BY JAMES WILLIAMS
Special to the Telegraph
STARKE—It has been no secret that the Florida Legislature’s go-to budget cut has traditionally been the state’s corrections and prison system for decades. That turkey has now come home to roost.
State Senator Jennifer Bradley (R) is chair of the Appropriations Committee on Civil and Criminal Justice. The other eight members include Senators Baxley (R), Burgess (R), Hooper (R), Martin (R), Pizzo (D), Rouson (D), Torres (D) and Yarborough (R).
$2.5 million study
Last Wednesday, the bipartisan committee’s meeting covered the findings of a massive 2022-23, $2-5 million “comprehensive prison modernization and staffing structure analysis” of Florida’s Department of Corrections and its facilities.
The report might be called a facilities audit completed by international accounting and auditing firm KPMG. The firm has completed similar reports for other large states with failing corrections systems and has a team of experts who do just that.
It should come as no surprise in Clay, Bradford, and Union Counties that the news was not especially good. According to the FDC website, there were 82,124 inmates housed in the system in 2022. KPMG predicted the inmate population will rise from its current 85,000 to over 107,000 by 2042.
Inpatient medical needs will also rise due to an aging population and Florida’s “tough on crime” sentencing mandates for longer prison stays. Florida’s population growth, in general, will play a role, including immigration. Substance abuse and mental health issues will increase.
Most facilities poor or ‘no longer operational’
KPMG rated the department’s facilities on a scale of one to five. A rating of one signified a like-new condition. Two represents assets showing minor wear in the first half of their expected lives but are still in good condition. Three indicated moderate wear within the second half of their expected lives and still functional. Four signifies “in poor condition, and five was “in failure condition” and no longer operational. Sixty percent of all square footage of DOC’s aged facilities was rated four and five.
The study also projected costs to make the FDC’s facilities functional to current standards over a 20-year planning horizon. Professional standards from the Building Owners and Managers Association and the Association of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers were used to forecast the costs.
The cost of replacing components with a four or five rating, end of life, and failure conditions was assumed to be the FDC’s immediate capital needs.
Staff turnover exceeded 26%
Twenty percent of the department’s facilities had significant vacancy rates, which has prompted FDC to close several inmate dorms over the last few years. The COVID pandemic also hit FDC hard, and adjustments had to be made. The number of inmates has begun to climb again now that courts are back in session and playing catch up.
Staff turnover last year exceeded 26 percent, meaning the department must retrain one-quarter of its workforce yearly. Last year, high vacancy rates caused FDC to leave over 85,000 level-one shifts unfilled. The department needs 23 percent more correctional officers to cover existing posts. Recruitment is an issue due to workplace conditions and low pay.
Aging population = increased medical costs
Just as the general population in Florida is getting older, 29 percent of inmates in Florida’s prisons are over 50. The proportion of inmates with routine health needs is declining, while the proportion of those requiring chronic care and intensive health services is rising.
The department now relies on short-term infirmary and community hospital beds, which come at increased cost and pose security risks. The inpatient housing deficit will grow to approximately 420 beds over the next 20 years.
The same will be valid for specialized housing for inpatient care: today, there are already 644 inmates who have advanced dementia, traumatic brain injury, or other complex health issues requiring specialized housing.
Is air conditioning a luxury?
The total cost of supplying HVAC alone for existing facilities is $582 million. KPMG also figured out the cost of providing local area networks to improve communication and security systems, which means an additional $94 million to connect all buildings inside prison fences. Major buildings outside the fences will require an additional 2.8 million feet of fiber, or approximately 530 miles of fiber, including fiber, to each site.
A wide area network will cost $138 million over 20 years to provide one gigabyte of service to every site. Camera system modernization—a must–runs $97 million.
Expensive? Yes. However, the network will provide increased security, communications, and safety to staff and inmates alike. There are other upsides to cabling all FDC facilities, such as remote inmate learning.
Staff turnover is only eight to 10 percent in newer facilities with air conditioning. However, several committee members–like senators and representatives in Florida’s past–began to suggest air conditioning– now considered a basic need industry-wide, –is an unnecessary luxury. Bradley said security staff believes AC keeps inmates calmer, which translates into a safer environment for inmates and employees alike and lowers job dissatisfaction and the department’s high turnover rate.
Never mind that without climate control, Florida’s temperatures may reach dangerous highs in years to come, with inevitable lawsuits from staff or former staff and inmates or surviving families when health emergencies arise.
Price tag: $2 billion to $6 billion
Sen. Hopper expressed concerns about court monitoring or Federal regulators intervening if the state took inadequate measures or no actions.
KPMG associate Bill Barry responded, “…we have witnessed in other states like California, Texas, and Illinois –a trend of class action lawsuits…where there has been litigation that led to federal intervention either by court monitoring or court receivership. I think it’s fair to say, and it is a well-known fact, that spending (in receivership) becomes a negotiation, with less discretion the state has in the way funds would be spent.”
Florida must spend $2.2 billion to retrofit, build, and staff FDC’s immediate needs alone. The most basic of the three options calls for building three prisons and one or two hospitals to be operational by 2029 while closing four prisons that are difficult to staff and have high deferred maintenance costs.
The entire package over the 20 years was estimated at up to $6 billion, depending on which of three options the report spelled out and which the legislature decides to choose.
