Florida DOC To Close Three Prisons: Century CI Not On List

March 16, 2011

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The Florida Department of Corrections announced plans Tuesday to close three prisons, two boot camp programs and another facility as a way of saving $30 million that agency officials say can be done without releasing any inmates early.

A North Escambia prison — the Century Correctional Institution was not on the planned closure list as the DOC announced plans to close Brevard Correctional Institution near Cocoa, Hendry Correctional Institution in Immokalee and Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Riverview. Also on the block for closure will be the Tallahassee Road Prison, the Lowell Correctional Institution Boot Camp and the Sumter Boot Camp.

Prisons officials also claim they can do it without many layoffs. A statement from the department said “the bulk” of the cost savings would be generated through employee attrition.

Corrections Secretary Edwin Buss said last week that with about 350 jobs a month turning over in the system, not filling them could give the agency almost all the cuts it needs.

Staff at the facilities slated for closure will be offered jobs at other institutions, prisons officials said.

“This plan is the right thing to do because it will save Florida taxpayers millions of dollars,” Buss said in a release. “The facilities to be closed are older and require more resources to operate than newer institutions. Additionally, this initiative will provide the department with an opportunity to consolidate program resources which will allow for seamless delivery of evidence based programs aimed to reduce recidivism.”

The state prison system currently has a surplus of beds, according to prison officials.

An agency statement said the phase out of the facilities would begin immediately with an eye toward completion at the end of June.

While the administration of Gov. Rick Scott has clashed with legislators over the authority to make certain moves without legislative approval, the chairman of the Senate committee that writes the criminal justice budget said Tuesday that Buss is within his authority to close and consolidate prisons without legislative approval.

Fasano, however, is working on a draft criminal justice budget that contemplates far fewer reductions, cutting 85 positions for a savings of just $5.5 million.

Closure of the facility in Brevard County, which has about 350 employees, may be particularly difficult – the area has been hit hard by the slowdown in the space industry and the end of the space shuttle program. Florida Today newspaper in Melbourne reported that prison officials said only 238 of those workers at the Brevard facility would be offered jobs elsewhere, though many of those jobs may be made empty by attrition.

The department said shuttering the facilities would save $30.8 million this year, and $25 million in out years.

The Legislature is looking to cut $3.6 billion from the current year budget to close a gap between revenue and spending. Lawmakers will get an update Friday on how much revenue is expected to be available, which will be the basis for the budget they’ll write this month and next.

David Royse, The News Service Florida contributed to this report.

Comments

12 Responses to “Florida DOC To Close Three Prisons: Century CI Not On List”

  1. DOC Employee on January 13th, 2012 7:59 am

    I have worked in the department for fourteen year and each institution has a Warden and two Assistant Wardens. Each prison can cut one assistant Warden, this position is not needed, however they would would rather cut the line staff that are needed to protect the public. One Assistant Warden makes about 85,000 dollars a year times this by about 70 institutions. Wow, this is millions of taxpayer dollars wasted each year.

  2. matt f on July 26th, 2011 10:50 pm

    If they are saving all this money by closing prisons, then why is he cutting peoples pay? A lot of people are not blessed to be well off with money. A lot of people work hard for there money and not steel it like some people do to live on easy street.

  3. Debbie on March 17th, 2011 9:07 pm

    Rick Scott didn’t need the pay when he drew his first Florida Check…We are in for a ride…..

  4. S on March 17th, 2011 8:03 pm

    The inmate population was projected to grow but during the recession, inmate population leveled off and even fell some at times. So the short answer is because they projected growth in population they built extra bed space that is now no longer needed. They picked some of the most expensive older prsions to maintain/run and are cutting them. Would not be surprised to see legislative changes to further reduce prison numbers over time.

    Your state, county and city governments have grown and grown over the decades and it’s time for a reset. The revenues do not support the current spending levels and so CUTs are coming to many state and local gov’ts. Without the revenues and federal government stimulus running out in June, they must make cuts.

  5. rr on March 17th, 2011 1:29 pm

    The richer get richer and the poorer gets poorer. I bet rick scott is not cutting his pay.

  6. Son of C.O on March 16th, 2011 6:41 pm

    for us, i am so sorry the other prisons are being closed, hope the govener keeps his word

  7. Son of C.O on March 16th, 2011 6:39 pm

    i am glad they a not closing the Century prison where my parents work.this is a great blessing.

  8. JIM W on March 16th, 2011 2:33 pm

    Wow! The statement tha it’s the right thing to do. Is amazing if it was such a great thing to have done then why did they not do it a long time ago so that there was consolidation and saveing the taxpayers money then? Duh! Typical politicians saying look at me what I can do now. But until the economy made it different they were wasting our tax dollars. All of a sudden they gave revelations? Woah! What a concept save money wow!
    Think about what the article said they have admitted wasting money all those years if that is what they are going to do.

  9. t2 on March 16th, 2011 10:36 am

    Im hoping that the people that work at these facilities get placed elsewhere and do not loose income.

  10. Name (required) on March 16th, 2011 9:09 am

    Wow,

    Who would have thought there was THAT much waste in the system…

    …oh, I guess it was the VOTERS. ;)

    Go Governor Go!

  11. T on March 16th, 2011 7:03 am

    RE: Big D :( ………READ AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

    1st paragraph: The Florida Department of Corrections announced plans Tuesday to close three prisons, two boot camp programs and another facility as a way of saving $30 million that agency officials say can be done without releasing any inmates early………..:)

  12. Big D on March 16th, 2011 6:54 am

    The one thing that is not discussed in this article is where do all these convicts go when these institutions are closed. Maybe they can serve their time at the Governor’s mansion. As usual politicians make these decisions and then the average workers will have to deal with it and make it work.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News