With Florida facing a “perfect storm” of declining facilities and other woes in the state prison system, lawmakers this week were briefed on a report that pointed to a need to spend at least $2.2 billion on repairs, retrofits, and staffing.
The report was authored by the consulting firm KPMG, which was paid $2 million by lawmakers to develop a “master plan” designed to improve the corrections system over a 20-year period. Leaking roofs, corroded doors, broken windows and crumbling stucco were among the facility problems identified in the report.
Florida is facing “a bit of a perfect storm,” Jeff Goodale, a subcontractor who worked on the report, told the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.
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“Inevitably, at a certain point, these systems do get stressed to a point of crisis,” Goodale, who works for HOK Architects, said.
A third of Florida’s correctional facilities were in poor or critical condition, the report said. Compounding the problems with physical facilities are a projected increase in the state’s prison population and ongoing staffing woes such as turnover and vacancies. The report outlined a turnover rate in the Department of Corrections of more than 26 percent during the fiscal year that ended in July, and said staff vacancy rates at some prisons are above 20 percent.
Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairwoman Jennifer Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican, indicated that the issues such as the ones raised in the reports have been plaguing the system for some time.
“We have asked for too long for DOC (Department of Corrections) to do too much with too little,” said Bradley, whose North Florida district includes several prisons.
Bradley did, however, point to salary increases provided by the Legislature for correctional officers over the last few years as having helped address some staffing problems.
“But aging infrastructure, making sure we have enough beds to meet increasing projections remain big challenges. This roadmap is welcome by those in the trenches across this system,” she added.
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The master plan offered lawmakers three options to stabilize the system, which houses about 80,000 inmates and is projected to add another 43,000 prisoners over the next 20 years, according to KPMG.
The most expensive option, carrying a price tag of $11.9 billion, would involve building three 4,800-bed prisons and two hospitals over the next two decades. A second option, at a cool $9 billion, would make the changes in the most-expensive option, except that it would lead to building two prisons instead of three.
The $2.2 billion proposal recommended building a 4,800-bed prison and two new hospitals — with a total of 900 beds — and reopening and adding beds at existing prison sites.
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