates Aware Conversations Are Recorded

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 28, 2008

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CLEARWATER - Audio tapes of Nick Bollea's telephone conversations with his parents and sister were released last week by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at the request of a local television station.

Inmates at the Pinellas County Jail - where Bollea, 17, is serving an eight-month sentence in the car wreck that left his friend John Graziano with brain damage - are informed their conversations may be recorded, said Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner. There are signs informing them, and a recorded message intermittently alerts the inmates of the possible recording during their conversations.

The sheriff's office was obligated to release what recorded messages they had of Bollea speaking because it is a record maintained by the sheriff's office, which oversees the jail, and there is nothing in public records laws that allows them to withhold the recordings from the media, Bordner said.

Inmate conversations are taped in part for security purposes.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.