Florida Department of Corrections to Close Prisons, Work Camps

As a result of declining prison admissions and excess bed space, the Florida Department of Corrections will be closing seven prisons and four work/forestry camps by July 1, 2012, as part of a statewide consolidation plan. No inmates will be released early as a result of this decision, and there will remain adequate bed space to accommodate projected prison admissions, which have steadily decreased since FY 2007-08.

The prisons being closed are Broward Correctional Institution (CI) in Ft. Lauderdale, Demilly CI in Polk City, Gainesville CI in Alachua County, Hillsborough CI in Riverview near Tampa, Indian River CI in Vero Beach, Jefferson CI in Monticello and New River CI (both units) in Raiford. In addition, River Junction Work Camp in Chattahoochee, Caryville Work Camp near Northwest Florida Reception Center in Washington County, Hendry Work Camp in Immokalee, and Levy Forestry Camp near Lowell CI in Ocala will also be closed.

“Declining prison admissions has led to a surplus of prison beds, allowing us to pare down our budget shortfall by consolidating and closing our older, less efficient facilities. We are committed to placing as many affected staff as possible in vacant positions for which they are qualified,” said Secretary Ken Tucker.

Inmates will be relocated to institutions with vacancies that meet their custody, profile, health, education and risk assessment needs. 

To determine which prisons and facilities would be affected, Secretary Tucker assembled an internal workgroup of subject matter experts, who developed criteria for evaluating facilities based on several factors including: facility mission, cost per inmate, maintenance and construction costs, community and employee impact, inmate labor squads, security, education and programs, and volunteers.  These criteria were vetted through a variety of public and private sector entities. The Department employed quantitative measures to create an Institutional Scoring Sheet to objectively measure the pros and cons for each institution. 

Below are some details about the prisons that are affected.

 

Prison Name	Total Capacity	FTE Reductions	Est. FY11-12 Savings	Est. FY12-13 Savings	Closure Date
Broward CI	611	50	$210,281	$2,523,371	May 1, 2012
Demilly CI	342	118	$---	$6,068,260	June 1, 2012
Gainesville CI	507	150	$3,012,948	$9,038,845	Feb. 1, 2012
Hillsborough CI	431	115	$2,078,663	$8,314,653	March 1, 2012
Indian River CI	381	155	$668,994	$8,027,931	May 1, 2012
Jefferson CI	1,179	177	$1,705,057	$10,230,340	April 1, 2012
New River CI	1,363	281	$3,961,002	$17,644,740	March 1, 2012 CI April 1, 2012 O
Levy Forestry Camp	292	65	$1,295,421	$3,886,263	Feb. 1, 2012
Hendry Work Camp	280	74	$---	$4,028,832	June 1, 2012
Caryville Work Camp	133	31	$576,264	$1,728,792	Feb. 1, 2012
River Junction Work Camp	736	77	$1,422,818	$4,268,454	Feb. 1, 2012
Totals		1,293	$14,931,448	$75,760,481