Beginning this month, Florida’s Department of Corrections is overseeing the contracts and operations of the state’s seven private prisons, taking that responsibility from the state’s Department of Management Services.
The change comes after a state audit found deficiencies in security staffing levels and training and facility maintenance. Department of Corrections Deputy Secretary Richard Comerford told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on October 18 that more than 10,000 of Florida’s 85,145 inmates are housed in private prisons.
Four of the privately managed facilities are in the Panhandle, two are in South Florida, and one is near Lake City. Comerford told the lawmakers that the state-managed prisons are behind the private facilities in programming and educational programs for inmates. He added that with recent increases in funding, he predicted the state facilities would close that gap.
