Florida Department of Corrections
Michael D. Crews, Secretary
Quick Facts
About the Florida Department of Corrections
Revised January 2013
Correctional Officer Lovett at the Taylor Work Camp. Almost one third (32%) of state Correctional Officers in Florida are women.
The Department employs approximately 23,700 employees, the majority of whom are Correctional Officers or Correctional Probation Officers.
Florida’s recidivism rate has dropped to 30%, which means almost one of every three inmates released from a Florida prison returns to prison in Florida within three years. (This does not include the number of inmates who return to county jails, federal prisons or prisons in other states.)
Prison Life
Inmates cook more than 85 million meals each year for their fellow inmates. The Department has been appropriated $1.54 per day per inmate to purchase food products required to feed per the master menu.
Most prison inmates live in dormitories not cells. Florida State Prison in Starke is the only Florida prison where all inmates live in single cells.
Most Florida inmates must serve a minimum of 85% of their sentences before release. Inmates released in June 2012 served an average of 86% of their sentences.
More than 84% of prison inmates work in jobs ranging from laundry, cooking and prison maintenance to prison industries and outside work squads. Community Work Squad inmates perform services under agreements with the Department of Transportation, other state agencies such as the Division of Forestry, counties, cities, municipalities, and non-profit organizations. In Fiscal Year 2011-12, the Department of Corrections' Community Work Squad inmates worked 5.8 million hours in our communities, saving Florida taxpayers more than $46 million.
For more info, click here www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/myths.html.
Appropriation History (Millions)
Florida prisons DO NOT have cable television. Inmates have access to a single, donated television in most of their day rooms that services about 75 inmates per dorm. Correctional Officers control the channels and remote. Death row inmates have 13-inch (donated or purchased) television sets in their cells.
As mandated by law, all inmates have access to libraries, religious services, medical and dental care.
Inmates using Florida prison general libraries during fiscal year 2011-12 borrowed 1,571,223 books and periodicals. This includes fiction, non-fiction, reference books, magazines, and newspapers. Law library services were provided to inmates 585,474 times throughout the state. If you or your organization would like to donate books to our general prison libraries, please contact Marty Morrison at (850) 717-3163.
For more info, click here www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/myths.html.
Inmates grow tomatoes and cumbers (among other vegetables) each year, one of the many crops that supplement their meals.
Inmates grow crops every year, and under the leadership of Governor Rick Scott, inmates are growing even more of their own food. Inmates are cultivating approximately 887 acres at over 48 different farms and gardens and five University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) facilities. They harvested 10.3 million pounds of produce including broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, and watermelon from July 2011 to June 2012, compared to 7.6 million pounds harvested during the same time the previous year. These crops, which include donations and IFAS-produced crops, are used to supplement inmate meals, help inmates learn a skill and reduce inmate idleness.
While most prison farming programs have traditionally taken place outside the prison grounds, such as this one at DeSoto Correctional Institution, more of our facilities are starting farm programs inside the fences in our work camps, utilizing all the space available to supplement inmate meals with fresh fruits and vegetables grown by the inmates themselves. These programs save taxpayers money and teach the inmates a viable skill.
For more info, click here www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/myths.html.
Per Diem (FY 11-12)
It costs an average $49.24 a day or $18,022 per year to house an inmate in a Florida prison.
Salaries
Certified entry-level Correctional Officers are paid $30,807.92 annually.
Certified entry-level Correctional Probation Officers are paid $33,478.12 annually.
Statistics
From July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, 32,279 inmates were admitted to prison, and 34,463 inmates were released. During that same period, 90,880 offenders were admitted to community supervision, and 90,626 were released from supervision.
Prison Statistics
Inmates in Florida's prisons in July 2012 ranged in age from 14 to 93.
Of the 100,444 inmates in Florida prisons on July 20, 2012, 93% were male and 7% female.
The top ten offenses Florida inmates were serving time for on June 30, 2012 were:
| Top 10 Offenses on June 30, 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Primary Offense | # Inmates | % total inmates |
| Robbery With Weapon | 8,852 | 8.8 |
| Burglary of a Dwelling | 8,356 | 8.3 |
| Manufacture, Sale or Purchase of Drugs | 8,344 | 8.3 |
| Capital (First Degree) Murder | 6,780 | 6.7 |
| Drug Trafficking | 6,753 | 6.7 |
| Lewd and Lascivious Behavior | 4,828 | 4.8 |
| Second Degree Murder | 4,734 | 4.7 |
| Robbery Without Weapon | 3,623 | 3.6 |
| Aggravated Battery | 3,280 | 3.3 |
| Weapons Possession | 3,083 | 3.1 |
The top ten counties of conviction for inmates in prison on June 30, 2012 were:
| Top 10 Counties of Conviction on June 30, 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| County of Conviction | # Inmates | % total inmates |
| Miami-Dade | 8,095 | 8.1 |
| Duval | 7,859 | 7.8 |
| Hillsborough | 7,576 | 7.6 |
| Broward | 7,508 | 7.5 |
| Pinellas | 6,368 | 6.4 |
| Orange | 5,568 | 5.6 |
| Palm Beach | 4,456 | 4.4 |
| Polk | 3,793 | 3.8 |
| Brevard | 2,981 | 3.0 |
| Escambia | 2,794 | 2.8 |
Inmate Population on June 30, 2012 by Primary Offense
Community Supervision Statistics
| Primary Offense of Offenders on Community Supervision on June 30, 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Offense | Length of Supervision | Average Age at Offense | % Offenders |
| Murder/Manslaughter | 15.0 yrs | 28.4 yrs | 1.6 |
| Sexual Offense | 10.2 yrs | 34.5 yrs | 4.3 |
| Robbery | 6.3 yrs | 24.0 yrs | 3.7 |
| Violent Offenses | 3.8 yrs | 32.0 yrs | 15.5 |
| Burglary | 3.9 yrs | 25.8 yrs | 11.2 |
| Theft, Forgery, Fraud | 4.0 yrs | 32.3 yrs | 26.1 |
| Drugs | 3.1 yrs | 31.8 yrs | 25.8 |
| Weapons | 3.1 yrs | 29.9 yrs | 2.4 |
| Other Non-Violent | 2.9 yrs | 35.4 yrs | 8.5 |
| General Characteristics of Offenders on Supervision on June 30, 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Gender | % Offenders |
| Male | 75.4 |
| Female | 24.6 |
| Race | |
| White | 63.3 |
| Black | 31.5 |
| Other | 5.2 |
| Prior Supervision Commitments | |
| None | 60.5 |
| 1 | 21.2 |
| 2 | 9.1 |
| 3 | 4.4 |
| 4 | 4.8 |
Types of Offenses for Offenders on Supervision June 30, 2012
Finding an Inmate in State Prison, Federal Prison or County Jails
Inmates who committed felonies and are sentenced to at least a year and a day are sent to state prison in Florida, and are under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Corrections. To find an inmate in the state prison system in Florida, go to www.dc.state.fl.us/InmateInfo/InmateInfoMenu.asp.
Inmates who have committed federal crimes are sent to federal prisons which may be located in Florida. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website, which includes inmate locators, is www.bop.gov/.
Inmates who have not yet been sentenced, or who are charged with misdemeanors, and/or who have been sentenced to less than a year are housed in county jails. Click here for a list of all county sheriff's offices to find a specific county jail: http://www.flsheriffs.org/sheriffs/florida-sheriff-directory.
