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Alachua County Jail
Gainesville, Florida
First Correctional Medical
January 13, 2005 WCJB TV20
An Alachua County inmate was still warm to the touch Wednesday when Alachua
County Sheriff's deputies found him dead in his cell. Investigators say it
was an apparent suicide raising questions about mental health care at the
jail.
American Corrective Counseling
Services
November 2, 2007 Public Citizen
In a ruling that could have widespread implications for the accountability of
private government contractors, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit ruled Thursday that a private, for-profit debt collector that
operates as a contractor for local prosecutors cannot claim sovereign
immunity from lawsuits. The company, American Corrective Counseling Services,
Inc. (ACCS), is a so-called “check diversion” company, meaning that it uses
its contract with local prosecutors to threaten consumers who have written
bad checks with criminal prosecution or jail unless they pay the company
exorbitant collection fees. The company then gives the prosecutors a share of
the profits. In the suit, Rosario v. ACCS, Florida consumers claimed that
ACCS’s threats of prosecution violated their rights under state and federal
consumer protection laws. In November 2006, a federal district court ruled
that ACCS had the same sovereign immunity as does the state, because ACCS is
a state contractor. Public Citizen represents the Florida consumer
plaintiffs. The appellate court on Thursday disagreed with the district
court, concluding that giving the private company sovereign immunity would
contradict precedent and create an extensive new immunity defense for private
government contractors in all sectors. The court noted that attorneys in
prosecutors’ offices do not review the cases before ACCS threatens consumers
with prosecution, and that the prosecutors exercise virtually no control over
ACCS. Sovereign immunity, the court said, “has never been held to apply
simply because an independent contractor performs some government function.”
“This decision has broad implications for government-employed contractors of
all stripes,” said Deepak Gupta, the Public Citizen attorney who argued the
case. “From debt collectors and private prisons to Blackwater in Iraq, the
court made clear that private contractors will remain responsible for their
actions and can’t hide behind the cloak of sovereign immunity.” The case will
now go back to the district level so the court can decide the merits of the
suit.
Apalachicola Forest
Youth Camp
Liberty County, Florida
Twin Oaks Juvenile Development, Inc
March 14, 2007 AP
Four state agencies are looking into reports of abuse at a Department of
Children & Families contracted facility that holds mentally ill and
disabled juvenile delinquents who aren't competent to stand trial. It's
believed an employee used excess force Feb. 28 while grabbing a child and
transferring him to a "time out" room, but he was not severely
injured, said Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Andrew
Agwunobi. Another boy's arm was broken during a conflict with employees March
6 at the Liberty County facility managed by Twin Oaks Juvenile Development,
Inc., said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey.
Both boys are 14 years old, said Department of Children & Families
Secretary Bob Butterworth. The first boy is from Broward County and the boy
who broke his arm is from Indian River County. Phillpe Davidson was fired
after the first event and Anthony Vowell and John Davis were placed on leave
after the second, according to DCF. The Apalachicola Forest Youth Camp was
almost shut down after the Agency for Health Care Administration, which
licenses the facility, reviewed the cases. The agency agreed to keep it open
after DCF assigned staff to monitor the facility 24 hours each day, Agwunobi
said.
Avon Park Youth
Academy
Polk County, Florida
Securicor New Century
March 2, 2001 AP
Two teenage boys escaped from the Avon Park Youth Academy early Thursday
morning, but were captured when they became disoriented while sailing a skiff
on Lake Butler and landed on a shore where authorities just happened to be
looking for them. Polk county sheriff's spokeswoman Michael Shanley said the
pair walked away from the facility around 4:30 a.m. and climbed a fence to
get to freedom. The academy, a Florida department of Juvenile Justice program
operated by a private juvenile corrections firm, has 212 beds and houses
moderate-risk male offenders ages 16-18.
Bartow Boot Camp
Bartow,
Florida
EMSA Correctional Care Inc.
July 16, 2003 The Ledger
The three teens who escaped from the Bartow Youth Training Center on Thursday
afternoon were caught about 12 hours later five miles away, the Polk County
Sheriff's Office reported Friday. Terry Walker, 14, of Apopka, Gerald
Rouse, 14, of Clearwater, and Anthony Schwebel, 17, of Titusville, were
caught about 12 a.m. Friday on Snell and Alturas Babson Park Cutoff roads,
said Michal Shanley, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office. The teens
had been on the run since about 12:40 p.m. Thursday, when they climbed over a
fence and then ran into woods that surround the facility. The Sheriff's
Office called off the search about 5 p.m. But a resident called to report
seeing the teens late Thursday, and the search resumed. Deputies used a
helicopter and dogs to search through the area's citrus groves. All
three teens were taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center, where minors are
taken when arrested. Shanley said Walker, Rouse and Schwebel each face
a felony escape charge. The Bartow Youth Training Center is on 240
acres just east of Homeland on Homeland-Garfield Road. The residential,
50-bed facility houses high-risk and serious habitual offender
juveniles. It was not known why or for how long the teens were at the
detention facility. In February, the Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice awarded a contract to Ramsay Youth Services Inc. to operate the
center. The three-year contract is expected to generate more than $2
million in annual revenue, the company said.
October
8, 2001 Tallahassee Democrat
By all accounts, Chad Franza was a troubled boy, but he didn't deserve to die
the way he did. The 16-year-old, confined to a juvenile boot camp in
Bartow for a series of run-ins with the law, hanged himself with his boot
laces. Just 24 days after he entered the boot camp, Chad decided he
could no longer endure the isolation from his family and the tough
conditions. His suicide more than three years ago still haunts his
parents, Joseph and Mylinda Franza of Avon Park. "It was the worst
day of my life," his father said. Hours before Chad took his life,
his parents stopped at the boot camp to see their son. "They wouldn't
let us," Joseph Franza said. Chad's parents have sued the state
Department of Juvenile Justice, Polk County Sheriff Lawrence Crow and EMSA
Correctional Care Inc., which had a contract to provide physical and mental
health care services for the boot camp.
Bay County
Correctional Facility
Panama City, Florida
CCA
December
1, 2010 The Times
Joseph Mixon, the man responsible for igniting the Nov. 2008 fire that
destroyed the Apalachicola State Bank building downtown, has died. According
to a media statement issued Monday by the Corrections Corporation of America,
Mixon, an inmate at the Bay Correctional Facility in Panama City, was
pronounced dead by emergency medical technicians at 2:19 p.m. on Nov. 24. “At
this time the death appears to be of unnatural causes and does not appear to
involve foul play,” read the statement. Bay County Medical Examiner Dr.
Michael Hunter has the task of determining the cause of death. “Corrections
Corporation of America is working in full cooperation with local and state
law enforcement officials as they investigate,” the statement read.
May
7, 2009 News Herald
Corrections Corporation of America is cutting 52 positions from the Bay
Correctional Facility, officials said Thursday. "While some of these
positions are currently vacant, there are 29 employees who will be affected
by this staff restructuring," Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA management said
in a news release. The layoffs primarily will affect instructors and
counselors at the facility but also will impact some correctional officers
and support staff, officials said. The cuts are expected to take place May
24. Prison officials added they are assessing which programs will be axed
because of the layoffs. Officials said safety at the medium-security prison
will not be affected by the cuts. "This reduction in force is a painful
but necessary action in response to the state's ongoing fiscal challenges and
the budgetary actions taken to date," Warden Bill Spivey said in a news
release. "We will work closely with our affected employees who wish to
continue their careers with CCA to identify transfer opportunities at one of
the company's other 63 facilities operated nationwide. "It is our sincere
hope that the economic health of the state will improve such that these
employees and the important programs and services they provide can be
restored," Spivey said.
April
2, 2009 News-Herald
A prison corrections officer was arrested Thursday after she allegedly
smuggled contraband in to an inmate she had established a relationship with.
Sonja Ann Powell, of Bonifay, was arrested on charges of smuggling contraband
into a correctional facility, according to Bay County Sheriff's Office
officials. Authorities said Powell, 35, a corrections officer at the
privately run Bay Correctional Facility, reportedly smuggled a cell phone to
Francis Marshall and Frank Gomez, two inmates at Bay Correctional Facility.
Officials said investigators discovered information indicating Powell and
Marshall had become involved. "Messages that we were able to get from
them would indicate they had a very strong friendship with an emotional
attachment," Bay County Spokeswoman Ruth Corley said. Officials said
Marshall and Gomez are members of a gang called the Latin Mafia and used the
cell phone to talk with a former guard at the institution and a woman with
whom Gomez had established a relationship. The phone was allegedly used to
send nude photos of the inmates and to receive nude photos of others.
Officials said Marshall will face an additional charge of possession of
contraband in a state correctional facility. Gomez will face two counts of
the same charge.
November
25, 2008 WMBB TV13
Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen announces the arrest of a prison guard,
Kennedy Eugene Patterson, B/M, 08/14/1970, of 734 Redwood Avenue, Panama
City; FL. Patterson was employed by Corrections Corporation of America.
Investigators arrested Patterson today for Trafficking in Hydrocodone and
Attempted Introduction of Contraband in a Correctional Facility. Also
arrested was Patterson’s girlfriend, Latisha Lanetta Ward, B/F, 06/04/1979,
607 East 7th Street, Panama City, FL. Investigators received information from
a CCA staff member that Patterson was involved in smuggling contraband into
the prison to inmates. Investigators out of the Special Investigations
Division were working in an undercover capacity. Along with an informant,
they were able to set up a meeting with Patterson where he agreed to smuggle
several ounces of Marijuana into an inmate along with Hydrocodone for an
exchange of $800.00. Patterson and Ward were booked into the Bay County Jail
today and will make first appearance on the charges tomorrow.
November
15, 2008 Courier-Journal
A judge has ordered McDonald's Corp. to pay $2.4 million in attorney fees and
costs to Louise Ogborn, the Bullitt County woman who last year won a $6.1
million verdict in her strip-search hoax lawsuit against the company. Citing
Ogborn's lawyers' "incredible success," Senior Judge Tom McDonald
approved fees of $934,325 for the lead trial lawyer, Ann Oldfather, and
$311,250 to Kirsten Daniel, her co-counsel, as well as $25,000 in sanctions
against McDonald's for misconduct in the litigation. Daniel said yesterday
that she and Oldfather were ecstatic about the award. "We got everything
we asked for," she said. Margaret Keane, a partner at Greenebaum Doll
& McDonald, which defended the restaurant company, declined to comment,
and a spokesman for McDonald's didn't respond to a request for comment. The
fees were awarded to Ogborn on top of the October 2007 verdict, under a
provision of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act designed to promote vigorous
advocacy for plaintiffs. She now can use that money to satisfy all or some of
what she owes to her lawyers under their employment contracts. Specifics
about those contracts have not been made public. McDonald's had vigorously
protested the fee request, saying Ogborn's lawyers couldn't have possibly
worked the hours they claimed. But Judge McDonald, who oversaw the trial in
Bullitt Circuit Court, said that if the plaintiff's lawyers worked long
hours, it was because the company forced them to, by fiercely contesting
every motion and delving so deeply into Ogborn's private life. "McDonald's
should not be heard to complain now that the plaintiff's counsel worked too
hard, when, to a large degree, those decisions were driven by
McDonald's," the judge said. Oldfather has said that McDonald's
disclosed that it spent about $3.6 million on fees defending itself. The
judge also rejected the company's motion to stipulate that a portion of the
fees and costs be paid by the person who made the hoax calls, noting that the
jury did not return a verdict against him. Ogborn, a teenager who worked for
$6.35 an hour at McDonald's Mount Washington store, was detained, stripped
and sexually assaulted on April 9, 2004, at the behest of a caller who
pretended he was a police officer and accused her of stealing a customer's
purse. She sued the company, saying it failed to protect her, though company
officials knew of dozens of similar episodes at its stores and other
fast-food restaurants. After a four-week trial, a Bullitt Circuit Court jury
returned a verdict that included $5 million in punitive damages. McDonald's has
appealed, and the case is pending at the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Keane
argued for the company that Ogborn's lawyers achieved only limited success at
trial because they had asked the jury for $100 million in damages. But Judge
McDonald said "the jury placed the blame squarely at McDonald's
corporate feet," and that the $1 million awarded to Ogborn in
compensatory damages was five times higher than a Bullitt County jury had
ever returned in a similar case. The judge also said that if Oldfather hadn't
asked for $100 million, "who can say that without that large an amount
the jury may not have ended up where it did?" The court's order included
$212,000 to two lawyers who formerly worked with Oldfather -- Lea Player and
Doug Morris -- and $173,000 to Bill Boone and Steve Yater, two lawyers who
originally filed the suit but were later fired by Ogborn. McDonald also
ordered the fast-food company to reimburse Ogborn's lawyers for $495,000 in
expenses. The sensational hoax case captured national attention. Stripped of
her clothes and able to cover herself only with a store apron, Ogborn was
forced to spend hours in the restaurant office, as a security camera recorded
her humiliation. Ogborn was detained by an assistant manager, Donna Jean
Summers, who said a man claiming to be a police officer had called and
accused an employee resembling Ogborn of theft. Summers subsequently called
her then-fiancé, Walter Wes Nix Jr., who sexually abused Ogborn at the
caller's direction. McDonald's claimed it bore no responsibility for what
happened to Ogborn and that the blame lay with others, including the caller,
Nix, Summers and Ogborn herself. She was one of dozens of victims of a hoax
caller who over more than a decade duped managers at as many as 160 fast-food
restaurants and other stores into strip-searching and sexually humiliating
employees. Many of those workers sued their employers, but Ogborn's suit was
the first whose case went to trial. Nix was later convicted of sexual abuse
and other crimes and sentenced to five years in prison. Summers entered an
Alford plea to misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment, meaning she asserted her
innocence while acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict her. She
was placed on probation. Summers joined in Ogborn's suit against McDonald's,
saying she was tarnished with a criminal conviction because the company had
failed to warn her and other employees about the hoax calls. The jury awarded
Summers $1.1 million. The caller was never brought to justice. A Bullitt
County jury in 2006 acquitted David R. Stewart, a former private prison guard
from the Florida panhandle, in the case. He'd been charged with impersonating
an officer and soliciting sexual abuse for calling the Mount Washington
store. Law enforcement officers said at the time that they suspected him of
making the other calls as well.
February
2, 2007 AP
Private prisons operating under lease-purchase agreements with the state
will remain exempt from paying millions of dollars in local property taxes
after the Florida Supreme Court reversed course Thursday and let stand an
appellate decision. The justices earlier had agreed to consider an appeal by
Bay County, but wrote in a unanimous, three-sentence opinion that they had
changed their minds “because the circumstances of this case are
fact-specific.” “What does that mean?” Bay County Property Appraiser Rick
Barnett asked after consulting with his lawyer. “We can’t figure that out.”
One thing it will mean is that Bay County cannot collect $2.27 million in
taxes dating back to 1996. Officials had sought the money from Corrections
Corporation of America, based in Nashville-Tenn., which runs the Bay County
Correctional Facility under a contract with the state. The case was being
closely watched by officials in other jurisdictions with private state
prisons. CCA also operates correctional facilities in Lake City and Quincy.
Another company, GEO Group of Boca Raton, runs the Moore Haven and Southbay
correctional facilities and has a contract for a new one at Graceville. “Why
would they not have to pay and all the other private corporations do?”
Barnett asked. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal
unanimously answered that question last year by ruling lease-purchase prison
property is exempt from taxes because “the state is the equitable owner.” The
appellate judges, though, agreed to certify the issue to the Supreme Court as
a question of great public importance, but the justices now have declined to
accept the case. Barnett and Bay County Tax Collector Peggy Brannon had sued
the Department of Management Services, which inherited private prison
contracts from the now-defunct Correctional Privatization Commission. “The
Department is encouraged by the Supreme Court’s apparent action,” Department
Secretary Linda South said in a statement. “We have always maintained that
state’s prison properties, like all other state property, are immune from ad
valorem taxation.” In a related case, the Supreme Court in November
reinstated a suit by the department seeking to overturn the auctioning of the
Lake City Correctional Facility for failure to pay property taxes in Columbia
County. A trial judge had upheld the tax deed sale because the state missed a
filing deadline, but the Supreme Court reversed. The justices ruled the state
is exempt from a law that requires “taxpayers” to challenge assessments
within 60 days after they are certified. A couple and their two daughters had
paid $132,313 for a tax deed to the multi-million-dollar prison.
November
1, 2006 AP
Prosecutors couldn’t convince a central Kentucky jury to convict a Bay County
man accused of making a hoax phone call that lasted 3˝ hours and ended in a
bizarre sexual assault of a teenage McDonald’s worker. The jury on Tuesday
acquitted David R. Stewart, 38, of Fountain, on charges of impersonating a
police officer, soliciting sodomy and soliciting sexual abuse relating to a
phone call made to the Mount Washington, Ky., restaurant in which former
employees testified that the caller told them to conduct a strip-search of a
worker in April 2004. Steve Romines, Stewart’s lawyer, said the jury’s
verdict showed the weakness of the prosecution’s case. “There are a lot of
questions unanswered in this case,” he said. “The only thing I knew for sure
was my client didn’t do it.”
October
31, 2006 The Courier-Journal
Bullitt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Mann implored jurors Tuesday
to “follow the evidence” and convict a Florida man charged with being the
mastermind behind an elaborate hoax that led to a McDonald’s worker being
strip-searched and sexually humiliated. “It’s so obvious,” Mann told jurors
in his closing arguments this morning. “There is more than enough evidence to
find the defendant guilty.” An hour earlier, defense attorney Steve Romines
said his client, David R. Stewart, was the “fall guy” for a botched police
investigation. “They came to a conclusion then went about looking for facts
to support it,” said Romines, who also told jurors that there was more
evidence that this hoax was itself a “scam.” “There’s not even proof beyond a
reasonable doubt that this is real,” he said. Stewart is accused of calling
the restaurant on April 9, 2004, and directing an assistant manager to search
and detain Louise Ogborn, who the caller said was accused of stealing a
purse. During a 3˝ ordeal after that, Ogborn was sexually abused by the
manager’s then-fiancé, who later pled guilty but said he’d been acting on the
orders of a caller posing as an officer. Stewart, charged with impersonating
a police officer and soliciting sodomy, faces up to 15 years in prison on the
two felony charges.
October
22, 2006 News Herald
The 19-year-old woman stripped naked in front of her boss in the manager’s
room at the Winn-Dixie on 23rd Street more than three years ago because a
voice on the phone said so. The teenager posed. She exposed. She did jumping
jacks nude. For nearly two hours, a man who said he was a police officer
orchestrated her humiliation over the phone. The voice told the girl’s boss,
assistant manager James Marvin Pate, that she stole a purse. Police believe
the man on the phone was David R. Stewart, of Fountain, said Sgt. Kevin
Miller, of the Panama City Police Department. Authorities said Stewart, 39,
made dozens of calls like this across the country for several years. The
phone hoaxes sparked lawsuits against restaurant franchisees and chains like
McDonald’s, Burger King and Applebee’s. Stewart’s first trial is scheduled to
begin Tuesday in Mount Washington, Ky. In the Kentucky case, Stewart is
accused of calling a McDonald’s on April 9, 2004, and posing as a police
officer. Police said he told McDonald’s assistant manager Donna Summers a
story similar to what the voice told the manager at the Panama City
Winn-Dixie: He said a teenage female employee, Louise Ogborn, had stolen a
purse and that she needed to be strip-searched. Summers and her ex-boyfriend,
Walter Nix Jr., strip-searched Ogborn for about four hours, police said. Nix
also had Ogborn perform sexual acts on him — all at the request of the
caller. Mount Washington authorities charged Stewart with three counts of
solicitation to commit sexual abuse, first degree; solicitation to commit
sodomy, first degree; impersonating a police officer; and solicitation
unlawful imprisonment, second degree. Incidents since the ’90s: Authorities
said Stewart has peppered the country with calls dating back to the
mid-1990s, mostly to chain restaurants. Usually, the man calls, identifies
himself as a police officer, and says a female employee has drugs or has
stolen something and must be strip-searched. In Panama City, the nightmare
for a 19-year-old cashier began on July 12, 2003, at Winn-Dixie, when a
fellow employee told her to report to the manager’s office, according to a
PCPD incident report. According to the police report, which blacked out the
name of the victim, what happened next lasted nearly two hours: Assistant
manager Pate, 39, was waiting and handed her the phone. On the line was a man
who said he was Officer Tim Peterson with the Panama City Police Department.
The voice said she stole a purse and gave her two choices: Either strip naked
in front of Pate or be brought down to the jail, where she’d be
strip-searched in front of a lot more people. The voice also said Pate had
the authority to keep her there and strip-search her, while the voice verified
everything over the phone. The cashier agreed. Pate told her what to take
off, and she complied out of fear of being taken to jail. She placed each
item of clothing in a plastic bag. Pate described the cashier’s naked body in
intimate detail to the voice on the phone, according to the police report.
The voice commanded the cashier to pose in various positions that exposed her
breasts, anal and vaginal areas to Pate. Toward the end of the woman’s
ordeal, grocery manager Thomas Moton, 49, entered the office looking for a a
key to unload a truck at the store’s rear dock. When he entered, the cashier
was doing jumping jacks, and Pate had the receiver to his ear. “Pate said the
boss is on the phone,” Moton said. “I thought the store manager was on the
phone.” Moton said he thought something wasn’t right. He wanted to get the
other assistant manager, but Pate said the voice on the phone told him to
stay. The cashier went through several poses, Moton said. “She was bending
over, sitting in a chair and doing jumping jacks,” he said. When the woman
finally was allowed to leave, she put her clothes on and rushed out the door.
Moton mentioned to Pate that “if this ain’t what it’s supposed to be, then
you are out of here.” A short time later, police tore into the parking lot
and hauled off Pate in handcuffs. Police charged Pate with lewd and
lascivious behavior and false imprisonment. The charges eventually were
dropped, Miller said. Moton said he never saw the cashier again after that
night. “I didn’t even want to look her in face,” he said. “It was so
embarrassing.” Police track the caller: The caller contacted several Wendy’s
restaurants on Feb. 20, 2004, in the West Bridgewater, Mass., area, said
Detective Sgt. Victor Flaherty of the West Bridgewater Police Department.
West Bridge water is a suburb of Boston. “We had four incidents in one
night,” Flaherty said. “Some conversations lasted more than an hour and a
half.” Like the others, calls involved strip-searches of female employees,
Flaherty said. By this time, however, the trail was leading back to Stewart,
authorities said. After a story appeared in a restaurant industry magazine
about what happened in West Bridgewater, Flaherty was flooded with calls from
police agencies across the country. Detective Buddy Stump of the Mount
Washington Police Department called Flaherty. Stump was looking for help
tracing the call to the McDonald’s where Ogborn was strip-searched. Flaherty
traced the calls made to West Bridgewater back to the Panama City area. He
called the Panama City Police Department and asked for help, Miller said.
Andrea McKenzie, a former detective with the PCPD and now an investigator
with the state attorney’s office, helped link Stewart to the calls. McKenzie
said she fielded calls from police agencies all over the country. “It was
kind of shocking,” she said. “People said the phone number was coming from
the Panama City area.” When the investigation uncovered that some of the
calls were made using a phone card, authorities got the break they needed.
“Nothing in this world is untraceable, if you put the time into it,” Flaherty
said. McKenzie tracked the date and time of when the phone cards were bought
to the Wal-Mart on 23rd Street. She pulled security video. On the video was a
man wearing a uniform from the local jail run by Corrections Corporation of
America, McKenzie said. Stewart was identified as the jail guard shown on the
video, authorities said, and police brought him to the PCPD to be
interrogated by Flaherty, who flew in from Massachusetts. When police
arrested Stewart, they found numerous police magazines and applications to
police departments, Miller said. “This guy wanted to be a cop in the worst
way,” Flaherty said. Stewart’s attorney, Steve Romines, said there is no way
his client could have been the voice on the phone. “To talk someone into this
— it is someone more eloquent than David (Stewart),” Romines said. “He’s not
dumb, but this was very sophisticated.” Flaherty disagreed with Romines’
assessment. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and there is no doubt in my
mind” that Stewart did it, Flaherty said. Authorities eventually extradited
Stewart in the fall 2004 from Bay County to Mount Washington to stand trial.
Panama City police didn’t go after Stewart because they couldn’t link him to
the call to the Winn-Dixie, Miller said. Other states, meanwhile, are
awaiting the outcome of the Kentucky trial before pursuing legal action
against Stewart, Flaherty said. “Oregon is still interested in him,” Flaherty
said. “In Massachusetts, I consider it a rape by him.”
August
25, 2006 The Courier-Journal
Nearly half of Bullitt County residents think that David Stewart is
guilty of masterminding the telephone hoax at the Mount Washington McDonald’s
in which a teenage employee was strip-searched and sexually humiliated in
April 2004, according to survey conducted to support Stewart’s motion to move
his trial. But Bullitt Circuit Judge Thomas Waller indicated Friday he will
deny the motion and try to empanel an impartial jury on Oct. 24, when the
case is set for trial. Stewart is charged with impersonating a police officer
and soliciting sodomy for allegedly calling the restaurant and pretending to
be a police officer investigating a theft. As a result of the call, employee
Louise Ogborn, then 18, was forced to take off her clothes and sodomize a man
that Stewart allegedly asked to watch her. Stewart’s lawyer, Steve Romines,
asked for a change of venue, citing numerous newspaper and TV stories that
have mentioned Stewart is suspected of making calls to as many as 70 other
restaurants and stores in 30 states. He hasn’t been charged in any of those
incidents, and Romines said evidence concerning them would be inadmissible at
Stewart’s trial. Stewart, a former corrections officer at a private prison
near Panama City, Fla., attended a hearing before Waller yesterday but did
not speak in court. Romines declined to let him answer questions from
reporters.
June
17, 2006 AP
Detective Buddy Stump couldn't believe the story being told. A teenage worker
at the local McDonald's had been strip-searched and sexually assaulted by
co-workers. The co-workers said a policeman called the restaurant, described
the girl and directed them about what to do. "I'm thinking, 'They told
you to do what?'" said Stump, one of 16 police officers in Mount
Washington and the department's only detective. The investigation that grew
from that night would lead to a plea by a former employee of McDonald's, and
the arrest of a Florida man on charges of impersonating a police officer and
soliciting sodomy. The trial of David R. Stewart, 38, of Florida, was
previously scheduled to begin this week but has been postponed to Sept. 5. In
handwritten court filings, Stewart denies being the hoax caller. He is free
on $50,000 cash bond. Mailings to the Bullitt Circuit Court indicate he is
still living in Florida. "I had nothing to do with any of this,"
Stewart said. "I did not do this." A judge has ordered the
attorneys involved in the case not to discuss it publicly before the trial.
Stump and other investigators in states from Maine to Wyoming to Arizona say
they believe their investigation stopped a cruel and bizarre series of
hoaxes. Private investigator R.A. Dawson of Rapid City, S.D., who
investigated a similar incident, said he had found 70 other cases resembling
the one in Kentucky. "The M-O's were all similar," Dawson said.
"And, they seemed to get increasingly worse." In court filings,
McDonald's has denied any wrongdoing, but has declined to comment on the
case, citing a pending civil case.
February
22, 2006 Courier-Journal
The assistant manager who led the April 2004 strip-search of a teenager at a
Bullitt County McDonald's received probation yesterday after the victim said
she thought the manager was duped and was herself a victim. Over the
prosecutor's objection, Donna Jean Summers was placed on one year's probation
by Bullitt District Court Judge Rebecca Ward. The county attorney's office
had asked that Summers be jailed for a year. Summers entered an Alford plea
to misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment, meaning she maintained her innocence
while acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict her. Ward said a
jury, which was scheduled to hear the case today, probably would have
convicted Summers and recommended that she be incarcerated. But the judge said
she accepted victim Louise Ogborn's recommendation for leniency to spare
Ogborn from testifying, saying "she's already gone though a lot."
Summers detained Ogborn, then 18, and took away her clothes after a man
pretending to be a police officer called the Mount Washington fast-food
restaurant and said an employee resembling Ogborn had taken a customer's
purse. Despite the disposition, Summers left the courthouse in tears, saying
she still holds McDonald's responsible for failing to warn employees of strip-search
hoaxes at its other restaurants. She has said she never would have detained
Ogborn had she known of previous hoaxes. Ward said she was imposing probation
in part because Ogborn still must testify against the man charged with making
the phone call, David N. Stewart, a former private prison guard from
Fountain, Fla. Stewart is scheduled to be tried April 18 in Bullitt County on
charges of impersonating a police officer and soliciting sodomy.
Law-enforcement officials have said they suspect Stewart was behind at least
69 other hoaxes at businesses in 32 states from 1995 through 2004. He has
been charged only in Bullitt County and has pleaded not guilty. Ogborn was
detained for nearly four hours and was slapped on the buttocks, humiliated
and forced to sodomize Summers' then-fiancé, Walter Nix Jr. Nix pleaded
guilty Feb. 2 to sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and unlawful imprisonment
and agreed to a five-year prison sentence. Summers called off their
engagement after she reviewed a store surveillance video showing what Nix did
to Ogborn. Nix also said he was following the orders of a man he thought was
a police officer.
February
4, 2006 Oregonian
A former fast-food worker is suing the owners of a Gresham Burger King
franchise because she claims her supervisor ordered her to undress after
accusing her of theft two years ago. The supervisor told police he was
following the instructions of a caller who claimed he was a police officer
investigating theft. In fact, the caller is suspected of pulling a similar scam
on dozens of workers at restaurants and other stores across the country for a
decade. Last year, police arrested David R. Stewart, a former private
corrections officer from Florida. Stewart faces charges in Kentucky, although
he is suspected of making calls around the country, according to an article
in the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. Officer Grant McCormick, spokesman
for the Gresham Police Department, said there was no active investigation
since the arrest. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Multnomah County
Circuit Court, describes a typical version of the scam: The plaintiff, who
was a minor, finished her shift at the Burger King at 990 N.W. Eastman
Parkway about 8:45 p.m. in February 2004. She was with her mother in the
parking lot when the manager approached and told her to return to the
restaurant. The manager told the girl's mother to wait outside. Then he
brought the plaintiff into his office where he accused her of stealing $50
from a customer and said a police officer was on the phone and needed to
speak with her. The plaintiff "spoke with the caller . . . and then was
instructed to hand the phone back to (the manager, who) then instructed (the
plaintiff) to begin disrobing and gave her a bag in which to place her
clothing. The caller instructed (the plaintiff) to remove all her clothing,
including her bra and panties, and she complied while (the manager) stood by.
After she was completely undressed and all her clothes were in the bag, (the
manager) again spoke with the caller and described how (the plaintiff) was
sitting and further advised the caller that her legs were closed. The caller
instructed (the plaintiff) to open her legs so that (the manager) could see
between them, but (the plaintiff) refused to do this," according to the
suit. After 45 minutes, the plaintiff's mother came in and told her daughter
to get dressed and leave.
February
2, 2006 Courier-Journal
The Bullitt County man who claimed he thought he was following a police
officer’s orders when he sexually humiliated a teenaged McDonald’s worker in
April 2004 pleaded guilty this morning to sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and
unlawful imprisonment. A charge of sodomy, which could have sent Walter W.
Nix Jr., to prison for 20 years, was dropped as part of a plea bargain to
which he agreed to a five-year prison term. Nix, who will be formally
sentenced on March 15, agreed not to seek probation at sentencing, and
Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Mann agreed to take no position on shock
probation, which could be granted later. Nix is the first person to be
convicted in the 2004 hoax at the Mount Washington McDonald’s in which Louise
Ogborn, a $6.35 hour counter worker, was strip-searched and sexually
humiliated for nearly four hours after a man pretending to be a police officer
called the store and said he was investigating the theft of a purse from a
customer. Nix, 43, was scheduled to be tried today before Bullitt Circuit
Judge Tom Waller. The judge asked Ogborn if she supported the plea bargain
and if so why. She said she did because it will require Nix to serve time in
prison, to register as a sex offender and to testify against David N.
Stewart, the alleged perpetrator of the hoax. Stewart, a former private
prison guard from Fountain, Fla., is scheduled to be tried April 18 on
charges of impersonating a police officer and soliciting sodomy for allegedly
making the hoax call. Law enforcement officials have said they suspect
Stewart was behind at least 69 other hoaxes at businesses in 32 states from
1995 through 2004. He has been charged only in Bullitt County, and has
pleaded not guilty.
December
7, 2005 Courier-Journal
The trials of the three people charged in connection with the sexual
humiliation of a teenage McDonald's employee in Bullitt County during a hoax
last year have been postponed: David N. Stewart, 38, of Fountain, Fla., who
was scheduled to stand trial Dec. 13 in Bullitt Circuit Court on charges of
impersonating a police officer and soliciting sodomy, now will be tried on
April 18. Walter W. Nix, 43, who also was scheduled for trial Dec. 13 on
charges of sodomy and assault, has been rescheduled for trial Feb. 1. Donna
Jean Summers, 51, who is charged with unlawful imprisonment, a misdemeanor,
and was to be tried today, is set for trial Feb. 22. All three have pleaded
not guilty. Stewart is accused of calling the Mount Washington restaurant on
April 9, 2004, and, while pretending to be a police officer investigating a
theft, inducing Summers, a McDonald's assistant manager, to strip-search
Louise Ogborn, then 18. Summers later called Nix, her fiance at the time, to
the store to watch Ogborn. Nix has admitted in court that he forced Ogborn to
sodomize him and engage in humiliating exercises, but he has said he was
following the orders of the caller, who he thought was a police officer.
Summers, who was fired, also has said that she was following orders, and that
McDonald's is at fault for having failed to alert employees about similar
hoaxes at stores. Stewart, a former private prison guard, is suspected by law
enforcement officers of pulling similar hoaxes at 69 other businesses from
1995 through last year, but so far he has been charged only in Bullitt
County.
November
17, 2005 In-Forum News
The suspected mastermind behind strip searches of employees at chain
restaurants and stores nationwide - including one at a north Fargo Burger
King - faces felony charges in Kentucky for a hoax there. Authorities
arrested David Richard Stewart of Panama City, Fla., after tracking a call
from a Wal-Mart to Kentucky, where an18-year-old McDonald's employee was
sexually abused last year when an assistant manager followed directions from
a caller. Court papers state Stewart, 38, posed as "Officer Scott"
when calling the McDonald's in Mount Washington. He convinced the assistant
manager to strip-search the woman, who Scott said was suspected of stealing.
The call resembles one made to the Fargo Burger King on 19th Avenue North in
January 1999. The caller, posing as "Lieutenant Scott," convinced
then-night manager Jason Allan Krein to strip-search a 17-year-old female
employee in his office. Krein later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a
misdemeanor, and served 30 days in jail. In Kentucky, the assistant manager
and her boyfriend also face charges for the McDonald's strip search. The assistant
manager faces an unlawful imprisonment charge while her boyfriend faces
sexual abuse and sodomy crimes. Authorities charged Stewart with
impersonating a police officer and soliciting each of the other crimes. The
suspects all pleaded not guilty and face trials next month. "It was a
horrible, horrible ordeal that this young lady had to go through," said
Walt Sholar, the Bullitt County, Ky., attorney handling one of the cases.
Nationwide, Sholar said there are about 70 cases similar to the ones in Kentucky
and Fargo. Dozens of police departments have contacted Mount Washington
authorities convinced they arrested their suspect. "I have no doubt in
my mind that he's been the one behind all of them," Mount Washington
Police Detective Buddy Stump said. "For the sake of the rest of the
country, I hope and pray that it is." Stump broke the case open after
the city told him to find the caller. "We realized how many people have
been affected across the United States," he said. "I thought it was
my duty." With help from detectives in Massachusetts and Florida, Stump
zeroed in on a surveillance video at one of Panama City's three Wal-Marts.
Once they had the guy's image, they tracked Stewart to a private prison
company where he worked. Stewart remains free on bond until his trial. Calls
to a phone listing for David Stewart in Panama City went unanswered. In
January 1999, a man called six Fargo businesses- two Burger Kings, three Taco
Bells and Payless Shoe Store - in an attempt to convince managers to
strip-search female employees. At the north Fargo Burger King, Krein went
along with the caller's demands, undressing the employee and touching her
legs to describe them to the caller. At Krein's court hearing, East Central
District Judge Georgia Dawson said "it's just not conceivable" for
Krein to think the search was proper. Fargo attorney Adam Hamm, a prosecutor
then, told Dawson the girl was traumatized for months. "Of all the cases
I prosecuted, this was one of the cases that burned itself into my memory,"
Hamm said. "I have always wondered if I made the right decision in
charging Jason Krein with the charge." Hamm said he prepared a more
serious charge against Krein but balked at filing it because of how state law
defines sexual contact. "I knew I could prove the misdemeanor and at
some level he had to be held responsible," Hamm said. After the Fargo
strip search, the girl and her parents sued Burger King, owned by RED Inc. in
Grand Forks, N.D. The case was settled in mediation, according to those
familiar with the case. Details of the settlement are not public. Krein moved
to Wisconsin and could not be reached for comment. Fargo Lt. Tod Dahle
recalls the Burger King search because police tracked one call to a Florida
pay phone and the caller posed as a Fargo officer. After the incident, Fargo
police received reports of similar incidents in Grand Forks, Devils Lake,
N.D., Watertown, S.D., and Virginia and Wisconsin. "Ever since that
happened, I probably got a call about that case every three months," he
said. "Of course, I'd learn it happened somewhere else." With
Stewart's arrest, Dahle said Fargo police will ask prosecutors to review the
case to determine if charges can be filed against Stewart. "I think to
some degree, the people (managers) wanted to participate," Dahle said.
"I don't think we'll ever know how many times this guy (Stewart) was
told no."
November
3, 2005 Courier-Journal
The Bullitt County man who claimed a hoax caller duped him into sexually
humiliating a teenage McDonald's employee at the restaurant last year
apologized to his victim yesterday and said he was ashamed of what he did.
"I had no intention of hurting anyone," Walter W. Nix Jr., 43, said
in Bullitt Circuit Court to Louise Ogborn, whom he forced to sodomize him in
April 2004. Nix has said he was following the orders of the caller, who he
thought was a police officer. But Judge Tom Waller refused to accept a deal
in which Nix had offered to plead guilty to a reduced charge of sexual
misconduct and unlawful imprisonment in exchange for a sentence of one year's
probation. Waller let Nix withdraw his plea and set his trial on charges of
sodomy and assault for Dec. 13. That's the same day that David N. Stewart, a
former private prison guard from Fountain, Fla., is scheduled to stand trial
on charges of impersonating a police officer and soliciting sodomy for
allegedly perpetrating the hoax during a call to the Mount Washington
restaurant. Law enforcement officials have said they suspect Stewart was
behind at least 69 other hoaxes pulled off at other businesses in 32 states
from 1995 through last year. He has been charged only in Bullitt County and
pleaded not guilty there.
November
2, 2005 Courier-Journal
Bullitt Circuit Judge Tom Waller this morning rejected a plea agreement for a
man who admitted sexually humiliating a teenager who was strip-searched last
year at the Mount Washington McDonald's where she worked. Walter Nix Jr., 43,
pleaded guilty last month to unlawful imprisonment and sexual misconduct as
part of a plea bargain that would have given him one year probation. The deal
fell through after Louise Ogborn, 19, who was forced to sodomize Nix as part
of telephone hoax at the store on April 9, 2004, objected to portions that
allowed Nix to deny wrongdoing and to avoid registering as a sex offender.
Judge Waller set Nix's case for Dec. 13. Ogborn was detained for nearly four
hours in the hoax, which was one of 70 perpetrated in 32 states from 1995
through last year. A private prison guard, David N. Stewart, of Fountain,
Fla., was charged in July 2004 with impersonating a police officer and
soliciting sodomy in the Mount Washington case. He has pleaded not guilty and
is set for trial Dec. 13.
November
2, 2005 Courier-Journal
A teenager who was strip-searched in April 2004 at the Mount Washington
McDonald's where she worked is objecting to terms of the plea bargain struck
for the man who admitted sexually humiliating her. As part of the agreement,
Walter Nix Jr., 43, pleaded guilty last month to unlawful imprisonment and
sexual misconduct, and was to be sentenced today in Bullitt Circuit Court to
one year's probation under those charges. But Louise Ogborn, 19, who was
forced to sodomize Nix as part of telephone hoax at the store on April 9,
2004, objects to portions of the deal that allowed him to deny wrongdoing and
to avoid registering as a sex offender, according to lawyers for both sides.
"The deal will not go through," said William C. Boone Jr., Ogborn's
co-counsel. Nix's lawyer, Kathleen Schmidt, said she will ask Judge Tom
Waller to enforce the plea agreement today. If he doesn't, Nix will have the
option of withdrawing his plea and going to trial, or accepting an agreement
with harsher terms. Nix had been charged with sodomy and assault, which carry
penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Nix has claimed he was duped into
humiliating Ogborn by a man who called the McDonald's pretending to be a
police officer investigating a theft. Nix was engaged at the time to the
store's assistant manager, Donna Jean Summers, who, at the behest of the caller,
had taken away Ogborn's clothes before calling Nix in to help watch the teen.
Nix has said the man on the phone ordered him to direct Ogborn to do
exercises in the nude and perform oral sex on him. He said he also slapped
her several times on the buttocks at the direction of the caller. Ogborn was
detained for nearly four hours in the hoax, which was one of 70 perpetrated
in 32 states from 1995 through last year. A private prison guard, David N.
Stewart, of Fountain, Fla., was charged in July 2004 with impersonating a
police officer and soliciting sodomy in the Mount Washington case. He has
pleaded not guilty and is set for trial Dec. 13. ABC Primetime is scheduled
to broadcast a segment Nov. 10 about the Mount Washington case, according to
Yater, who said Ogborn was interviewed for it last week by a producer and
reporter John Quinones.
October
11, 2005 Courier-Journal
A Bullitt County man who claimed he was duped into sexually humiliating a
teenage McDonald's worker last year by a man impersonating a police officer
pleaded guilty yesterday to a felony charge of unlawful imprisonment. In a
plea bargain approved by his victim, Walter Nix Jr., 43, will get probation
after agreeing to a one-year term for the felony and for sexual misconduct, a
misdemeanor. He originally was charged with sodomy and assault, for which he
could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Bullitt Circuit Judge Tom
Waller tentatively accepted the plea pending formal approval of it by victim
Louise Ogborn at Nix's sentencing, set for Nov. 2. Nix was engaged at the
time to the store's assistant manager, Donna Jean Summers, who asked him to
come watch Ogborn. A man who phoned the store pretending to be a police
officer accused Ogborn of theft and ordered her strip-searched. According to
police and court records, Nix said he thought he was following an officer's
orders when he directed Ogborn, who was detained four hours in the
restaurant's office, to do exercises in the nude and perform oral sex on him.
He also slapped her several times on her buttocks, at the direction of the
caller, the records show. The incident was the focus of a Courier-Journal
story Sunday that noted that the strip-search was among at least 70 performed
at fast-food restaurants and other businesses from 1995 through 2004 at the
direction of a caller who claimed he was investigating crimes. Ogborn agreed
to be identified by name in the newspaper. A private prison guard, David N.
Stewart, of Fountain, Fla., was charged in July 2004 with impersonating a
police officer and soliciting sodomy in the Mount Washington case. He has
pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set for Dec. 13. Summers is charged with
unlawful imprisonment, a misdemeanor, and her trial is scheduled for Dec. 7.
She also has pleaded not guilty. Ogborn's co-counsel, William C. Boone Jr.,
said his client approved the deal because "she wants somebody to say
they are sorry and for somebody to say she did nothing wrong," both of
which he said Nix has promised to say at sentencing. "She is tired of
McDonald's blaming her for what happened," Boone said. In a lawsuit,
Ogborn has alleged that the company failed to warn employees at the Mount
Washington store about prior strip-search hoaxes at other restaurants around
the country. McDonald's has said in court papers and through its lawyer that
Ogborn was in part responsible because she failed to realize the caller
wasn't a real officer. Nix and Summers were among at least 13 people across
the United States charged with crimes for executing searches for the caller.
Seven have been convicted of various crimes. Stewart so far has only been
charged in the Bullitt County incident.
November 11, 2004 Arizona Republic
A
teenage girl who was strip-searched by the manager of a Taco Bell earlier
this year has filed suit against the restaurant chain. The lawsuit alleges
Taco Bell officials were aware of a string of prank calls to fast-food
restaurants across the country where a caller persuaded employees to do strip
searches, but did not adequately update franchises. In the March incident at
17230 E. Shea Blvd., a male caller claiming to be a Scottsdale police officer
persuaded the Taco Bell manager to body search the girl, a patron, in a back
room. According to the suit, Taco Bell knew of incidents at restaurants in
Wyoming in 2004, Alaska in 2003 and Georgia in 2002 and issued warnings to
franchises, though not enough was done to educate employees.
July 29, 2004 Nation's Restaurant News
One of the most bizarre and longest-running con games in foodservice may have
ended with the arrest of a prison guard who was charged with duping scores of
restaurant managers over the phone into strip-searching their
employees. The Panama City Police Department was holding David Stewart,
a 38-year-old corrections officer, under a governor's warrant, a kind of
fugitive warrant, until his bid to fight extradition to Mount Washington,
Ky., was exhausted. Stewart, a father of five and a former auxiliary
policeman, worked for the Bay County State Facility, a privately run prison
operated by the Corrections Corp. of America. better know as the CCA.
Police in Mount Washington--a bedroom community of 13,000 residents seven
miles from Louisville--were seeking to interrogate Stewart in connection with
an April 9 incident in which a man posing as a cop called a local McDonald's
and convinced a manager to strip-search a young female cashier. Stewart faces
a $ 500,000 bond once he is in the custody of Mount Washington
authorities. Investigators used phone records, calling-card
numbers and security surveillance cameras in a Wal-Mart outside Panama City
where the calling cards had been purchased in order to link Stewart to the
assault. Mount Washington is only one of nearly 73 police departments
in 30 or more states whose Burger Kings, McDonald's, Taco Bells, KFCs,
Applebee's, Hooters, Wendy's, Perkins and dozens of other restaurants were
victimized by similar ruses. In almost all cases the restaurants were located
in small towns. As the story first was reported in Nation's Restaurant
News in March, police nationwide had been looking for a man who posed as a
cop or a senior executive of a restaurant company. He had persuaded as many
as 73 unit managers of major brands to strip-search young staffers in bogus
hunts for stolen valuables. The perpetrator listened in over the phone
while the managers were coaxed into giving detailed descriptions of the
hapless victims' underwear and body parts. The crime had gone largely
unreported for years, possibly as far back as 1995, because the victims and
their employers were too embarrassed to report it to authorities, once they
realized they had been duped. Even when they did report it, most small-town
police departments didn't know how to investigate the con, so police tended
to file the reports away under "miscellaneous" and the cases
died. Particularly anxious to interrogate Stewart are detectives of the
police departments of four Massachusetts towns--West Bridgewater, Abington,
Whitman and Wareham--where single Wendy's restaurants were victimized on the
same day this year, Feb 19. One civil lawsuit has come out of those cases
against Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. The four towns
pooled their resources and appointed detective sergeant Victor Flaherty of
West Bridgewater to lead a task force to find the perpetrator. Wendy's
financed the task force's expenses for travel, phone record recalls and
overtime. Flaherty waded through hours of security video footage of
calling-card purchases from the Wal-Mart store until he and other
investigators linked a customer to cards used in the Wendy's incidents in
February and an incident at a Kentucky McDonald's in April. In one tape
a man wearing a Corrections Corp. of America uniform purchased a calling card
used in the February assault in Massachusetts, but other security footage
identified the same man in civilian clothing purchasing a card used in the
April con in Kentucky. Flaherty first showed prison administrators the
tape of the man in civilian clothes, and they immediately recognized him. The
clincher occurred when they were shown the other tape of the suspect wearing
his uniform. Supervisors were certain that the man was one of theirs
January 11, 2004 News Herald
A 26-year-old corrections officer stabbed two sisters — including one who is
pregnant — with a butcher knife early Saturday during an argument over a man,
authorities reported. Investigators charged Cachetta Ann Barnes with two
counts of aggravated assault after the altercation at 4 a.m. at 1013 Spring
Ave. An arrest affidavit said Barnes stabbed 19-year-old Tikila Walker on the
left arm. Tiffany Walker, Tikila’s 24-year-old sister, heard a commotion near
the door and went to Tikila’s aid, the affidavit said. "She started
calling my house around 3 in the morning threatening us," Tiffany Walker
told The News Herald Saturday afternoon. Authorities said Barnes is a
corrections officer at the Bay Correctional Facility on Bayline Drive, a
private prison run by Corrections Corporation of America. CCA officials did
not immediately return phone messages.
Bay County Jail and Annex
Panama City, Florida
formerly run by CCA
Bay County Jail
shows privatization isn't always best: February 4, 2012, Panama
City News Herald. Cautionary tale of CCA's misadventures running the
local jail before the Sheriff took it back.
October
28, 2011 News-Herald
The jail has long been finished and the initial contractor fired, but Bay
County only recently received final judgment on a lawsuit that alleged
favoritism and arbitrary behavior in awarding the jail contract in 2006.
Circuit court Judge Hentz McClellan issued a final judgment Oct. 18 in favor
of Bay County and against Emerald Correctional Management, a Louisiana
corporation that lost a bid for jail construction and operations. Emerald Correctional
filed the suit after the county entered negotiations with Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA) on a $117 million contract for the construction
of the Star Avenue jail, which ultimately was awarded to CCA for the design,
construction and six years of operation of the jail, sally port and court
holding. The final judgment awards Bay County $167,761 in lawyer fees.
William C. Henry, of Burke Blue, Hutchison, Walters and Smith, who
represented Bay County in the suit, said county staff spent two months
analyzing and comparing the proposals and matching them with their proposal
request. “This RFP (request for proposal) was very complicated because it was
very big,” Henry said. “There were upgrades [in CCA’s proposal] that weren’t
asked for in the RFP, but later county staff said, ‘Yeah, that’s a really
good idea.’ ” To give commissioners an “apples-to-apples” comparison, the
proposals were manipulated in a “fair and rational manner,” Henry said, and
CCA was a better deal. Commissioner Mike Thomas said the allegations of
favoritism were preposterous from the beginning because the commission did
not want to give the contract to CCA, who was managing the old jail at the
time. “There had been a lot of complaints about the way inmates and their
families were being treated,” he said. “Once we got everything done, they
(CCA) were the better deal.” In the end, CCA couldn’t do the project for the
price it said and left the project, and operations were turned over to the
Bay County Sheriff’s Office in 2008. “The main thing is we have a good
product out there now,” he said. The judge awarding lawyers’ fees “takes some
of the sting out” of the litigation, Thomas said, but the time could have
been better spent. The judge’s ruling was issued as a final order, but Henry said
Emerald Management still has the right to appeal the decision, which attorney
Obed Dorceus said he would be discussing with his client. “All these zombies,
even though they are deader than dead, they still find a way to come out of
the grave and eat people,” he said.
July
14, 2010 News-Herald
A federal jury determined Wednesday that there was no racial discrimination
against a black corrections officer who was not allowed to interview when the
Bay County Sheriff’s Office took over the jail in October 2008. Patrick Lane,
a guard with Corrections Corporation of America, sued the sheriff’s office
because he was not interviewed for a job when the agency took over. Lane had
been working at the jail while CCA was in charge. He currently works for CCA
at another facility. Sheriff Frank McKeithen testified that he did not know
Lane’s race when he prevented him from interviewing, just his criminal
background. “I am very humbled and appreciative with the verdict, but I’m not
sure anybody won today. The outcome of the verdict cannot erase all the nasty
accusations made against me and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office,” McKeithen
wrote in a statement to The News Herald. “It cannot take away the humiliation
suffered by the witnesses both for and against me. But this is how our system
works and why we have courts and juries.” Lane’s attorney, Marie Mattox, has
been trying to prove that there was a double standard during the hiring, in
which black officers with criminal records had a more difficult time getting
a job than white officers.
July
13, 2010 News-Herald
Bay County Jail Warden Rick Anglin testified at a racial discrimination trial
Tuesday that he and Sheriff Frank McKeithen hired both black and white
officers with criminal records as they rushed to staff the jail in October
2008. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office had only a few months to take over the
jail after Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) decided to pull out,
Anglin said, adding that he, McKeithen and other supervisors used the time to
wade through hundreds of applications and install county-owned equipment into
the facility. “It was quite a monumental task,” Anglin said. “It was seven
days a week and a lot of sleepless nights.” Patrick Lane, a guard with CCA,
is suing the sheriff’s office because he was not interviewed for a job when
the agency took over the jail. Lane had been working at the jail and for CCA
until the takeover. His attorney, Marie Mattox, has been trying to prove
there was a double standard during the hiring, in which black officers with
criminal records had a tougher time getting a job than white officers.
However, Anglin testified Tuesday that he hired both black and white officers
who had criminal charges such as passing worthless checks and battery. In
most of those cases, the charges were decades old and had been dropped. On
the day the sheriff’s office took over, there were 34 black officers and 92
white officers, Anglin said. The jail also has two black shift supervisors
out of a total of four. When the command staff at the jail is not present,
the shift supervisors are in charge of the entire facility, Anglin said.
McKeithen testified Monday that he prevented Lane from interviewing because
of his criminal history, not because of his race. In 2001, Lane was charged
with conspiracy to commit attempted murder for his alleged involvement in a
non-fatal shooting in Franklin County. According to a probable cause
affidavit obtained by The News Herald through a public records request, Lane
was arrested by the Apalachicola Police Department the night of the shooting
because he was driving two of the alleged shooters mere minutes after the
incident took place. He eventually was charged in the case, but the charge
ultimately was dropped. Although he was not hired at the jail, Lane currently
works for CCA at another of the company’s facilities. On Tuesday, Mattox
called several other black employees who were not hired by the Sheriff’s
office and several white employees who were either hired or offered jobs at
the jail. All of the employees involved had criminal histories. Two women
were fired by CCA and charged criminally because they allegedly falsified
their time records. However, CCA eventually dropped the matter and the women
got their jobs back. McKeithen and Anglin still declined to hire them. Anglin
testified the evidence in the case seemed clear that the women had somehow
clocked in for 12- and 16-hour days without coming to work. The women also
are suing the sheriff’s office for racial discrimination. Mattox also called
Jeffery Langford, a former CCA employee who now works for Florida’s
Department of Corrections. Langford, who is black, had been offered a job
with the sheriff’s office. However, shortly before the takeover, Langford and
two other black officers were involved in a physical altercation with
inmates. On the day the sheriff’s office took over, Langford was escorted off
the premises and told he would be called, he said. No one ever called him and
he found a job with the Department of Corrections, he said. “I was looking
forward to working for the sheriff’s office, but it just didn’t work out,”
Langford said. Robert Wayne Evans, the attorney representing the sheriff’s
office, pointed out the problem was not just that Langford and the other
guards used force on inmates; they also failed to report the incident.
Langford said his CCA supervisor told him not to worry about the altercation.
That was not good enough, Anglin testified, adding that officers in similar
situations who do not notify supervisors and fill out the proper paperwork are
fired automatically. “You have to report that immediately,” Anglin said. “As
bad as I hated it, I didn’t have any choice.”
July
12, 2010 The News-Herald
Sheriff Frank McKeithen testified Monday in a racial discrimination trial
filed on behalf of a black corrections officer. The officer, Patrick Lane,
has accused McKeithen of failing to hire him even though he was qualified for
the job. In court documents, McKeithen argued that his reasons for not hiring
Lane were simple: In 2001, Lane was charged with conspiracy to commit
attempted murder for his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting in
Franklin County. Lane countered in subsequent documents that the charge
ultimately was dropped and that some white officers have been hired even
though they pleaded guilty to other criminal charges, including battery,
receiving stolen property and passing worthless checks. One applicant who was
hired had been accused of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and pleaded
guilty to battery, the documents stated. McKeithen also hired a former guard
at the Bay County Boot Camp to work at CCA, which ran the Bay County Jail
until the sheriff’s office took control in fall 2008. The guard, Charles
Enfinger, had been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death
of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. That case went to a jury, which found
Enfinger, six other guards and a nurse not guilty. During his testimony
Monday, McKeithen said that in October 2008, as the sheriff’s office was
preparing to take over the jail, he personally waded through about 300
applications. Most of those applications came from current CCA employees.
McKeithen said that when he hired for the sheriff’s office he rejected anyone
with a criminal history and was shocked to find out CCA employed many people
with “felony backgrounds.” “I had never seen that before,” McKeithen said.
May
14, 2010 AP
An appeal court says three nurses held hostage by inmates cannot sue a
privately run jail because they are covered by workers compensation. The
ruling Friday by the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld a judge's dismissal
of a lawsuit against Corrections Corporation of America, Bay County and the
Bay County Sheriff's Office. One nurse and two inmates were shot by police to
end a 12-hour standoff in 2004 at the Bay County Jail in Panama City. All
three survived. Workers compensation pays for job-related injuries and
prohibits suits against employers. The appeal court ruled that exceptions for
negligence by co-workers or an employer with knowledge of a hazard based on a
prior accident or explicit warning did not apply.
March
11, 2010 WJHG
Hernando County commissioners are considering dropping Corrections
Corporation of America (CCA) and turning their jail over to the county
sheriff. They've been consulting Bay County officials about a similar
transition that took place here in the fall of 2008. According to published
reports, CCA criticized Bay County for terminating their contract, telling
Hernando County officials they could have saved Bay County $3 million this year
if they had still been running the facility. But, Bay County commissioners
are now reminding everyone that it was CCA that terminated the contract,
claiming they couldn't abide by the financial terms of that agreement. They
also say sheriff Frank McKeithen has done a better job of running the jail,
and has done it cheaper than CCA. Bay County commissioner Mike Thomas said,
"In 2009, the sheriff's budget, entire budget, with insurance, building
payments, power, everything, was $1.3 million cheaper than it was in 2008
under CCA's operation." Thomas says the county commission hasn't
received nearly as many jail complaints since McKeithen took over from CCA.
March
3, 2010 Hernando Today
About two years ago, Bay County commissioners realized they had reached a
crossroads with the operator of their jail. They had been receiving negative
publicity in the press over contraband being smuggled into the jail and there
were problems with personnel, said County Commissioner Jerry Girvin. On top
of that, the operator, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) asked for
more money, he said. So the county commissioners of this Panhandle community
rejected CCA's contract renewal bid and asked their sheriff whether he would
be interested in taking over operations. Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen
said he'd look into it. He did and about six months later, in October 2008,
he offered to take over the reins of the jail. "(McKeithen) said, 'You
want me to run it, I'll run it,'" Girvin remembers. "He's done an excellent
job ever since." That scenario, with a few variations, is about to be
played out in Hernando County. Sheriff Richard Nugent announced Tuesday his
office can provide a better and more efficient service while reducing the
county's cost of operating the jail. The sheriff will make a presentation to
county commissioners at their meeting next Tuesday. As with Bay County,
commissioners here had broached the topic twice last year, especially when
the board went through somewhat contentious contract renegotiations with CCA.
"We wanted to see if there were any other options out there that could
save us money," Hernando County Commissioner John Druzbick said.
"There are other counties that are doing it. Now how they are doing it
and whether it is saving them money is what we are wanting to know."
Girvin has some advice for his Hernando County counterparts: "Go for
it." "Nobody likes to run a jail," Girvin said. "But if
you have to run one, it's better to have a local elected sheriff do it."
Stabins: Sounds good on paper -- Hernando County Commissioner Jeff Stabins,
after asking for a day to think about the sheriff's proposal, said he is open
to Nugent's idea, especially because the jail falls somewhat under his
purview. "His agency would be more involved in the supervision and the
ramifications of how many inmates are there and the costs," Stabins
said. "So on paper, it makes sense." Stabins' concern is that the
sheriff is asking for the full amount of what the county has budgeted for
jail operations this year: $11.2 million. But Nugent said Friday he will need
that much because of anticipated upfront costs of taking over CCA's
operations. "There are so many unknowns and so many variables at
play," Nugent said. When McKeithen took over jail operations there,
county commissioners gave his department about $1 million more than what they
had contracted with CCA — knowing that the first year the sheriff might have
to deal with hiring new people and purchasing equipment. The same scenario
applies in Hernando County, Nugent said. Because CCA is a private entity, it
is not open with operations, he said. That company owns everything from the
toilet paper to the video-monitoring equipment, he said. "(McKeithen)
didn't know what he was walking into, nor do we," Nugent said. Ultimately,
McKeithen ended up returning close to $2 million to the Bay County general
fund after the first year of operations, and Nugent said it is his "gut
feeling" he will be able to return money as well. Hernando County's
current jail contract does not guarantee a fixed cost for the operation of
the jail, as an increase in inmates would increase the cost to the county.
With his department operating the jail, an increase in the number of inmates
will not increase the cost to the county, Nugent said. 'Best move we ever made'
-- The Bay County jail has about 900 inmates, compared to 520 in Hernando.
Located in the Florida Panhandle, Bay County has a population of about
163,500 people, compared to about 172,000 in Hernando County. Bay County
Commissioner Mike Nelson echoed his colleague Girvin's comments that CCA was
not running as tight a ship as the board wanted. "They just didn't seem
to be interested in listening to us," Nelson said. So after roughly 25
years, the board decided they wanted out of the contract. "We talked to
the sheriff; he made a proposal," Nelson said. "It was the best
move we ever made. It's been like night and day. I haven't had a phone call
on the jail in the two years since he took over." McKeithen kept about
150 of CCA's employees and placed them on the sheriff's payroll, while others
found jobs in other company sites. "The first year he was budgeting high
because he didn't know what he would run into with his expenses," Nelson
said. And even though the board started him off with a $17 million budget,
about $1 million more than it would have given CCA, Nelson believes it was
well worth it — especially considering he returned $2 million.
September
17, 2009 News-Herald
After more than three years, a correctional company’s lawsuit against Bay
County finally may go to trial. The First District Court of Appeal upheld a
circuit judge’s opinion this week, denying Shreveport, La.-based Emerald
Corrections’ motion for summary judgment against Bay County, and clearing the
path for trial. “We’d like some finality on this case,” county attorney W.C.
Henry said Thursday. The lawsuit, originally filed in February 2006, alleges
that the county commission, and thus the county, broke state law in how it
awarded the construction and operations contract for the expansion of the
county jail. Then-Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hess dismissed all the complaints
in May 2006, but the appeals court ruled Hess improperly dismissed two of the
complaints. Emerald attorney Obed Dorceus refiled suit against the county in
circuit court. He made a motion for summary judgment, which Circuit Judge
Hentz McClellan denied in June and the appeals court upheld Tuesday.
Emerald’s complaints stem from it submitting the lowest bidder when the
request for proposal went out for the county jail expansion and operations
project in late 2005. Tennessee-based CCA, which operated the jail at the
time, was the only other bidder. But after asking for clarification on parts
of their proposals, the commission gave the job to CCA despite a slightly
larger price tag ($36.4 million to $35.4 million), because they felt the
overall package offered by CCA was superior. Henry drew an analogy comparing
the choice to the decision to buy a sports utility vehicle, with Emerald’s
offer being a “bottom-line SUV” and CCA’s being a “Cadillac that cost a
little more.” Dorceus was looking for an injunction in his appeal, something
McClellan ruled cannot happen, since the jail is built, and CCA no longer
operates it; the Bay County Sheriff’s Office does. “That’s patently absurd,” Henry
said of the appeal. “An injunction is to prevent damage. ... What is the
court going to do, say to the county to tear down the jail and start over
again?” Dorceus said Thursday he was not surprised by the decision and plans
to appeal again if the bench trial, yet to be scheduled, doesn’t go his way.
“My client spent a lot of money pursuing this contract. We would be OK if the
county followed the law,” Dorceus said. The county has turned down two
settlement requests by Emerald, one for $13.2 million offered in June 2007,
and a more reserved $514,000 offer in September 2007. At this point the
lawsuit boils down to legal fees, with the loser paying the fees of the
winner. Henry has billed out more than $80,000 for the case. He is confident
the county will not have to pay. “Were going to win. There’s no question
about that, and we’ve felt that way from the beginning,” he said.
June
2, 2009 News-Herald
Three nurses who were held hostage at the Bay County jail in 2004 are
asking Florida's First District Court of Appeals to overturn a local judge
and find against Bay County and Corrections Corporation of America. The
plaintiffs, Amie Hunt, Glenda Baker and Kathleen Baucum, are claiming that
Nashville-based CCA should be held liable for the actions of Officer James
Clayton Hall. Hall was breaking CCA rules by allowing more than one inmate
out of his cell at a time, according to a final judgment written by Circuit
Judge Hentz McClellan. McClellan ruled that Hall was concealing this activity
from other employees and his supervisors. "There is no evidence here
that CCA knew of the dangerous situation created by Hall based on prior
similar incidents or on explicit warnings of Hall's actions," McClellan
wrote in March. He added that the nurses are only eligible for monetary
claims from CCA and the County under Florida's Workman's Comp statutes. The
case is now being reviewed by Florida's First District Court of Appeals.
Hall, Hunt, Baker and Baucum were held hostage for 11 hours by four inmates.
During negotiations all of the hostages except for Hunt were released in
exchange for pizza and a cell phone. The Sheriff's Office's tactical team
stormed into the third floor of the old Bay County Jail and freed Hunt.
However, Hunt was shot three times by deputies in the Sept. 6, 2004 incident.
She filed suit for loss of earnings, pain and suffering and medical expenses
incurred. The bullets entered her hip, back and left leg, damaging bones and
vital organs. She survived but had to undergo physical rehabilitation. The
other nurses were not physically injured in the incident. Three of the four
men involved in the takeover, Kevin Nix, James Norton and Matthew Coffin were
convicted of false imprisonment. Nix, Norton and Coffin were acquitted of
more serious charges in the incident, but still sentenced to 15 years in
prison for their roles. The fourth, alleged ringleader Kevin Winslett, plead
guilty to grand theft auto, resisting an officer with violence, assault on a
corrections officer, three counts of false imprisonment and six counts of
battery on corrections officers. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison in
2007. H. Lawrence Perry, the attorney for Baucum, Baker and Hunt, did not
return calls seeking comment Tuesday. CCA and County officials declined to
comment because the matter is facing an appeal.
January
29, 2009 News Herald
A prison employee believed to be romantically involved with an inmate was
arrested Thursday on charges of introducing contraband into a correctional
facility, officials said. Tina L. Ortiz, 35, of Chipley is accused of
bringing a cellular phone into Bay Correctional Facility with the intention
of giving it to an inmate, according to a Bay County Sheriff's Office
release. Ortiz was working at Bay Correctional Facility, a prison operated by
Corrections Corporation of America, as a mental health specialist assistant,
Bay County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Ruth Corley said. "She was not
one of our employees," Corley said. Ortiz became a suspect when prison
authorities found a cellular phone when an inmate was moved. An investigation
to discover the phone's ownership suggested she and an inmate may have been
romantically involved, Corely said. "Investigators discovered messages
between the two that revealed their relationship was romantic in
nature," Corley said. Bay County Sheriff's Officials were brought into
the investigation Wednesday, Corley said, and it was determined Ortiz had
brought the phone into the facility. Ortiz was arrested and later admitted to
the crime, Corley said. "She has given us a full confession,"
Corley said.
January
23, 2009 News-Herald
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet found enough evidence in Anthony Davis'
case to allow it to go forward, despite Davis exposing some weaknesses in the
evidence. Davis, 40, is charged with two counts each of bribing public
servants and introducing contraband into a penal facility. He's accused of
paying two corrections workers at the Bay County Jail to smuggle cigarettes,
marijuana, prescription pills, nude photos and a cell phone to him. All four
charges against Davis are third-degree felonies carrying a penalty of up to
five years in prison each. Davis appeared before Overstreet on Thursday for a
preliminary adversarial hearing in which the evidence against him was laid
out for the judge to decide if it established probable cause in the case.
Prosecutor Pat Faucheux brought three sheriff's investigators to the stand
and Davis called the two former corrections workers, Angela Childs and
Shannon Copeland. Copeland refused to testify, however, evoking her right
against self incrimination because she has pending charges. Childs, who has
resolved her case, told Overstreet that she brought Davis a total of five
packs of cigarettes during their arrangement and received money in return.
Childs said the money came to her through Western Union in a check that was
not made out to her and was not sent directly by Davis. Investigators said
they only have testimonial evidence that Davis organized payments to Copeland
and Childs through another party. When Childs was arrested, she was carrying
a cell phone and prescription Xanax in a bottle. She testified that both
items were hers. Investigators said Copeland began a sexual relationship with
Davis the day Childs was arrested. The affair was discovered when jail
officials tapped into an intercom system and overheard an
"explicit" conversation between Copeland and Davis. When she was
arrested, investigators said, she was carrying nude photos of herself, a
sexual device and an MP-3 player. More nude photos of Copeland were allegedly
found in Davis' cell. Davis, who acted as his own lawyer in this hearing,
argued that Childs, at the time of the alleged transactions, was an employee
of Corrections Corporation of America Inc., which was operating the jail at
that time. Davis said Childs was a corporate employee, not a public servant
as described in the charge. He also argued that the items seized from
Copeland and Childs were their items and there was no direct connection
between him and the money. Davis said when he was arrested he was not in
possession of cigarettes, drugs or a phone. Overstreet, however, ruled that
there was probable cause to go forward and scheduled Davis for another court
date March 17.
December
15, 2008 News-Herald
A detention officer accused of sneaking drugs and nude photographs of
herself into Bay County Jail was arrested Sunday, Bay Sheriff's Office
officials said. Shannon Nicole Copeland, of 1613 Fairy Ave., was met at the
jail by Sheriff Frank McKeithen and jail administrator Rick Anglin as she
began her shift Sunday. A search of her person revealed a CD of nude
photographs of herself and several printed nude images, according to a Bay
County Sheriff's Office release. A search of an inmate's cell uncovered
additional nude photos of Copeland, 23, who told investigators she engaged in
sexual misconduct with the inmate and had brought him marijuana, the release
said. Copeland, a control room operator who had been entrusted with the
movements of inmates, was a former employee of Corrections Corporation of
America, or CCA, and had been retained by the jail as an uncertified
detention specialist after the transition.
November
5, 2008 News Herald
A Bay County Jail correctional officer was arrested Wednesday morning and
accused of smuggling contraband into the detention facility, authorities
said. Angela Lavonne Chiles, 41, of 9304 Kelly Circle, Youngstown, was
beginning her shift at 6 a.m. when she was found to be in possession of about
17 alprazolam pills, which are available only by prescription, according to a
Bay County Sheriff's Office release. Investigators learned Chiles had been
introducing other contraband into the jail, including tobacco products that
were being sold among inmates for $30 to $50 per pack, the release said.
Chiles, who was terminated immediately, was taken to the Bay County Jail and
booked on charges of introduction of contraband into a detention facility and
unlawful compensation for official behavior, the release said. Jail Warden
Rick Anglin said Wednesday's arrest was a positive signal the Sheriff's
Office intends to improve security and run the jail with professionalism.
"It (the arrest) is a sign that the Sheriff's Office isn't gonna
tolerate this kind of stuff," Anglin said. "You can't allow this kind
of thing to occur; it jeopardizes the safety of inmates and the detention
officers." Anglin said Correctional Corporation of America hired Chiles
in April 2008, and she was rehired when the Bay Sheriff's Office assumed
responsibility of the jail Oct. 9.
October
9, 2008 WJHB TV7
The Bay County Sheriff's Office now has a new duty on its list. After
almost 25 years of a privately run jail, the sheriff's office is back in
charge. The official takeover of jail operations from Corrections Corporation
of America is happening right now at 6:00. It's been a been almost five
months from the time CCA decided they wouldn't run the jail till the
sheriff's office has taken over today, and Sheriff McKeithen says his men and
women have been working day and night to be prepared.
September
21, 2008 News-Herald
The reaction this week to jail nurse Kathy Baucum's fear of being placed -
with a cart full of medications - with dozens of inmates and one guard tells
you what you need to know about a corporate-run jail versus a locally
operated one. Baucum was one of the hostages held by inmates at the
Corrections Corporation of America-run downtown jail in 2004. It was a
12-hour standoff with inmates who got access to pharmaceuticals and took
nurses hostage and ended in gunfire and one nurse getting shot. Part of the
fault in that case was the method used for distributing the medicines and
locks. A new system was put in place, one that left Baucum and other nurses
feeling safer. About a week ago, it changed again, and the nurses were told
to enter a cell pod - where between 50 and 120 inmates are housed - with one
guard between the inmates, the nurse and the medications. Baucum refused. She
says she was fired, that they took her CCA identification card and told her
not to return. Warden Joe Ponte says she wasn't fired, that he was willing to
discuss it. More telling, he had this to say about her concerns: The job,
like any others, has its dangers and the nurses know of those ahead of time.
It's how some other jails do it. That was a one-time incident. That while the
new jail is set up for nurses to hand out meds via a safe station, it
needlessly blocks hallways for too long. That means nothing to Baucum, who
was at the mercy of inmates not that long ago. "No one knows it until they
lived it," she said. "If it can happen once, it can happen
again." Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen lived it. He negotiated with
the inmates who held Baucum for 12 hours. He and his men secured the release
of one hostage for pizza, and another for a cell phone. They heard the call
from one kidnapper to a girlfriend, essentially saying he didn't plan to live
through the night. "You had to see the terror in those ladies'
faces," McKeithen said. "If you had, you wouldn't put them in that
position again." And that is the problem, it seems at times. CCA, on its
way out as operator of the jail, does not seem to see the terror in the
faces. They don't seem to see the broken locks, the families trying to visit
loved ones only to find the process unmanageable at times. They see a bottom
line, which is what businesses do. McKeithen said others were aware of the
change in the procedure last week, and he had already decided that was not
how it would be handled once the Sheriff's Office takes over. "It's
designed so they can safely dispense those medicines," McKeithen said.
"And that's how we intend to use it." Ponte's job, as an employee
of CCA, is to safely run the jail, maximize profits, minimize costs and serve
his corporate bosses. McKeithen's job, as an elected sheriff, is to safely
run the jail, minimize costs as long as it's not at the expense of the
employees, while at the same time keeping his constituents happy. Those
constituents include the people in jail and their families. This is not to
say all will be well when the Sheriff's Office takes over. Running a jail is
rarely smooth. It is to say that the sheriff is starting with a clean slate,
and we hope it stays that way.
September
18, 2008 News-Herald
Even if it means her job, Kathy Baucum won't be a hostage again. Baucum,
50, a local nurse, said she was fired Wednesday by Corrections Corporations
of America from the Bay County Jail because she refused to put herself in a
dangerous situation. Baucum knows dangerous situations all too well; in
September 2004 she was held as a hostage during a 12-hour siege in the
CCA-run jail in downtown Panama City. Last week, the jail's warden, Joe
Ponte, issued a memo ordering all nurses to enter the jail's pods with the
inmates and hand out medicine, Baucum said. Under the new rule, Baucum and
other nurses would bring a cart full of controlled substances into the pods,
a room filled with anywhere from 60 to more than 120 inmates, and the nurse
and cart would be escorted by one guard, she said. A single guard standing
between a nurse, a cart full of drugs, and dozens of inmates would almost
certainly lead to another hostage situation or worse, Baucum said. "No
one knows it until they lived it," Baucum said. During the 2004
incident, the inmates went for drugs first, she said. They snorted
over-the-counter medication when they could not get to controlled substances,
she added. For about a week, Baucum and several other nurses did not comply
with the order, she said. On Wednesday night, the nurses were told they had
to follow the memo and enter the pods. Baucum said she refused and was fired.
Other nurses there do not agree with the rule either but cannot afford to
lose their jobs, Baucum said. When she complained to a supervisor, Baucum
said she was told the 2004 hostage crisis was a "one-time thing."
"If it can happen once, it can happen again," Baucum said. Ponte
said Baucum has not been fired. Instead, she was sent home for one night and
he has tried to contact her Thursday. "I'd like Kathy to come in and
talk to see if we can alleviate her concerns so she can come back to
work," Ponte said. "She's a good nurse." However, the current
plan for delivering medication is "not that unusual," Ponte said.
He pointed out the guard and the nurses were watched at all times by another
guard outside the pod. Ponte said it was a change for some of the nurses, but
it was done this way successfully in several other jails. Ponte said Baucum
did not try to talk to him or make an appointment with him before Wednesday's
incident. "If they (employees) have an issue or problem, I'm always
available to talk to them," he said. Baucum was sent home for the night
because she was refusing to do her job and the inmates needed to get their
medication, Ponte said. "I have a responsibility for the care and the
custody of these inmates," he added. "After that, we could talk at
any length about any concerns." Baucum said there is no doubt she was
fired Wednesday night. Her badge was taken away from her, she was told to
return all CCA property and she was escorted from the building, she said. She
said she was told her termination paperwork would be filled out in the
morning and she should not return to the jail. There are two other options
that could be used instead of entering the pod, Baucum said. One is to
administer the pills through a feed flap at the bottom of a door.
"According to the warden, it is not humane to do it through a feed
flap," Baucum said. The other would be to use a nurse's station attached
to the pods and keeps the nurses separated from the inmates by a window.
After the annex was built, the nurses were told the station was "just
for show," Baucum said. Those options won't work, Ponte said. The
nurse's station ties up a hallway too long, forcing jail operations to stop
while the pills are distributed, Ponte said. And inmates cannot talk with the
nurse through the feeding slot without shouting and being overheard by other
inmates, he added. Legally, inmates must be able to talk to a caregiver
without others hearing the conversation, Ponte said. Baucum now is looking
for another job, but she said getting fired was worth it if it means the
warden reverses his decision and the other nurses are safe. "I'm doing
this for the other nurses that are there," Baucum said. "I don't
want anybody else's safety jeopardized."
September
16, 2008 News-Herald
In preparation for taking control of the Bay County Jail once Corrections
Corp. of America leaves the facility next month, the Bay County Commission
received an update on the process from the Bay County Sheriff's Office
Tuesday. "Are we encountering any glitches that were unforeseen?"
asked Commission Chairman Jerry Girvin. Maj. J.B. Holloway of the sheriff's
department reported there were "some minor things," but that the
changing of the guard should go off without a hitch. "We made an
informal step into this kind of anticipating problems," Holloway told
the board, adding that questions regarding equipment inventory and other
minor issues had arisen. Holloway said the sheriff's office had already spent
$252,735 toward the transition effort. He requested an additional $172,000 to
purchase existing equipment from CCA. The sheriff's office is still in the
process of determining exactly what equipment will be bought from the
company. "They're trying to sell us some stuff that we think is
obsolete," Holloway said. He also reported that his office was "up
to speed" on hiring employees for the jail. He said about 300 applicants
had been interviewed thus far, and 25 positions remained unfilled.
September
3, 2008 News-Herald
Accused killer Ahmad Smith's jury selection started an hour late Tuesday
because Bay County Jail officials transported him late and lost his court
clothes. Circuit Judge Don T. Sirmons reacted by putting jail Warden Joe
Ponte and his officers on notice that if it happens again, he will find them
in contempt of court. A finding of contempt of court by a judge can result in
a short jail term or fine. Smith, 29, is charged with first-degree felony
murder, robbery with a firearm and burglary of a dwelling with a firearm. He
is accused of participating with Jay Broxton and Eric Harden in a robbery of
James Edwards Jr.'s Shadow Bay Drive home on Oct. 3, 2006. Edwards was shot
to death when he fought back. Broxton and Harden were convicted, based
largely on Smith's testimony in court against both men, and sentenced to life
in prison. Smith had worked out a plea to a prison sentence of less than life
in exchange for his trial testimony, but in March, when the state would go no
lower than 20 years, Smith refused to plead guilty and insisted on going to
trial. Smith's attorney indicated Tuesday that Smith might not take the
stand. Apparel problem -- Prosecutor Shalla Phelps and defense attorney Jean
Marie Downing spent most of Tuesday finding 12 deliberating jurors and two
alternates to hear the evidence. The trial is expected to go all week. The
day started with Downing scrambling to find suitable clothing for her client.
The courts have ruled jail uniforms might be prejudicial and defendants have
a right to dress in street clothes for trial. Downing told Sirmons that her
assistant had dropped off clothing to the jail Friday, but jail officials
could not immediately locate the clothes Tuesday morning. Eventually, the
Public Defender's Office loaned Smith a button-up shirt and slacks until his
suit arrived from the jail. The jail is going through two transitions, having
recently moved all inmates from the downtown jail to what was the annex in
Bayou George. Operation of the jail also is moving, from Corrections
Corporation of America to the Bay County Sheriff's Office in October. Deputy
Public Defender Walter Smith said he had to fight for clothing from the jail
on a prior occasion for another defendant, asking at that time that jail
officials be held in contempt of court. For these kinds of emergencies, the
office has a small supply of slacks, shirts and ties to loan to defendants.
"It happens 50 percent of the time, and I'm not exaggerating,"
Walter Smith said of the clothes issue. "I always bring clothes to the
jail on the Friday afternoon before trial. That way they only have two days
to lose them." He said other jails in the state are far more
accommodating when it comes to inmate court clothing. "Every time the
issue comes up, CCA acts like it's never been raised before," Smith
said. Ponte did not return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment.
August
25, 2008 WMBB News 13
The new Bay County Jail is now housing around 900 prisoners, but a problem
finding permanent staff is causing the Sheriff’s Office to expand the search.
The Bay County Sheriff’s department has been searching for staff for the new
jail. The current staff members are employed by the Corrections Corporation
of America. So far, the sheriff’s office has only recommended around 190 for
hire out of around 270 applicants. On October 9th, the Bay County Sheriff’s
Office will take over the facility and many of the current CCA staff will
become BCSO employees.
July
15, 2008 WJHG
The board voted to enact the Bay County Jail transition agreement between
the Bay County Sheriff's Office, the County Commission, and Corrections
Corporation of America. The agreement is the next step in the sheriff's
takeover of the county jail. Back on June 17 the board voted unanimously for
Sheriff Frank McKeithen and the sheriff's office to run the jail when CCA
leaves in October, but before they take over they want to make sure they have
a smooth transition. The sheriff’s office will work with CCA to go over
operation procedures. They will also begin the process of interviewing and
training staff to be correctional officers. Jerry Girvin of the County
Commission said, "We'll start with the very senior folks and then work
down to the deputy warden, the captains, and lieutenants and whatnot. They
will shadow the current operations so that when we take over officially in
October, or when the sheriff does it won't be walking in blind, they would
have spent time with the current staff and they'll know where the keys are,
where the doors are, and how things work." The agreement goes into effect
immediately. The sheriff is set to officially take over on October 1.
June
19, 2008 News-Herald
A Corrections Corporation of America officer was arrested Thursday and
charged with three counts of sexual battery, police said. Robert C. Heller,
27, of Parker, was a CCA employee assigned to the Bay County Jail, Detective
Aaron Wilson with the Parker Police Department said. No further information
was available Thursday night.
June
17, 2008 News-Herald
It is going to cost more, but Bay County commissioners expect to get
their money's worth out of Sheriff Frank McKeithen when he takes over
operations of the county's jail facility in October. Commissioners passed an
ordinance Tuesday placing McKeithen at the helm when current operator
Corrections Corporation of America leaves in the fall. He officially will
take over Oct. 9. There was little discussion on the matter at the commission
meeting. Most of the talking took place weeks ago. In May, when
Tennessee-based CCA cited financial hardship and announced it would be
leaving, Commission Chairman Jerry Girvin described more of an opportunity
than crisis. The county had been critical of the company for several
incidents through the years, including hostage standoffs, smuggled contraband
and sex scandals. "While we're not totally delighted with the concept,
it's now in our lap and we'll deal with it," Girvin said at the time.
"Really, in most of the counties in Florida, the sheriff does run the
jail." McKeithen told the board June 3 that the Bay County Sheriff's
Office could operate the facility for $17,855,216 a year. That is about $7
more per inmate, per day than CCA's price, which McKeithen said is because
county employees require more pay and benefits. Also, Bay County spokeswoman
Valerie Lovett said peripheral details, such as who would provide food and
health services at the facility, still are being worked out. Such costs would
be above and beyond the sheriff's estimate. Commissioners stressed Tuesday
that CCA should be held accountable to their agreement to construct the
current expansion project at the U.S. 231 jail annex. "We need to hold
the money until we're sure they have fulfilled all their
responsibilities," said Commissioner George Gainer. County Attorney
Terrell Arline said such things are being handled. The county, he said, also
will be requesting CCA further explain its exit. "One of our intentions
is to have them explain, in writing, how they were not able to fulfill their
obligations," Arline said.
June
8, 2008 News-Herald
Originally, Sheriff Frank McKeithen was reluctant to run Bay County's
jail system. But in an interview last week, McKeithen was armed with ideas
and plans for changes at the local jail. McKeithen stressed, however, that he
does not have the job yet. The Bay County Commission will meet June 17 and is
expected to vote on McKeithen's proposal to run the jail, taking over the job
from the private Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA. During their
last meeting, commissioners supported the idea. "It's not going to be
easy," McKeithen said. "Every day will be a work in progress. We
can't get complacent." If commissioners approve him for the job,
McKeithen would send every jail employee an information packet that will let
them know where they stand, he said. Nearly 300 people work at two local jail
facilities, one downtown and the other at the jail annex near Bayou George,
which is being expanded and eventually will replace the downtown facility.
"We're not going to leave them hanging," McKeithen said.
"Everybody there will have an opportunity to retain their jobs." As
long as current employees are properly qualified, they most likely would keep
their jobs, McKeithen added. However, every employee also would have to fill
out an application and go through the application process, he said. "I have
confidence in the people that are there, and they are going to be
there," McKeithen said. He said it was too early too say how employees
at the jail would be structured and managed, but he did talk about the need
to streamline the two organizations. Jail employees would be part of the
"family" that makes up the Sheriff's Office, McKeithen said. In his
budget, McKeithen has approved a raise for the starting salary of jail
employees from about $26,000 a year to $30,000 a year. New ideas -- The
sheriff has several new ideas about how things should be run. To start, he
said, jail officials would implement an inmate management system that would
give corrections officials a "better handle on these prisoners."
McKeithen mentioned that in the past, some inmates were kept in jail past
their release dates. In November, nine inmates were released from the jail
before their release dates and had to return. McKeithen said the new inmate
management system would work closely with courthouse officials to ensure
these kinds of incidents don't happen. McKeithen also said he wants a Web
site that would let the public know inmate status, visiting hours and other
important information. The sheriff also expressed concern for the treatment
of inmates' relatives. "We want to better train our staff in customer
service," McKeithen said. Parents, siblings and others who visit an
inmate must be treated with courtesy and respect, he added. "It's
already a stressful visit," McKeithen said. "A county jail is
accountable to the citizens of that county." Work-release programs and
other possibilities also were on McKeithen's mind last week. These things,
done right, could "save the taxpayer money," he said. The money --
Last month, Nashville-based CCA, which has run Bay County's jail operations
for more than 20 years, told county officials they were leaving town.
Although they had signed a contract, CCA officials said could not run the
jail for the planned cost of $43.34 per inmate, per day and were leaving the
county Oct. 1. According to information provided by Bay County officials,
Charlotte County pays $76.29 per inmate per day. Indian River County pays $75
per inmate per day, while Santa Rosa pays $49 per inmate per day. McKeithen's
proposal breaks down to $50.79 per inmate, per day, for a total of $17.9
million. McKeithen asked Rick Anglin, Bay County's liaison to CCA and
contract monitor, to investigate the needs and come up with his budget
proposal. Much of Anglin's job involved overseeing CCA and ensuring the
company followed its contract. The sheriff said it was important to have
someone outside the Sheriff's Office do the initial budget. Anglin
investigated CCA's budget and the budgets of several jails across the state
before writing the new budget, he said. Anglin and McKeithen estimate they
would pay $13.5 million for salaries and benefits; $1.3 for medical supplies,
pharmacy needs and hospital services; $115,000 for mental health services;
$956,230 for food services; and $53,160 for uniforms, security equipment and
ammo. McKeithen pointed out the food contract breaks down to 93 cents per
meal. "There's no fat built into that budget," Anglin said. New
jail -- If McKeithen takes over Oct. 1, he would inherit the jail facilities
at the U.S. 231 annex site, which eventually will serve as the area's only
jail. Good riddance, he said. "That is a monster," he said of the
downtown jail, adding that many of the safety and security problems jail
officials have dealt with over the years were caused by the dilapidated
building. But when CCA leaves, it also might take with it computers, desks
and other equipment the company purchased. The county would have to replace
that, McKeithen said. The furnishings and equipment in the new buildings will
stay, McKeithen said. "It does appear to be a state-of-the-art
facility," he added. That facility is part of a residential
neighborhood, something McKeithen is taking into account. Inmates will only
be released from the U.S. 231 site if they have a ride or a cab. If they do
not, they will be taken to the courthouse and released from an office there,
McKeithen said. This will keep former inmates from walking through a
residential neighborhood and place them closer to Bay County's bus station,
rescue mission and other services they might need, he added. Though he might
have been reluctant at first, McKeithen seemed to be looking forward to the
new situation. "I'm to the point were I'm ready for the challenge,"
he said. "I want this to be the best jail in the state of Florida."
June
6, 2008 News-Herald
If it's true that you get what you pay for, then Bay County should receive
moderately better operation of its jail with Sheriff Frank McKeithen in
charge. County commissioners indicated Tuesday that they plan to hire the
Sheriff's Office to run the jail and replace Corrections Corporation of
America, a Tennessee-based company that has contracted to do the job for the
last 23 years. CCA informed the county last month that it was seeking a
divorce, citing irreconcilable financial differences: Officials said they
couldn't provide adequate service for what the county was paying them. Enter
McKeithen, who previously had expressed a willingness to assume
responsibility for the jail but told commissioners up front that it would
cost them more. Tuesday, he laid out the numbers: Whereas CCA had been
charging the county $46.18 per inmate per day (which was scheduled to drop to
$43.34 when the new jail annex opens this fall), the Sheriff's Office said it
would charge $50.79 - or about $18 million a year, $3 million more than CCA. Saving
money was costing the county numerous headaches. Under CCA's direction, the
jail had experienced several embarrassing - and sometimes dangerous -
incidents in recent years, often resulting from staff failures. How much of
that was due to low salaries and how much to CCA's training and oversight? We
should find out the answer soon enough. Either way, the jail needed a fresh
start. The question is, should the county have spent more time looking
elsewhere before settling on the sheriff? Why not re-bid the contract and see
if it could get a better deal for taxpayers? The answer is that it probably
would have been a waste of time. First of all, there aren't that many
companies that run jails. Indeed, the last time the county bid the work, only
one other company competed with CCA. Out of Florida's 67 counties, only three
- Bay, Citrus and Hernando - contract out their jail operations, and Bay has
by far the cheapest per diem rate. Eight county jails are run by county
commissions, and the remaining 56 are operated by the sheriffs. According to
Bay County staff research, most of the counties with inmate populations
comparable to Bay's pay a higher per diem than McKeithen's estimate. One
advantage to turning the jail over to the sheriff is that if issues arise, the
county can deal directly with a local official it knows well, instead of some
corporate bureaucracy. Furthermore, that official is elected, which means he
has to answer to the public for the jail's performance. Commissioners still
must keep a close eye on the bottom line, and that means watching out for
unintended expenses that might crop up that would significantly boost
McKeithen's per diem estimate. For instance, according to the terms of the
CCA contract, any equipment purchased after 2006 belongs to CCA. If the
company takes that stuff with it when it leaves, how much will it cost to
replace it? McKeithen says it might take a year to determine exactly what it
will cost to run the jail. He deserves an opportunity to demonstrate it will
be money well spent.
June
3, 2008 News-Herald
Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen informed county officials Tuesday he
could take over jail operations for just less than $18 million a year.
"I haven't sugar-coated these numbers; these are real," McKeithen
told county commissioners during their regular meeting. "With all due
respect, this will be my only proposal. I'm not going to compete with
anyone." The cost estimate, breaking down to $50.79 per inmate, per day,
is higher than the current $46.18 charged by Corrections Corporation of
America. The company is walking away from the jail in October, shy of a
contract-stipulated drop to $43.34 upon the completion of the jail expansion
project at the annex property off U.S. 231. McKeithen said the higher quote
primarily was because county employees require a more competitive salary and
benefits. "It's a little higher rate," conceded Bay County
Commission Chairman Jerry Girvin, "but let's face it; a lot of the
problems have been because of the salary." The board was unanimously receptive
to the sheriff's projections. Legal counsel, however, advised that a formal
ordinance declaring such would need to be written up for the June 17 county
meeting and approved. "I think what we're saying, sheriff ... you'll
have a new hat to wear," Girvin said. McKeithen stressed his numbers
were only estimates. The per diem rate also assumes a minimum of 963 jail
beds is filled. "It would take a year to realize exactly what it's going
to cost out there," he said. Officials have budgeted $16.8 million in
jail costs for the 2008 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, according to Bay
County spokeswoman Valerie Lovett. Of that amount, $16.2 million would be
paid to CCA to cover the per diem expenses; the other $600,000 would cover
costs, such as building maintenance, that are not in CCA's contract, Lovett
said. Had CCA continued its contract another year at the lower per diem rate,
the county would have paid $15.2 million to CCA for Fiscal Year 2009, and the
overall cost would have been $15.8 million. Commissioner Bill Dozier said the
sheriff's numbers seemed right, as opposed to CCA's $43. When alerting the
county to their planned departure, company officials cited inadequate
finances. "This is realistic," Dozier said. "That was
unrealistic." If the ordinance is approved at the commission's next
meeting, McKeithen will not take over the facility until CCA's October exit.
June
3, 2008 WMBB
Running the Bay County jail is not the most glamorous of jobs, but
Sheriff Frank McKeithen has offered to take on the task to the delight of the
Bay County Commission. At Tuesday's regular Commission meeting McKeithen made
clear that he could not garuntee there would be no problems under his watch.
"I'm not going to tell you there will never be a hostage situation or
jail break or issues in jail but I will tell you that there will be far less
than what CCA has had to deal with in that facility downtown," said
McKeithen. Last month Bay County expressed disappointment that Corrections
Corporation of America would not run the new jail at a rate of $43 a day per
prisoner, but Tuesday they said McKeithen's offer of $50 per prisoner a day
was reasonable. "We have looked at jails all over the state of Florida
and the typical per day jail rate is $54 to $64 throughout the state,"
said Chairman Jerry Girvin. The Sheriff estimates that the total budget for
the year will be around $17.8 million- that's an increase of one million
after CCA leaves- and McKeithen says that money is largely due to raises for
personnel. "There is a possibility that if this amount of money is given
that we may have money left over. There's a possibility that we may have to
ask you for more money," McKeithen said. Commissioners say choosing the
Sheriff over another private contractor is the most preferable of options.
"This is not a knee jerk reaction. This is something that everyone of us
has taken time with, everyone of us, the sheriff, and our staff," said
Commissioner Mike Thomas. County Attorneys will draft an ordinance in the
coming weeks to be considered in a public hearing at it's next meeting on
June 17th.
May
27, 2008 News-Herald
Bay County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously rejected an offer by
Emerald Correctional Management to drop its lawsuit against the county in
exchange for the keys to its jails. The offer was passed on to the board by
County Attorney Terrel Arline. "Can we laugh first?" asked
Commissioner Mike Thomas. Emerald Correctional Management filed suit against
the county in 2006, claiming the bidding process for the construction of the
new jail off U.S. 231 was flawed. Arline said he recommended the offer be
rejected, but was obligated to inform the commission about what was being put
on the table. "Would ‘Hell no' be appropriate?" Commissioner George
Gainer said. "I was gonna use those terms," Arline replied,
"but I bit my tongue." Although Emerald Correctional was the
original low bidder on the project, after some bid clarifications, the job
was awarded to the only other responding party, Corrections Corporation of
America. The Tennessee-based CCA currently is constructing the new county
jail but recently notified the county it would be pulling out of its contract
Oct. 1 because of financial concerns. Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen is
researching how much it would cost his office to take over the facility. He
has told commissioners it would be more than what CCA is charging: $46.18 per
inmate, per day. Upon completion of the new jail expansion, the rate was
expected to drop to about $43. Commissioners approved an agreement Tuesday
with Tyndall Air Force Base to house Air Force pre-trial detainees at the
current Bay County Jail. Thomas stipulated that any per-inmate costs
agreement would need to jibe with future decisions regarding management of
the jail once CCA departs.
May
21, 2008 News-Herald
A Bay County Jail captain has been placed on administrative leave after a
weekend traffic crash. Capt. Stacy C. Blakeney, 36, was driving an estimated
80 mph in a 35 mph zone on Beach Drive when he rolled his vehicle late
Sun-day, according to a Panama City Police Department crash report. Police
said Blakeney was driving west near Buena Vista Boule-vard about 11:30 p.m.,
and his vehicle drifted off the road. His 2003 Chevrolet struck a power pole
and began to spin. The vehicle crossed the front yard of a home, crashed
through a row of shrubs, hit two trees and flipped, landing on its top in the
next yard. Blakeney was not seriously injured, police reported. Police
estimated damage to the vehicle at $15,000, to the power pole at $3,000 and
to landscaping at $2,000. Criminal charges are pending the results of a
blood-alcohol test, police reported. Joe Ponte, warden of the Bay County
Jail, said Blakeney declined to speak to supervisors about the circumstances
of the crash. With criminal charges pending, he cannot be com-pelled to make
a statement, Ponte said. Blakeney works at the downtown jail, according to
Ponte.
May
14, 2008 News-Herald
It takes millions of dollars a year to run the Bay County jail but now
that Corrections Corporation of America is leaving town, the County
Commission worries it could cost a tremendous amount more. Bay County went to
a lot of effort to try to save money on the construction on a $40 million
facility including a lawsuit from a company bidding on the project. In the
end the County went with Corrections Corporation of America. "The fact
that they designed it around their ability to run it, that was supposed to be
a savings for everybody," said Commissioner George Gainer on Wednesday.
At Tuesday's County Commission meeting, Commissioners announced that CCA
planned to leave the new jail in October. CCA and the County signed a 6 year
contract in 2006. The terms of the contract say the company would be
responsible for building the new jail to be completed by August. After the
jail was complete, the County's rate per prisoner per day was supposed to
drop from $46 dollars to $43 a day in 2009. "My problem is they're not
sticking around long enough for Bay County to realize if the design is one
that is going to save us money. If it's what we paid for," said Gainer.
While the County has a number of options for running the new facility, Gainer
says he thinks each one would be more expensive than CCA. He hopes the
commission will address his concerns at a workshop on Friday. "This
whole process was entered into because of the savings on the per diem. I
think we're paying $43 a day now and if we've got to pay $56 at this
facility- I think that $13 a day is the basis of a tremendous lawsuit back
against CCA," said Gainer. CCA's official reason for leaving the county
was that wages and benefits for staff could not be covered with the rate
worked out with Bay County. County Commissioners will weigh three options at
a special workshop Friday including running the jail themselves as a County
Department, asking Sheriff Frank McKeithen to step in, or hiring another
private contractor to run the jail.
May
13, 2008 News-Herald
Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, let the county know late
Monday that it would be abandoning its local operations in 150 days, or Oct.
1. “Where our path will take us, we don’t know,” Bay County Commission
Chairman Jerry Girvin said of the question left in CCA’s wake. “It’s been a
long-term relationship, but it’s probably one that’s run its course, and it’s
time to go separate directions.” During the commission’s meeting Tuesday, the
board briefly discussed the last-minute news before scheduling a workshop for
2 p.m. Friday at Panama City City Hall to further explore the county’s
options. Girvin said the two most probable options would be to either run the
jail as a county department or turn operations over to the Bay County
Sheriff’s Office. “Really, in most of the counties in Florida, the sheriff
does run the jail,” Girvin said Tuesday afternoon. CCA, which has operated the
area’s jails for more than 20 years, cited financial concerns as the reason
for pulling out of Bay County. Spokeswoman Louise Grant said the
Tennessee-based company could not continue to pay the competitive wages
needed to “retain the brightest and the best staff.” Locally, CCA employs
almost 290 people. Warden Joe Ponte said the average jail employee makes
about $28,000. CCA entered into a new contract with Bay County in 2006 that
stipulated a per-inmate rate of $46.18 per day. Last year, the company was
paid $15.8 million. The six-year contract also called for the company to
expand on the facilities at the U.S. 231 annex site, which will serve as the
area’s only jail once the downtown location is closed. County officials said
the work should be complete before CCA’s October departure. Ponte said his
staff has been made aware of the situation. “As it starts to sink in, people
are asking questions: ‘Who’s going to run it?’” Ponte said. “We don’t have
any answers to that stuff.” The possibility of running local jails is not a
new concept to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Department officials have
suspected this day might arrive and have assessed if such a venture would be
a viable option. “We’ve heard these rumors here, lately,” Major J.B. Holloway
said of CCA’s exit, sounding confident about Sheriff Frank McKeithen’s
prospects of running such an operation. “The sheriff has run a jail on a
small scale,” Holloway said, referring to his boss’s stint heading up a Gulf
County facility when McKeithen was the sheriff there. “I feel certain he
could do it here.” Regardless of what Bay County officials decide to do when
CCA leaves, Ponte hopes the people currently staffing the facilities will be
included in the plans. “This is a jail, it’s going to be run as a jail, and
they’re going to need people to run it,” he said, adding that CCA also is
offering to relocate some employees to other prison operations but that “a
lot of people don’t want to move.” Holloway said it would be “premature” to
discuss possible costs of running Bay County’s operations, but the Sheriff’s
Office previously stated it might not be able to match CCA’s price. Girvin
hinted the county might be open to paying more. That would depend on many
things,” Girvin said. “How much more? What kind of bang are we getting for
our buck?” CCA problems -- At times, officials have indicated CCA’s bang for
the buck has not been sufficient. Since first beginning work in Bay County in
October 1985, the private correctional company has weathered a number of
storms that caused local officials concern. Last November, CCA released nine
inmates early by accident. In June 2007, an inmate fashioned a plastic
utensil into a lock-pick and briefly broke out of his cell. In 2005, a CCA
nurse was fired after an inmate gave birth inside the jail annex four hours
after complaining of labor pains. Another nurse, as well as a supervisor, was
fired for having sex with an inmate. In 2004, a nurse was shot in a hostage
standoff after inmates escaped from their cells. CCA said such instances were
not a factor in the decision to leave town. “No, operations did not play a
role in this at all,” said Grant, stressing CCA’s financial concerns.
“Nothing else played into that.” Recently, county officials have made strong
statements directed at CCA in regard to the company’s mishaps. “They’re going
to run it right, or we’ll get somebody who will run it right,” said County
Commissioner Mike Nelson, following the accidental inmate release last fall.
Girvin said that although CCA’s notice was not expected, it is an issue
county officials are ready to address. “While we’re not totally delighted
with the concept,” Girvin said, “it’s now in our lap and we’ll deal with it.”
May
13, 2008 WJHG
Corrections Corporation of America, C-C-A, the private company which has
operated the Bay County Jail since 1985, says it has had enough and is
cancelling its contract effect October first. C-C-A made the disclosure in a
letter to the Bay County Commission revealed this morning. Reason for the
termination was not disclosed. The company said it was exercising its 150 day
option spelled out in it 2006 contract with Bay County. The county commission
has scheduled a special meeting for Friday7 afternoon to discuss several
options, two of which include having the Sheriff take back operations of the
jail, or the commission operating the jail itself. Would the Sheriff be
interested? A spokesman for Sheriff Frank McKeithen said this morning he
would not have any comment on the C-C-A issue until he meets with the county
commission Friday. Meanwhile, work continues on the building of the new Bay
County jail in Bayou George. CCA will finish building it before its contract
expires.
November
21, 2007 News Herald
Bay County commissioners sent a clear message Tuesday to Corrections Corporation
of America: Shape up or ship out, and pay $140,000. “We need to go
aggressively at them,” Commissioner Mike Nelson said. “We’re gonna have to
get it across to the folks up in Tennessee that we take this very seriously.”
Nashville-based CCA runs the Bay County Jail and Jail Annex. On Nov. 1, the
company mistakenly released nine inmates early from a substance abuse
program. All the inmates voluntarily returned within a week. A county report
released Nov. 13 listed a number of chinks in CCA’s armor. Primarily, the
report cited poor judgment on the part of jail staff as the biggest reason
for the oversight. “This is a jail, and it needs to be run like one,” Nelson
said. “It shouldn’t have happened; I don’t want it to ever happen again.” In
addition to corrective measures, such as notifying the county within 30
minutes of an incident and creating new booking and classification
procedures, commissioners also are fining CCA $140,000 for the inmates’
release. The contract with the corporation stipulates financial penalties may
be levied in such cases, and will be taken out of the county’s monthly
payments to CCA. The agenda for Tuesday’s County Commission meeting did not
list the jail issue. It came up during the commissioner comments section of
the meeting. No one from CCA spoke during the meeting. The company is
conducting its own investigation into the inmates’ release. County officials
signed a six-year contract in May 2006 for CCA to run the facility and build
a $39.7 million annex. As a condition of that contract, the county may break
the relationship within 90 days without cause, or within 30 days with cause.
“When we were redoing our contract we said, ‘new ballgame,’” Commission
Chairman Jerry Girvin noted. Nelson said CCA’s frequent lapses might merit exploring
other options. “What concerns me is what else is going on out there that we
don’t know about,” Nelson said. “I don’t want to see the county get into the
jail business … but the sheriff may have to.” Girvin directed county staff to
begin considering other options. He advised that such a consideration would
be in its infancy, and staffers should “not go 24/7 on it” in the hopes CCA
will begin tightening up its operation.
November
20, 2007 WJHG
Bay County wants to fine the Corrections Corporation of America $140,000 for
mistakenly releasing 10 inmates from the Bay County Jail earlier this month.
The fine stems from an incident that happened on November 1. CCA worker
released ten inmates enrolled in a drug rehab program, before they'd
completed their sentences. All of the inmates surrendered after CCA
discovered the mistake and notified them. A review by the county contract
monitor cited poor staff judgment, broad booking procedures, inadequate
staffing, and a seven-hour delay between the time the incident occurred and
the time it the contract monitor was notified. County commissioners say the
penalty is justified because the release violated the contract the county has
with CCA to operate the county jail system. The contract provides for the
fine, based on the $1.4 million monthly amount the county pays CCA to house
inmates. The fine is one percent of the monthly invoice, for each inmate
released. Commissioners say the incident is unacceptable. Mike Nelson, Bay
County Commissioner, "What I'm really upset about is there was a seven
hour delay before anyone at our place was ever notified, and what concerns me
even more is what else is going on our there that we don't even know
about?" Commissioner Nelson says the county will have to watch CCA
closer in the future. The board discussed other options including the
termination of CCA's contract, but did not take any action.
November
14, 2007 News-Herald
Someone with Corrections Corporation of America should have noticed nine
inmates were being freed early from the Bay County Jail on Nov. 1, according
to a county report released Tuesday. “That kind of carelessness is something
we can’t have,” said Bay County Commissioner Mike Nelson. “I mean, they’re
running a jail.” Employees of the Tennessee-based company that operates the
jail and jail annex for the county mistakenly released the inmates who were
part of the facility’s Lifeline Substance Abuse Program. All nine inmates
voluntarily returned within a week. Warden Joseph Ponte said last week that
CCA staff members mistakenly released the individuals because their
graduation certificates were printed early by a staff member and
misinterpreted by other staff members. The documents had the correct release
date for the inmates, but staff members overlooked it, Ponte said. The county
report found there were numerous times at which CCA employees should have
caught the mistake. At the very least, suspicions should have been raised
when the inmates themselves voiced concern, the report stated. “Apparently,
the staff they were telling thought it was someone else’s responsibility,”
said Rick Anglin, the county’s contract monitor who interviewed CCA staff and
inmates while preparing the report. Anglin said if he had to pick one reason
for the mishap, it would be staffing. Three key staffers in the
classification department were absent the day of the incident. Another CCA
shortfall mentioned in the report concerned a seven-hour delay between the
realization something had gone wrong and notification of the county. Nelson
said Ponte has yet to call the county manager to discuss the matter. The
report lists several corrective actions to be taken. Primarily, the county
liaison must be made aware of an “unusual incident” within 30 minutes. New,
clearly defined booking and classification procedures also are called for.
The county’s contract allows for financial penalties when such an incident
occurs. Nelson said county attorneys are pursuing that course. CCA began its
own investigation into the matter the day it happened, Ponte said. That
investigation should wrap up within two weeks. Nelson said the incident has
shown the county needs to keep a closer watch over the corrections company.
“We’re gonna have to tighten up on them,” the commissioner said. “They’re
gonna run it right, or we’ll get somebody that will run it right.”
November
5, 2007 WMBB TV13
An investigation is underway at the Bay County Jail Annex after an incident
that Chairman Commissioner Mike Nelson calls inexcusable. Nine inmate's were
released from the jail prior to the completion of their count-ordered drug
program and then told to come back. Thursday evening, The Bay County Jail
Annex released nine inmate's in the facilities lifeline substance abuse
program, which is a 120 day program. All nine offenders, five males, and four
females were being housed for misdemeanors charges and were expected to
complete the program within the next few weeks. Eight of the offenders
voluntarily returned to the program. The ninth offender, whose residence is
out of the state, is in the process of being notified. "The county is
going to put every effort to find out how this happened and make sure it
never happens again," said Nelson. Warden Ponte said the mistake
happened when inmate’s completion certificates were printed early. "I
apologize, this shouldn't have happened. We are doing everything we can to
prevent this from happening in the future," said Ponte. The Bay County
Jail is managed by Corrections Corporation of America and hope to have the
investigation completed in the next couple weeks.
September
27, 2007 News-Herald
Emerald Correctional Management LLC has taken a step back from the $13.2
million it sought from Bay County — a considerable step. The Louisiana
company, which argues it was slighted during the bidding process in 2005 for
the county’s jail expansion project, now is seeking $514,050 to settle a
lawsuit. Obed Dorceus, attorney for Emerald Correctional, said the reduction
doesn’t reflect a loss of resolve. “My client wanted to make sure the county
knew he was willing to compromise,” Dorceus said. “But we still believe in
the case.” The county has not accepted the settlement offer. Instead, it is
requesting Emerald Correctional pay $35,000 in legal fees and drop the case.
W.C. Henry, who represents the county, called the original $13.2 million
“ridiculous, absurd; you’ve got to be kidding me.” The most recent offer is
“still blatantly absurd.” Emerald first brought suit against the county in
2006. The company claimed the county’s bidding process was tainted. Only two
companies responded to the call for bids on the project; Emerald’s came in a
few million dollars below Tennessee-based CCA. CCA, however, was awarded the
job after both companies were asked to clarify their bids. The company had a
20-year history working with the county. The contract Bay County awarded CCA
was for six years and more than $36 million, and covers the demolition of the
downtown jail, the expansion of the jail annex and management of the
completed facility. Ground has been broken on the annex, with an expected
completion date of May 2008. Emerald sued the county, alleging it didn’t
adhere to bidding rules. Bay County Circuit Judge Glenn Hess dismissed the
six-pronged complaint. In May, an appellate court overturned two of Hess’
dismissals. Henry said the entire case has stalled to some degree because
Emerald has not filed a new complaint after withdrawing the initial suit and
focusing on the two remaining issues. “We’ve kind of been working in limbo,”
Henry said. “Right now, there is no complaint. It’s kind of weird; this is
very strange.” Dorceus said he plans to file a new complaint soon.
Depositions are planned for Oct. 10. Several county employees, as well as
Commissioner Mike Thomas, will be deposed via video. Henry said the $35,000
legal fees offer is good until Monday. He said it would spare everyone the
costs of a courtroom. “We’re gonna win, and we’re gonna win big in the end,”
he said. “If they see the light and realize they’re going to lose, we could
save the costs.”
August
21, 2007 News-Herald
Seven suspected illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday at a county work
site. Bay County sheriff’s deputies made the arrests Tuesday at the county
courthouse. The men were employed by BCL Contractors to work on the new sally
port project, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. Deputies said
they checked the employment records of the workers and found the men had used
stolen Social Security numbers. Each of the workers was charged with criminal
use of personal identification information. The arrests could be a problem
for county officials. The Bay County Commission unanimously passed a
resolution in March that would allow commissioners to break contracts with
companies that hired illegal workers. The resolution provided the option of
banning those companies from seeking county contracts for at least a year.
County spokeswoman Valerie Lovett said Tuesday evening that the suspected
illegals were working on a project overseen by CCA, the company that runs the
county jail. “At this point, we don’t have the details,” Lovett said. “We
will be having a conversation with CCA to find out what happened.”
June
21, 2007 News Herald
Bay County Jail officials still are trying to figure out how a murder
suspect escaped from his cell Monday night. Hermon Harmon, who faces the
death penalty if convicted of murder in the February shooting death of Jeff
Gillman, picked the lock on the door of his maximum security cell at the Bay
County Jail Annex on Nehi Road, using shaved plastic eating utensils,
according to an arrest affidavit. Plastic utensils were found in Harmon’s
cell, but Warden Joe Ponte said that is normal. “We give them (inmates)
plastic utensils with every meal,” he said. Ponte said jail maintenance
workers took the lock apart Tuesday and said it was working fine. Ponte asked
the lock’s manufacture, Brinks Lock Company, to send someone to examine the
lock. “We want to make sure we didn’t miss anything,” he said, “and to make
sure the locks are working properly.” An internal investigation is ongoing,
and Ponte said it should be completed early next week. After Harmon was
captured Monday night, officials checked the other locks in the segregation
pod at the annex. Only one lock was found to be defective, and it has been
fixed, Ponte said. Ponte began his term as warden in January, and he said
that prior to his arrival, the locks had a tendency to be broken easily. If
the inmates slammed the door shut when the bolt was extended, it would damage
the internal lock mechanism, Ponte said. Inmates also could stuff anything in
their cell into the locks and that could short out the electronics, allowing
the cell door to open.
June
20, 2007 News Herald
A man charged with murder broke out of his maximum-security cell Monday
night, using plastic eating utensils to pick the lock, according to an arrest
affidavit. Herman Harmon, 45, escaped about 9 p.m. from cell number 8 in a
maximum-security pod at the Bay County Jail Annex on Nehi Road, said Warden
Joe Ponte. It’s not clear how Harmon, who is charged with first-degree murder
in the Feb. 26 shooting death of Jeff Gillman, picked the lock on his cell.
He faces additional charges after officers eventually apprehended him. Ponte
said the cell’s lock was working properly and an internal investigation is
under way. Ponte said he isn’t sure how Harmon got out of his cell and didn’t
want to speculate until the investigation is completed. Once out of his cell,
Harmon entered the common area of the jail, then left the pod through a
sliding metal door, which might have been open, Ponte said. The warden said
he’s also heard a few versions from inmates and corrections officers on how
Harmon got out of the pod. The pod doors have a defect that allows them to be
opened if someone forcibly pushes it, but it makes a lot of noise. The warden
said that all the pod doors are due to be replaced. Outside of the pod,
Harmon accessed a small, open post, where he grabbed correctional officer
Beverly Brennen by the neck and demanded her portable radio, the affidavit
stated. Brennen and Harmon wrestled briefly and Brennen was able to call for
help, Ponte said. Harmon eventually got the radio and tried to have the
control section open the door leading to the exercise yard, but it was too
late. A responding officer captured Harmon in the hallway just outside of his
pod, Ponte said. Harmon has been charged with battery on a correctional
officer, attempted escape, depriving an officer with means of communication
and possession of contraband in a detention facility, according to court
records. Judge Thomas F. Welch ordered Harmon held on an $85,000 bond.
Officers found a garrote, which was made out of string, Ponte said. But Ponte
doubted the garrote was intended to hurt someone. “It was found in his cell,”
he said. “So if he wanted to do harm, he would have taken it with him.”
June
19, 2007 WMBB TV
In a closed executive session Tuesday, Emerald Correctional Management
asked for $13m. Emerald says the county violated its own bidding process by
awarding the new county jail contract to Corrections Corporation of America.
Shortly after the February bid award, Emerald filed suit but the case was
dismissed. Emerald appealed the decision and won the right for the case to be
reviewed again. Bay County Commission Chairman Mike Nelson said earlier the
Commission would likely not approve the settlement. Emerald has threatened to
sue if they aren't granted the $13m.
June
15, 2007 WMBB TV
Next Tuesday the Bay County Commission will hold an Executive Session to consider
a lawsuit settlement. Emerald Correctional Management, Inc. filed suit
against the County after they say the County unfairly awarded a contract for
the new jail to Corrections Corporation of America. Emerald Correctional says
CCA was allowed to adjust their bid after it had already been submitted. Now
Emerald Correctional is making an offer to settle for more than $13 million
in damages.
June
6, 2007 News Herald
Unsuccessful jail expansion bidder Emerald Correctional Management Inc. has offered
to settle its lawsuit against Bay County for $13.2 million. The County
Commission will meet in executive session June 19 to consider the offer.
County officials hinted Tuesday they were not inclined to pay any money to
the company, which alleges that the county violated state law and the terms
of its own request for proposals when it awarded a jail expansion and
operations contract to Corrections Corporation of America in February last
year. “Why should we pay them anything when we followed the law?”
Commissioner Bill Dozier said. Steve Afeman, executive vice president of the
Shreveport, La.-based Emerald Correctional Management, said Tuesday $12.7
million is being sought in damages — money the company would have realized
had it been awarded the six-year contract. The remaining amount pertains to
time and money invested in preparing for the project, including legal fees.
The County Commission opened bidding for a new jail contract in June 2005,
which called for expanding the jail annex on Nehi Road, tearing down the
downtown Bay County Jail and constructing new holding cells connected to the
Bay County Courthouse. Only Emerald and Tennessee-based CCA responded, with
Emerald bidding at $31.8 million and CCA at $38.8 million. Both companies
were asked to clarify parts of their proposals, and the county determined
that Emerald’s price would be $35.4 million and CCA’s would be $36.4 million.
CCA had been operating Bay County’s jails for more than 20 years, and that
longevity coupled with a satisfactory performance weighed on commissioners’
decision to go with CCA. Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hess in May last year
threw out all six of Emerald’s complaints against the county. Last month, the
First District Court of Appeal ruled that Hess improperly dismissed two of
six complaints and directed him to reconsider them.
May
7, 2007 WMBB TV
An appeals court opinion could lead to a challenge for the Bay County
Commission. Back in June 2005, Bay County Commissioners opened bidding for a
contract to expand the Bay County Jail. Two companies entered bids. They were
Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, and Emerald Correction
Management, with Emerald entering the lower bid. Both companies were asked to
clarify certain points of their proposals, resulting in a reduction of cost
for CCA. The Commission then entered into contract negotiations with CCA in
December 2005. Emerald filed a letter in January 2006, formally protesting
the negotiations. The County Manager denied the protest, based on a
recommendation from the county purchasing agent. In February 2006, Emerald
filed a six count complaint. All six counts were dismissed. The opinion from
the District Court of Appeals, First District, agrees with four of the
dismissals, but raises objections to two. One count challenges the county's
decision to all CCA to estimate construction cost that may later inflate. The
other count relates to the county allowing CCA to make certain changes to
portion of their proposal. The opinion now leaves an opening for Emerald to
motion for a rehearing on those counts.
February
6, 2007 NEWS 13
At Tuesday's Bay County Commission meeting, commissioners voiced their
concerns with CCA. Commissioners say CCA did not consult them before hiring a
new warden. They say CCA's contract requires them to let the commission have
more of a say in decision process. "You expect a little better
communication and a little better adherence to the contract then what we're
getting out of CCA," says Commissioner George Gainer. The commissioners
also made it clear that they have no problems with the actual warden. Joe
Ponte comes to Bay County from Massachusetts. His resume boasts over 30 years
of experience managing jails. Ponte says he's happy to be working in Bay
County. "We've got one real old facility which we're in today and then
the annex which is not too old... but we're going to open a brand new
facility. So it really gives us a lot of things to look forward to in this
county," says Ponte. And Ponte hopes to bring better communication to
the table. "I think we could have done a better job and I think everyone
realizes that. I think we need to respect the county's wishes. We're looking
forward to working with the county to reassure them that there isn't a second
time," says Ponte. Commissioners plan to write a letter to CCA telling
the company exactly what they expect in the future. "I was very
impressed with him but I am underwhelmed with CCA and their total disregard
to their contractual obligations to Bay County," says Gainer.
January
17, 2007 News Herald
The final defendant in a 2004 jail standoff was cleared Tuesday for
trial. Kevin Winslett appeared before Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet for a
hearing to determine if Winslett is mentally competent for trial. Winslett
had been at a state mental hospital since December 2005, but doctors cleared
him a month ago to return to Bay County. Tuesday’s hearing, which is required
by law, was little more than a formality because Winslett’s lawyer, Assistant
Public Defender Doug White, acknowledged he had no evidence to dispute the
recent findings. Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Winslett,
Kevin Nix, James Norton and Matthew Coffin took over the fourth floor of the
Bay County Jail on Sept. 5 and 6, 2004, and held jail nurses hostage. The
standoff ended when deputies stormed the floor and shot one of the men and a
nurse.
January
5, 2007 News-Herald
The state Supreme Court is weighing whether the property a prison sits on in
Bay County is exempt from taxation. Bay County Property Appraiser Rick
Barnett said the court heard the case Thursday. In 2006, the First District
Court of Appeal ruled the land could not be taxed, upholding a decision by
Circuit Court Judge DeDee Costello. She ruled the prison property is leased
through a state department, making it ineligible for property tax. Because
the issue is one being debated across the state, the appeals court moved the
question to the state’s highest court. Corrections Corporation of America,
the company that runs the county jail, owes about $2.2 million in back taxes,
Barnett said.
November
21, 2006 News-Herald
A former jail nurse shot during a hostage situation in 2004 sued
Corrections Corporation of America, Bay County and the Bay County Sheriff’s
Office on Monday. Ann Marie “Amie” Hunt filed suit for loss of earnings, pain
and suffering and medical expenses incurred after Sheriff’s Office deputies
shot her three times Sept. 6, 2004, when firing at four inmates who had taken
control of the Bay County Jail’s fourth floor. The bullets entered her hip,
back and left leg, damaging bones and vital organs. According to the lawsuit,
she has been in physical rehabilitation since the shooting. “On or about
September 6, 2004, several inmates took advantage of known flaws in the
security of the Bay County Jail and upon seizing the opportunity of those
security flaws, the inmates took control over the jail and intentionally took
control over the plaintiff Amie Hunt,” attorney H. Lawrence Perry wrote in
the complaint. Perry said Corrections Corporation of America, the jail’s Tennessee-based
corporate owner, Sheriff’s Office and county, failed to maintain the
electrical door locking system. The takeover began when one of the inmates
got out of a cell that did not lock properly and freed the others, according
to witness testimony at a criminal trial in this case. Three of the four men
involved in the takeover, Kevin Nix, James Norton and Matthew Coffin were
convicted of false imprisonment. The fourth, alleged ringleader Kevin
Winslett, has not been tried because of mental problems that have kept him in
the state mental hospital. Nix, Norton and Coffin were acquitted of more
serious charges in the incident, but still sentenced to 15 years in prison
for their roles. Perry wrote in the lawsuit that the county, corporation and
Sheriff’s Office were served with notices of intent to sue in January, but
had not responded. He was unavailable for comment at his office Monday
afternoon. Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ruth Sasser said Sheriff Frank
McKeithen had not received the lawsuit and could not comment. Hunt testified
on Sept. 8, 2005, in the trial of Norton, Nix and Coffin. “At the very
beginning,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “they were a little
nutty. They just wanted to find a way out. They were as polite as they could
be for the situation we were in.” Then, she said, the inmates broke into the
drug storage lockers and began ingesting narcotics. “They started getting
high and that lasted for several hours,” Hunt said. “Then they started coming
down.” She said the situation was made worse by another dorm of inmates that,
while secured, were still breaking windows and going crazy after getting into
a medication cart. Hunt said Nix told her that those inmates wanted her and
the two other female nurses, but he would protect them. As the night
progressed, she said, Nix became agitated with nurse Glenda Baker’s praying.
Another nurse, Kathy Baucum, said Baker was constantly praying and also
“speaking in tongues.” When it came time to offer a hostage in return for
pizza and cigarettes, Nix insisted Baker go because she was “freaking him
out,” Hunt said. Then Baucum developed a migraine headache and she was soon
exchanged for more pizza and cigarettes. Another hostage, James Hall, had
been the first to be released. That left Hunt alone with the inmates. The
standoff ended, she said, when she was brought before a barred gate at the
end of a hall. Nix, she said, was standing behind her with a scalpel to her
throat. “I don’t know who shot me,” she said. “He was just a figure, a person
standing there, then boom. I looked down and I got shot. Then boom and I got
shot again.” One bullet shattered her knee, an injury that incapacitated her
for months. But Hunt was able to walk into court and take the witness stand
with the help of a cane.
October
20, 2006 News Herald
The Florida Commission on Ethics has agreed to issue a final order clearing
two former and one current Bay County employee of ethics complaints
concerning a February 2000 out-of-state trip that was paid for by a private
company. A separate ethics complaint against Bob Majka, who is the assistant
county manager but was chief of emergency services in 2000, alleged that he
violated gift laws by accepting payment from someone for a round of golf
during the 2000 trip. Majka has agreed to pay a $1,500 fine for accepting
payment for the golf game by Gary Akers, a financial consultant who assists
the county with bond issues, said attorney Albert Gimbel, who represented
Majka in the case. “Majka had agreed to the fine a long time ago, we were just
waiting for the main case to be decided,” Gimbel said. Florida law prohibits
public officials from accepting any gift with a value of more than $100 from
a “lobbyist.” Gimbel said the golf game was more than $100. Majka, former
County Attorney Nevin Zimmerman and former County Manager Jon Mantay were
part of a Bay County contingent who flew to Tennessee to view a Corrections
Corporation of America jail and a publicly run facility in Arizona. CCA,
based in Tennessee, paid for the officials’ airfare and lodging. The county
was negotiating a new contract with CCA at the time of the trip. That
parallel drew the ire of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which
initiated the ethics complaints in July 2003 and referred the case to the
Florida Ethics Commission. Zimmerman said during a June 15 hearing with
administrative law Judge Harry Hooper that it was reasonable and beneficial
to taxpayers for a third party, such as CCA, to pay for “fact-finding” trips
that county officials take. Hooper said in his recommended order to the
Ethics Commission in August that the gifts were not directed to the three
men, but rather to the county, so they were not required to report the gifts.
Gimbel said the Ethics Commission agreed with that assessment.
August
18, 2006 News Herald
An administrative law judge has recommended clearing a former county
attorney, former county manager and current assistant county manager of
alleged ethics violations. Judge Harry Hooper heard arguments in the case in
June against Assistant County Manager Bob Majka, former County Attorney Nevin
Zimmerman and former County Manager Jon Mantay. The central question was
whether the men violated ethics laws regarding gifts after they took a
February 2000 trip to view a Corrections Corporation of America jail in
Tennessee and a publicly run facility in Arizona. Other county officials were
present. CCA, based in Tennessee, paid for the airfare and lodging of the
three men and two former county commissioners. Zimmerman said during the June
15 hearing that it was reasonable and beneficial to taxpayers for a third
party, such as CCA, to pay for “fact-finding” trips that county officials
take. CCA has operated Bay County’s jails for 20 years, and the county was
negotiating a new contract with the company at the time of the trip. That
parallel drew the ire of the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which
initiated the ethics complaints in July 2003 and referred the case to the
Florida Ethics Commission. The commission in September 2004 found probable
cause that Mantay, Zimmerman and Majka may have violated gift laws. In his
recommended order, though, Hooper ruled the gifts were not directed to the
three men but to the county, so they were not required to report the gifts.
The attorneys for either party can file “exceptions” to the recommendation
within 15 days, and the Ethics Commission will review those submissions along
with Hooper’s finding before entering a final order. Ethics Commission
attorney Linzie Bogan said Thursday that he likely would file a response for
the commission to consider. “How I’ll respond will depend on how the judge
laid out his order,” he said, explaining that he just received the order and
had not looked over all of it yet. “I would hope the commission would be open
to persuasion on this issue,” he said. “I still feel there are violations.”
July
20, 2006 News Herald
At least two residents who live near the Bay County Jail Annex on Nehi
Road object to a proposed zoning and land-use change for adjacent property to
allow jail expansion. Shelley and David Hickman, of Nehi Road, stated in a
letter to county officials that they believe approving a zoning change from
agriculture-timberland to public institutional for 14.2 acres will create a
wave of construction of other “institutional” facilities in the area. The
Planning Commission will vote on the items today at its regular meeting, and
the County Commission, which has final say, will consider that recommendation
when it takes up the issue in a couple of weeks. “As I see it, it would mean
that there would have to be lawyer offices to aid inmates, and also do not
forget about the need for bail bond facilities and halfway houses and
shelters and other types of businesses that ‘feed off’ the ‘institution,’”
the Hickmans wrote. In an interview, Shelley Hickman also said she thinks it
is a moot point to consider the zoning and land-use changes now when the
county already has awarded a contract to Corrections Corporation of America
for construction at the annex. CCA officials have said they hope to break
ground by December. Martin Jacobson, planning and zoning division manager,
said the CCA-led construction and zoning and land-use changes are
“independent of each other.” County staff is rec- ommending the switch to
public institutional for the 14.2 acres, he said, with the condition that use
of the property is limited to jail operations. The Florida Department of
Community Affairs has to review the proposed land-use change, as it does with
any property greater than 10 acres.
June
20, 2006 News Herald
On an average day, the Bay County Jail in downtown Panama City is 100 to 150
inmates above capacity. The 30-year-old facility’s design provides additional
daily headaches for jail staff, inmates and defense attorneys. “There’s a lot
of wasted space and there’s not enough space,” explained Assistant Warden
Richard Thore. There are not enough holding cells, so interview rooms have
been converted for backup use. Interviews are conducted wherever there is
room. There is one small room for booking and taking fingerprints, which
slows the inmate admitting process. And from the jail’s central command post,
guards cannot see all of the 12-cell pods. They must be viewed individually,
which necessitates several jail guards instead of one. “Everything that
should be easy becomes difficult and time-consuming,” including preparing
meals in a kitchen not large enough or designed to accommodate 400 inmates,
Thore said. The kitchen is situated on the second floor of the six-floor
building, so employees have to take extra time to pick up food on a loading
dock and transfer it to the second floor. New facility. Overcrowding has
persisted at both jails for at least the past 10 years, according to county
inmate counts. There are 410 beds at the jail annex on Nehi Road, but there
are about 500 inmates there. Both jails — operated for the past 20 years by
Corrections Corporation of America — now keep inmates of all security
classifications, said Jennifer Taylor, CCA’s senior director of business
development. In January, Panama City Beach attorney Jeremy Early documented
problems he saw at the jail for his boss, Public Defender Herman Laramore.
Assistant Public Defender Susan Rogers said she forwarded Early’s memo to
county officials. One issue Early identified was lack of space for female
inmates, who are held long-term only at the annex on Nehi Road. In a memo on
Jan. 25, Early stated that he saw at least 20 women in a holding cell at the
main jail who had either pleaded out at first appearance or had been released
on their own recognizance a day or two prior. Early said Judge Elijah Smiley
told him to record their names. “As I started taking their names, a CCA guard
came in and removed some of the women before I could get all their names … I
personally heard one of the CCA guards tell (am inmate) she was being held
because CCA had lost her paperwork.”
June
19, 2006 News Herald
About half of the Bay County jail system’s correctional officers left in 2004
and 28 percent quit last year, making effective and safe operations tough to
achieve, county officials say. High turnover has been a primary concern of
Commissioner Jerry Girvin, a retired captain with the Bay County Sheriff’s
Office, which ran the jail until the county awarded the original Corrections
Corporation of America contract in 1985. Girvin said the constant hiring of
new guards unfamiliar with Bay County’s jails jeopardizes security. “An
experienced correctional officer can sense the need and circumvent a
situation from occurring or minimize the effect,” he said. Jason Bradley Sims,
a 30-year-old who recently was detained at the main jail on Harmon Avenue for
violating his probation for a battery charge, said fighting among inmates is
frequent, partly because there aren’t enough guards. “I’ve been in at least a
dozen fights in the last two years,” said Sims, who has spent the majority of
his life locked up in Bay County jails and in correctional institutions
elsewhere in the state. Assistant Warden Richard Thore said understaffing is
not leading to more inmates beating one another. “They’re going to fight
whether guards are there or not,” he said. For an attorney representing an
inmate at first appearance, new correctional guards are sometimes a source of
frustration for mistakes made or delays in bringing inmates to the hearings. Occasionally,
Deputy Public Defender Walter Smith said, guards show up with the wrong
inmate because of similarities in names. Frequent turnover of jail guards, he
said, contributes to complications in the first appearance process. “They
always have new people coming in,” he said of CCA. New jail guards and the
company they work for are not solely responsible for difficulties during a
first appearance, he added. “It’s not all CCA’s fault. It’s the warrants
division; it’s correctional guards calling in sick. …” Turnover problems
locally also rise to the top. The past two wardens of the Bay County Jail
have stayed on the job only six and eight months, respectively. Kevin Watson
took the post in December 2004, relieving Denny Durbin, who was warden for 19
years. Watson requested a transfer in August 2005, citing personal reasons.
Mark Henry came in as the replacement, but he departed in March, also citing
personal reasons. Durbin is back as the interim warden until a new warden is
found. Former wardens could not be reached for comment, but Jennifer Taylor,
senior director of business development for CCA, said Watson is still with
the company in Indianapolis. Her explanation for Henry’s departure was that
the job “was a lot more demanding than he thought going into it.” Some of the
reasons for the difficulty in drawing people into corrections work also
account for the frequent departures. Starting salary currently for guards at
Bay County’s jails is $27,296, and some of them decide several months or a
year into the job that they can’t continue to support themselves or their
families with that pay, Thore said. Quitting after a few months or a year on
the job, Durbin said, is not always a symptom of dissatisfaction with the
employer; it may have more to do with the general evolution of their careers.
“Corrections officers are very mobile and want to try new things,” he said,
noting that many former Bay County guards have ventured to Washington
Correctional Institute in Washington County and other state-operated prisons.
Thore said he believes that the appeal of working for state prisons, which
pay more and are continually being built as Florida’s inmate population
grows, is the main culprit of local turnover. “The state has given (jail
guards) at least two raises in the last year-and-a-half, and that makes it
extra difficult for us to compete,” he said. There are young people looking
for their first job who pick a jail guard position for lack of decisiveness,
Thore said. “The reality of the job hits when we’re booking 16,000 inmates a
year. Sometimes, that creates a little turnover.” Of the 48 correctional
guards in 2005 whose employment at Bay County’s jails was severed, 21 were
voluntary and involved no misconduct. But jail guards testing positive for
drug use, having unprofessional relationships with inmates and smuggling
contraband into the jail also were to blame for high turnover. The guards
committing these and other offenses — which totaled nine — were fired in 2005
for violating state moral character standards or violating CCA and county
policies, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Ken
Kopczynski, a legislative affairs assistant for of the Florida Police
Benevolent Association and vocal CCA opponent, called Bay County’s turnover
outrageous. “How can you properly run a facility when half of the people
don’t have any experience” at that facility? said Kopczynksi, who is also
executive director of Private Corrections Institute Inc., an organization
that opposes privately run correctional facilities. While the turnover rate
at Bay County’s jails is high, it is tame compared to the departures at some
other CCA facilities in Florida. Hernando County jails, for instance, had a
turnover rate of 82 percent in 2003, 75 percent in 2004 and 69 percent in 2005.
Other CCA-run facilities in Florida had the following turnover rates in 2005:
Gadsden Correctional Institution, 48 percent; Lake City Correctional Facility
in Columbia County, 57 percent; and Citrus County Detention Facility, 28
percent. Turnover at Bay Correctional Institute, the CCA-operated state
prison on Bayline Drive off U.S. 231, was 19 percent. In 2004, turnover was
36.7 percent. Taylor said the company’s jail staff is “down some everywhere”
at its 63 U.S. facilities, but it is not at a critical point. “If it was at a
critical point, we’d pull people in from other facilities. “It’s hard to find
people to work in a jail,” she added. “We have to do extra things to attract
employees and keep them there.” The company recently started posting help wanted
messages on billboards in various locations, including Bay County, Taylor
said. One on Tyndall Parkway aimed at military men and women reads: “From
Camouflage to Corrections.” “We’ve found that people coming out of the
military make very good correctional officers,” she said. Targeting military
personnel is not a new focus of CCA’s, but there has been a stronger emphasis
on attaining that demographic in the past year, she added. CCA also has been
filling some vacancies in Bay County with part-time correctional officers,
said CCA spokesman Steve Owen. Until it gets closer to full staff, the
company is operating with mandatory overtime for all correctional guards,
Thore said. Thore said 10 to 15 more guards are needed to be at normal
levels. Currently, about 30 non-certified officers and 147 certified officers
man the two county jails. While jail guard pay is mid-range compared to what
guards at other Florida CCA facilities make, it’s far from the six digit
incomes corporate bigwigs bring home. The highest-paid executive for CCA,
John Ferguson, has a 2006 salary of $700,000 plus a $677,727 bonus, according
to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But Owen defended the
salaries for jail guards as competitive, especially since about two months ago
the company started paying people attending the three month certification
school the salary of uncertified officers. Certified jail-guard pay at the
Bay County jail and annex has risen almost $2,000 in the past two years, up
from $25,475 in 2004. Jackson County Correctional Facility, which is
county-operated, has not approved a higher pay grade for its new certified
guards since 2004; the salary stands at $23,947. The $20,500 salary at
Gadsden County Jail hasn’t changed since 2003. The sheriff’s office there
runs the facility. Escambia County currently offers certified correctional
guards $30,400 at its two detention facilities, and Franklin County Jail
jumped its pay by $3,000 over last year and is now $27,500. The sheriff’s
offices in all three counties run the jails. CCA-run Hernando County Jail
upped its pay for certified guards this year from $28,000 to $32,000.
June
16, 2006 News Herald
Former Bay County Manager Jon Mantay joined a former county attorney and the
current assistant county manager Thursday in defending themselves against an
ethics complaint before an administrative law judge in Panama City. Two
attorneys representing Mantay, former County Attorney Nevin Zimmerman and
Assistant County Attorney Bob Majka sparred with an attorney for the Florida
Commission on Ethics over the legality of a February 2000 trip the three men
took to view a Corrections Corporation of America jail facility in Tennessee
and a publicly run facility in Arizona. CCA, based in Tennessee, paid for the
airfare and lodging of the three men and two former county commissioners. CCA
has operated Bay County’s jails for 20 years, and the county was negotiating
a new contract with the company during the time of the trip. The Florida
Police Benevolent Association initiated the ethics complaints in July 2003,
and the ethics commission in September 2004 found probable cause that Mantay,
Zimmerman and Majka may have violated gift laws. Much of the attention during
Thursday’s hearing before Judge Harry Hooper focused on Zimmerman and his
declaration to county officials that the trip and payment arrangements were
legal. Zimmerman said it was reasonable and beneficial to taxpayers for a
third party, such as CCA, to pay for “fact-finding” trips that county
officials take. “That (logic) is reflected in our ordinances and regulations
— to have developers pay for permitting based on the time it takes county
staff to process the permits,” he said. The Bay County officials that went to
Tennessee and Arizona, he said, needed to see in person how other facilities
were handling overcrowding and recidivism, which are problems here. There is
local precedent for allowing a company to pay for such trips, Zimmerman said.
In 1997, several county officials traveled to Vancouver, Canada, and Long
Island, N.Y., to view facilities now run by Montenay Bay LLC. Westinghouse
Corp., which wanted another company to run the Bay County waste-to energy
incinerator, paid for that trip. Ethics commission attorney Linzie Bogan
challenged Zimmerman’s interpretation of Florida statutes on gift laws, and
he tried to discredit Zimmerman for not reviewing ethics cases between 1997
and 2000 related to acceptance of gifts. “It’s not a gift if it’s an expense
related to your employment,” Zimmerman said. Bogan insisted the definition of
gift was clear, but Hooper said the entire statute governing acceptance of
gifts (112.312) is not clear to him. “First you have to determine if it was
to their benefit. … Do people benefit from looking at a bunch of prisoners?”
Hooper said. Majka said during his testimony that he was unaware CCA paid for
his airfare for the trip until records were being collected at county offices
three years later in connection to the ethics complaint. But he said he
learned the company paid for his lodging while at the hotel. In 2000, Majka
was the emergency services chief and shared responsibility with other
officials in jail oversight. Hooper said not knowing CCA paid for the trip
does not produce a “complete defense” for Majka. The ethics commission,
however, dropped the allegations against former County Commissioners Carol
Atkinson and Danny Sparks because they had no knowledge CCA covered the
expenses. Sparks and former County Commissioner Richard Stewart have admitted
and paid fines for violating gift laws by accepting a round of golf paid by
county financial adviser Gary Askers. Majka faces the same allegation, but
his attorney, Albert Gimbel, said Thursday that he didn’t know how Majka
would plead to that issue. Majka declined to comment. After Hooper has had
sufficient time to review the facts of the case, he will issue a recommended
finding for the ethics commission to consider. Tallahassee attorney Gary
Early, representing the Bay County officials, said it would be at least two
months for Hooper has a recommendation.
May
23, 2006 News-Herald
Bay Medical Center is seeking payment for the treatment of four patients
who were either furloughed from the Bay County Jail or booked after their
stay. County and Bay Medical will meet at the hospital Wednesday to discuss
the cases that date back as far as 2000. The meeting was scheduled after a
circuit judge — at the county’s request — ordered that the hospital and the
county attempt to resolve the conflict over payments out of court. Bay
Medical filed several lawsuits seeking payment from the county in 2003. The
lawsuits later were consolidated. Hospital CEO Steve Johnson requested
Wednesday’s meeting in a letter May 2 to County Manager Edwin Smith. When
prisoners have no means of paying for hospital treatment, Florida law places
responsibility on the county where the patient was arrested. “We believe that
the county cannot avoid its responsibility by obtaining temporary medical
furloughs or by dropping arrestees off at the hospital before booking them
into jail,” Johnson wrote in his letter to Smith. County correctional program
manager Roger Hagen said the county pays about $350,000 in medical bills for
inmates each year. Payment issues between hospitals and local governments are
common, he said. “The judge is issuing an order. It’s legal. There’s no
question about it,” Hagen said. “We’re trying to minimize the exposure to the
county, but just to have them all the sudden not be under the jurisdiction of
the county, now is that playing by the rules? It is playing by the legal
rules, but it does create an exposure for Bay Medical.” When very sick
individuals are jailed for minor crimes, Hagen said he has encouraged CCA
employees to ask judges to consider their release. However, Hagen said he was
unaware until Johnson raised the issue that prisoners were being released
with a requirement that they return to the jail after treatment. The jail is
run under contract by Corrections Corporation of America, but the county pays
for patient treatment outside of the jail. However, a new contract starting
in October puts the first $10,000 in medical bills per inmate on CCA’s tab.
“When the new contract goes into effect, CCA is going to have the exposure up
to $10,000,” Hagen said. “I’m sure they’re going to be highly motivated to
encourage the judge to reduce those costs. Whether the judge goes along with
it, I don’t know.”
May
2, 2006 WJHG
A lawsuit challenging the awarding of a contract to build and operate a new
Bay County Jail has been dismissed. Circuit Judge Glen Hess tossed out the
suit filed by Emerald Corrections against the Bay County Commission and
Corrections Corporation of America. The dismissal Monday clears the way for
the county and CCA to continue planning to build a new county jail adjacent
to the jail annex in Bayou George. Emerald had challenged the awarding of the
contract for the project to CCA saying it wasn't the lowest and best bidder.
It’s the second time Judge Hess dismissed the Emerald Corrections lawsuit.
April
26, 2006 News Herald
Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hess heard arguments Monday in Bay County’s
motion to dismiss a correctional company’s lawsuit accusing the county of
wrongdoing in awarding a contract to Corrections Corporation of America for
jail construction and operation. Hess did not immediately rule on the motion
and offered no comments during the hourlong hearing. He said he might make a
decision this week. County attorney William C. Henry and counsel for CCA used
their time to try to discredit Emerald Correctional Management LLC’s
six-count complaint. Their dominant argument was that the county acted within
its “legislative, discretionary role” in reviewing and ranking both
companies’ responses to the county’s request for proposals, or RFPs, to build
a new jail. Emerald has alleged that Bay County violated Florida procurement
laws, Sunshine Laws and the RFP terms. On Monday, Henry said Emerald failed
to provide certain facts and meet specific criteria in order to make a
request for injunctive relief to prevent CCA from receiving the contract.
Addressing Emerald’s allegation that the county violated Sunshine laws, Henry
said the plaintiff was not a citizen of Florida and therefore lacked standing
to make that claim. Emerald’s attorney, Obed Dorceus of Tallahassee, told
Hess that “courts must liberally construe” Florida law to determine whether
Emerald has standing to claim there were Sunshine law violations as an
individual rather than on behalf of the public’s interest. The county wants a
150,000-square-foot addition to the existing jail annex on Nehi Road,
creating 680 new beds in addition to the existing 410. The RFP also called
for the downtown Bay County Jail to be demolished and for construction of new
holding cells connected to the Bay County Courthouse. Emerald, based in
Shreveport, La., proposed a price of $31.8 million to complete the project,
while CCA’s price was $38.8 million. After the bids were unsealed, the county
clarified the figures to take into account differences in each firm’s
proposals. In the end, the county determined that Emerald’s price is $35.4
million and CCA’s is $36.4 million. Dorceus has claimed that the county
simply amended the figures to suit Tennessee-based CCA, which holds a
contract to operate the county’s jails through October. But Henry defended
the county’s handling of the jail RFP, saying that local ordinance “gives a
great deal of discretion to deal with the procurement process.” CCA attorney
Cliff Higby’s main point to Hess during the hearing was that as long as
“reasonable people could disagree” on whether CCA or Emerald had the best
proposal, the courts should not intervene. In February, Hess denied Emerald’s
request for an emergency injunction to prevent the county from signing a
contract with CCA. Neither the contract for construction nor operations and
maintenance have been signed, however.
April
8, 2006 News-Herald
Bay Medical Center’s CEO wants the county and local municipalities to
take on greater responsibility for criminals and police suspects who are
treated at the hospital. Steve Johnson has requested a meeting with Bay
County Sheriff Frank McKeithen and Panama City Police Chief John Van Etten to
discuss the matter. In a letter addressed to McKeithen and Van Etten on March
27, Johnson complains that the law enforcement agencies are waiting until
injured or sick suspects are discharged from the hospital to arrest them,
leaving the hospital responsible for charges when patients have no health
coverage. Also, Johnson writes, prisoners are being released from the Bay
County Jail for hospital treatment and picked up by authorities after
discharge. “I really don’t see how Bay Medical can continue to fund this
practice,” Johnson said in the letter, which also was sent to the Bay County
and Panama City commissions, Panama City Mayor Lauren DeGeorge and the
hospital’s board of trustees. Johnson said he plans to schedule the meeting
next week. In the event of injury or illness at the time of or during an
arrest, Florida laws puts responsibility for medical payment first with the
patient, then with the county or municipality where the person was arrested
in the event that the individual does not have medical coverage. Roger Hagen,
the county’s correctional program manager, said Johnson’s concerns are not
unique to Bay County. “It’s an ongoing dilemma — who’s going to pay for this
kind of care,” Hagen said. The same issues Johnson is complaining of are
among the reasons that Gulf Coast Medical Center, the county’s private
hospital, raised rates for prisoners about a year ago, said Wes Fountain,
Gulf Coast’s chief financial officer. “They, being the county or the
Sheriff’s Office, don’t take ownership of these patients at certain points,”
Fountain said. “Some patients, they would have financial responsibility for.”
“And a lot of patients, they would not have responsibility for and it was
unclear to us a lot of time which ones were it. That was the problem — just
kind of understanding it.” An agreement was signed June 21 making non-profit
Bay Medical Center, the larger or the county’s two hospitals, the primary
provider for county prisoners. Gulf Coast served the same role before the
hospital raised charges. Knowing what had happened with Gulf Coast, Hagen
said of Bay Medical, “They knew the risk of what they were walking into.”
Under the agreement with Bay Medical, hospitalized inmates are treated at a
discounted daily rate of $1,248 with special rates for some services like
cardiac care, Hagen said. Addressing the complaint that prisoners are being
released from custody and dumped on the hospital, Hagen said he did not know of
any instances in which prisoners were released for hospital care and taken
back into custody for the same charges after their hospital discharge.
However, in some cases, Hagen said prisoners who need hospital care are
evaluated to determine whether they really need to be in jail. For example,
Hagen said, if a prisoner were taken to the hospital with chest pains, the
case might be reviewed and if that individual were in jail for a light
offense, such as being intoxicated in a right of way, jailers might request
that a judge release the individual from custody. “It’s got to be a minor
situation before a judge would go ahead and do something like that,” Hagen
said. Bay County is finalizing a new contract with jail operator Corrections
Corporation of America, and Hagen suggested some of the issues between the
county and the hospital might be resolved when that contract goes into effect
in October. The county has been picking up all medical costs outside the
jail, but the new contract requires that CCA pay the first $10,000 in charges
per inmate. Johnson said there have been informal talks about the hospital’s
concerns, but he decided those talks were getting nowhere after reading
comments made by local law enforcement representatives in a March 21 News
Herald article. The article was about a local man who was shot by police
during a drug investigation. He faced charges from the Sheriff’s Office and
the Panama City Police Department and was arrested upon release from the
hospital. Explaining why the man was not arrested before his release, Panama
City Police Sgt. Kevin Miller told The News Herald, “If we were to arrest
him, he would be in our custody, therefore our responsibility.” Sheriff’s
Office spokeswoman Ruth Sasser said, “We don’t usually arrest people while they’re
in the hospital and when the appropriate time came we arrested him.” Johnson
described the comments as a blatant description of the practices he is
concerned with. McKeithen declined comment on the issue Friday. “I’m sure all
of these issues will be addressed at the meeting,” Sasser said. Van Etten was
unavailable for comment.
March
22, 2006 News Herald
It's time again to put the "Help Wanted" sign out in front of
the Bay County Jail after the facility experienced another sudden departure
of its warden. Mark Henry resigned as jail warden Tuesday, said Steve Owen, a
spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that
operates the jail for Bay County. Owen said the resignation was effective
immediately and that former Warden Denny Durbin will serve as the interim
warden until a replacement is found. Owen said Henry did not provide a
written resignation but told CCA officials he was leaving the company for
"personal reasons." The former Jackson County Jail warden's departure
comes six months after he took over the jail in wake of the transfer of
then-Warden Kevin Watson. In August, Watson was granted a request for a
transfer. He also cited "personal reasons" as the basis for his
request. Watson's request came the same day CCA confirmed the termination of
then-Assistant Warden John Rochefort for violating CCA policies. Watson had
taken over as Bay County Jail's warden in December 2004, replacing Durbin -
who had served as the jail's warden since 1987. Owen said county officials
have been notified of Henry's abrupt resignation. Attempts to contact Henry
and Roger Hagen, the county's contract monitor, were unsuccessful Tuesday.
The Bay County Jail and CCA's contract with the county have been the subject
of increased scrutiny since Durbin's final year at the helm. In September
2004, a CCA nurse was shot by police during a hostage standoff between
officers and inmates who broke out of their cells thanks in part to mistakes
by jail staff and faulty locks. Last year at the jail, an attempted escape by
an accused cop killer was foiled after jail and police officials discovered
the suspect had saw blades smuggled into his cell. Also, CCA fired a jail
supervisor and a nurse after learning the nurse was reportedly having sex
with an inmate. In November, a nurse was fired and another nurse reprimanded
after a pregnant inmate delivered a premature baby inside the Bay County Jail
Annex four hours after the woman complained of labor pains. CCA currently
faces a civil suit from a fellow jail management company that claims it was
cheated when the county renewed its contract with CCA in February.
March
8, 2006 News Herald
An accused cop killer and a man suspected of leading a 2004 jail floor
takeover face additional charges after attacking a jail guard on Tuesday,
according to a news release. Authorities charged Robert James Bailey, 23, and
Kevin Bradley Winslett, 35, with battery on a corrections officer stemming
from separate incidents at the Bay County Jail Annex. According to the Bay
County Sheriff’s Office: On Tuesday morning, a jail maintenance worker was
placing plastic shields around Winslett’s cell to prevent him from throwing
liquids at guards. Winslett threatened to throw urine at the worker before
tossing an unknown liquid and forcing guards to remove him from his cell.
During a struggle, Winslett kicked a shield into the guard’s face — splitting
the guard’s lip. A few hours later, Bailey threw an unknown liquid at
maintenance workers who were putting shielding around his cell. The same jail
guard who was reportedly injured by Winslett went into the cell and was
confronted by Bailey, who was armed with a homemade shiv crafted out of a
toothbrush and barbed wire. Bailey cut the guard’s head before being disarmed
and restrained. Investigators are not sure how Bailey obtained the barbed
wire.
February
25, 2006 News Herald
Circuit Judge Glenn Hess cleared the way Friday for the county to sign a
contract with Corrections Corporation of America for the construction and
maintenance of a new jail. Hess denied a request from Emerald Correctional
Management for an emergency injunction to prevent the county from sealing the
deal. Emerald’s lawyer, Obed Dorceus of Tallahassee, told Hess that the
county violated state law and its own procedures in awarding CCA the jail
contract over Emerald. Dorceus said Emerald’s proposal for the jail project
was $5 million less than CCA’s. But, he said, after the proposals were
unsealed, the county asked for clarification and allowed CCA to modify its
proposal. Then, Dorceus said, the county approved the revised proposal and
agreed to a contract. “They just waited to resolve it in a manner that
benefited CCA,” he said. The County Commission voted Tuesday to sign the
six-year contract with CCA. Its attorney advised that the board did not need
to wait until a judge ruled on Emerald’s request. Emerald proposed a price of
$31.8 million to complete the project while CCA’s price was $38.8 million.
After the clarification process, the county determined that Emerald’s price
actually will be $35.4 million and CCA’s $36.4 million. Emerald also is
seeking damages and ultimately to have the county’s decision reversed.
Dorceus said he feels confident that at the end of a trial in this matter the
judge would “direct the board to award the contract to (Emerald).” The
county’s attorney, William Henry, argued that this was a request for
proposal, not a bid, and the county made it clear throughout the process that
it had the right to reject any proposal. He said CCA’s proposal was closer to
what the county wanted. The bid process has more legal restrictions than a
request for proposals. Essentially, when the county asks for a bid on a
project it knows what it wants done, how it wants it done and what materials
are to be used, then puts out a request for companies to offer their cheapest
price to do the work. By law, the county is required to accept the lowest
bid. Requests for proposals are used when the county wants a project done but
does not know how to do it. It then asks companies for a game plan as well as
cost projections. When those come in, the county then negotiates with the
companies to try to get the best price and contracts with the most favorable.
The county is not required to accept the lowest price in a request for
proposal. Hess said it was that flexibility in the request for proposal that
saved the deal with CCA. “The language of this makes it very clear that the
county didn’t have to accept or do anything but look at the paperwork and
say, ‘This is all very nice,’” he said. Dorceus said both processes require
the county to adhere to policies and give fair treatment to the companies
involved. Roger Hagen, who oversees the jail contract for the county,
testified that neither Emerald nor CCA provided an exact response to the
request for proposal, so county staff requested both companies to clarify
their plans. After seeing the proposals in better detail, Hagen said county
staff members scored the plans and CCA was viewed as the better prospect. He
said neither company was allowed to alter its proposal during the
clarification process. Hagen said the county’s proposal was four-part: design
and build an extension at the annex on Nehi Road; operate the new facility;
demolish the old downtown jail; and finance the project. Emerald, he said, proposed
a separate building next to the annex but not connected to it. That would
mean separate kitchens, laundries, staff and check-in procedures. Hagen said
that would make for a cheaper construction plan, but more expensive
operational costs in the long run. He said the county specifically asked for
an addition to the annex to keep operational costs down and CCA’s proposal
was closer to what the county envisioned. Hagen said CCA also had more
experience than Emerald in operating a jail. Hagen acknowledged that CCA had
no experience in jail operations before it was awarded its first contract
with Bay County 20 years ago. Dorceus pointed out that CCA’s proposal did not
fix a price to the final project, but left in an option to renegotiate the
price if material costs are higher due to post-Hurricane Katrina construction
projects. The jail project goes into design phase as soon as the contract is
signed. Construction is slated to begin in July. CCA’s current jail contract
would have expired in October.
February
22, 2006 News Herald
Corrections Corporation of America will continue its tenure as Bay County
jail operator, although a new contract which the County Commission approved
Tuesday allows for a quick, cost-free termination. At its regular meeting in
Panama City Hall, the board voted 4-1 to enter into a six-year contract with
the Tennessee based CCA, plus a two-year contract for constructing an
expansion to the jail annex on Nehi Road and other related projects. Bob
Majka, assistant county manager, told commissioners that construction costs
dropped from $41.5 million to $39.7 million through “value engineering,” such
as using a chain-link fence versus concrete to serve as a yard barricade.
Majka and the rest of county staff accepted mostly praise for their work,
although two commissioners said staff should have produced an estimate for
the Bay County Sheriff’s Office to run the jail. Commissioners George Gainer
and Jerry Girvin said they wanted to see what it would cost the county to run
the jail, and Gainer had the harshest words for Majka for not having that
information. “I’m a little put out with staff because you didn’t do what you
said you would do,” said Gainer, who voted against the motion to bestow CCA
with the contract. But Majka said there was no instruction from commissioners
to get that figure. According to Thomas, Sheriff Frank McKeithen has told him
that his department could run the jail but probably not for less money than
any private firm could. One resident, Tom Misskerg, told commissioners they “need
to take a harder look at jail operations” before awarding a contract. Later,
he addressed the board again to ask about potential consequences if another
jail construction firm wins its lawsuit against the county over its RFP
process. Emerald Correctional Management LLC — the only other firm to bid for
the project — has alleged that the county violated state procurement laws and
Sunshine Laws when considering proposals. County attorney Mike Burke would
not divulge details about the situation, but assured the board: “We wouldn’t
have let you go ahead with this contract if we thought there was a problem.”
February
17, 2006 News Herald
Youth, stupidity and blind love were not enough to keep accused cop killer
Robert Bailey’s girlfriend from a prison sentence on Thursday. But admitting
her guilt may have saved Andrea Guenette seven extra years behind bars.
Circuit Judge Glenn Hess sentenced Guenette, 22, of Wisconsin, to three years
in prison after she pleaded guilty to introducing contraband to the Bay County
Jail and conspiring to commit escape. She could have received a 10-year
sentence. Guenette gave hacksaw blades to a jail trusty who gave them to
Bailey. Bailey, 23, is accused of shooting to death Panama City Beach Police
Sgt. Kevin Kight during a traffic stop last year and faces the death penalty
if he’s convicted as charged of first-degree murder.
February
10, 2006 News Herald
Bay County officials on Thursday rejected all of Emerald Correctional
Management’s claims in a lawsuit that the bidding process for a jail
expansion project was improper and illegal. Meanwhile, the company’s
attorney, Obed Dorceus of Tallahassee, said he will ask Judge Glenn Hess to
expedite a hearing for a temporary injunction against the county to halt its
negotiations with Corrections Corporation of America. “We’re concerned that
if the county proceeds with a flawed (selection) process, we may not be able
to get some of the remedies we’re asking for,” Dorceus said. The most
important objective for Emerald, Dorceus said, is to receive the contract to
design and build a Bay County correctional facility. In the lawsuit, Emerald
states that the county permitted CCA to modify its proposal after all
proposals were opened, violating state law. The county said in a letter to
Dorceus that it never asked for a fixed price in the RFP and that “both firms
were asked to clarify their proposals to allow the board to conduct due
diligence and select a firm with whom to begin negotiations.”
January
20, 2006 News Herald
In a strip cell at the Bay County Jail Annex, on suicide watch next to an
inmate with a penchant for beating up cellmates, Sweatt wanted out in the
worst way. He made a ruckus, yelled for guards, even broke a toilet seat to
no avail. Shoeless and clad in a jail gown, the 49-year-old crawled onto a
mat on the floor to sleep. He awoke to a severe stomping and, later, brain
swelling — all thanks to a “questionable assignment” and drastic
overcrowding, according to an incident review obtained by The News Herald.
The incident underscores a consistent theme — too many prisoners and too few
places to put them — hashed over by county officials and Corrections
Corporation of America, the private company paid $16.3 million this year to
run facilities downtown and near Nehi Road. A report compiled by Bay County’s
contract monitor and released this week indicates that guards and supervisors
violated no procedures during the late December incident that landed Sweatt
in the hospital and his alleged attacker back in court. In fact, the incident
report places blame on a single issue: overcrowding. “The questionable
assignment of Sweatt to a cell occupied by (Orlando Marcus Holly) was
necessitated by overcrowding in D Dorm,” wrote Roger Hagen, the county’s
pointman with CCA. One cell, Hagen reported, was out of commission because of
a broken toilet and guards felt it best to house Holly and Sweatt in a cell
near an observation desk. Holly was accused of a similar assault two weeks
later and forced officials to rethink his daily handling. Guards now move
Holly in full restraint — including a belly chain and leg restraints — and
the 25-year-old is housed alone in a cell. Authorities reported that Sweatt
had asked to be moved from Holly’s cell but was rebuffed because the dorm and
other high-security cells already were full. The men bickered throughout the
day, officials said, and at 1:45 p.m., Holly laid into his cellmate with a
flurry of punches and kicks. The beating was so bad that Sweatt remained in
critical condition for more than two weeks and suffered brain swelling, inner
cranial bleeding and a shattered orbital bone. Police waited 10 days to
charge Holly because they feared Sweatt would die.
January
14, 2006 News Herald
Emerald Correctional Management LLC has accused the Bay County Commission
of breaking state laws in its decision to pursue negotiations with another
firm for jail construction projects. The process the County Commission went
through in accepting and evaluating the request for proposals, or RFP, was
“arbitrary, capricious and illegal,” states Emerald’s petition, filed last
week with the county. The county wants a 150,000-square-foot jail addition to
the existing jail annex on Nehi Road, creating 680 new beds in addition to
the existing 410. The RFP also called for the downtown Bay County Jail to be
demolished and for construction of new holding cells connected to the Bay
County Courthouse. Shreveport, La.-based Emerald had said it could build the
addition for $31.8 million and Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of
America, or CCA, priced it at $38.8 million. The county chose to enter
negotiations with CCA. In a formal notice of protest filed Jan. 6, Emerald
alleged that Bay County violated Florida procurement laws, Sunshine Laws and
the RFP terms. The company requests the county “forward the protest to the
Division of Administrative Hearings for a fair determination of the issue at
hand.” Emerald further labeled CCA, the company currently operating Bay
County’s jails, as “non-qualified, non-responsible and non-responsive.” After
taking into account project features that were either missing from the RFP or
added but not asked for, the county determined Emerald’s design-and-build
cost would be $35.4 million rather than $31.8 million, and CCA’s would be
$36.4 million instead of $38.8 million. County staff said that with
construction and fixed operational cost for six years, it would cost $117.1
million to stick with Emerald and $114 million with CCA.
January
12, 2006 News Herald
Since grand juries in Bay County are not encouraged by the courthouse
leadership to exercise routine oversight of county offices and facilities,
lawsuits are an alternative but expensive way for citizens to involve other
citizens as jurors in attempting to understand how well or how badly things
work. As the father of Martin Anderson said on Tuesday, “I just want to know
what happened to my son.” Knowing what we know now, just days after the
incident, our view does not see anything sinister in the death of the
14-year-old boy during his initiation into a stay at the Bay County Sheriff’s
Office Boot Camp. We have numerous questions, of course, which we expect a
Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation to answer. Anderson’s
parents say they don’t trust FDLE to thoroughly and impartially investigate
the Sheriff’s Office — one police agency investigating another. They want
someone else to do it, an “independent agency.” Although the news story
didn’t say, the family presumably will seek compensation if their son’s death
was caused by the wrongful behavior of people who had him in custody. We have
no such quarrel with FDLE’s professionalism. However, wrongful-death lawsuits
are an understandable reaction by survivors looking for someone to blame.
Sometimes the lawsuits bring to public attention things the public should
know as consumers and taxpayers. Lawsuits uncover the safety risks of
prescription drugs, potentially fatal defects in popular vehicles and other
consumer products, and the management practices of public institutions that
are free from grand jury oversight. But not often enough. Certainly there is
no shortage of lawsuits. The problem is that the prevalence of secret
settlements to avoid trial makes public enlightenment a less likely outcome.
Survivors who sue to find out what happened often walk out of court having
signed an agreement not to tell. The lawsuits seldom go to public trial.
Corrections Corporation of America had 16 lawsuits related to its management
of Bay County jail facilities during a recent three-year period, according to
the Tallahassee based Private Corrections Institute. Settlements ranged from
$150 compensation for an injury to $500,000 to the family of Justin Sturgis,
who died in jail custody. For CCA, lawsuits are a cost of doing business the
way it wants. For citizens and taxpayers of Bay County, pretrial settlements
mean the plaintiff gets compensated for the wrong without the public having
to know the details, and thus perhaps feel obliged to make conditions right.
January
11, 2006 News Herald
Deputy Public Defender Walter Smith said Tuesday that he has a better
chance of keeping accused cop killer Robert Bailey off death row by being a
witness in the case instead of being Bailey’s lawyer. Smith withdrew from the
case and told Circuit Judge Glenn Hess that he expects to be a witness when
the court has a hearing to determine Bailey’s mental condition. Smith said he
also will look outside the county for a lawyer and put together the paperwork
necessary for Bailey’s new attorney to ask for a change of venue. Smith said
he wants the case handled by a Tallahassee lawyer and decided by a Leon
County jury. A change of venue could move Bailey out of the Bay County Jail
Annex where he has been since August. Smith said Bailey’s treatment at the
jail has aggravated Bailey’s existing mental problems. “His condition has
deteriorated since he’s been in solitary confinement,” Smith said. “I think
his mental state is a direct result of the condition he’s kept in.” Smith
said Bailey is isolated in a small cell with a light burning 24 hours a day, making
it difficult to sleep. The toilet in Bailey’s small cell would not flush for
three months, and a jailer had to empty it manually during that time. “A
Fortune 500 company like Corrections Corporation of America can’t fix a
toilet?” Smith said, referring to the jail’s corporate owner. “I know what’s
going on, and it’s unconscionable. They’re being punitive.” Bailey complained
about the toilet the last time he was in court and Hess ordered it repaired.
Bailey’s last words to the judge Tuesday were about that issue. “Thanks for
fixing my toi …,” Bailey, who appeared at the hearing by closed-circuit
television, said. The last word was cut off when the connection was cut.
Bailey’s mail is intercepted and his phone calls are monitored. He is not
allowed visitors or contact with other inmates, Smith said. Bailey rarely is
allowed to shower and is almost always shackled and handcuffed, Smith said.
“This is not because I like Robert Bailey and I think he’s a sweet guy,”
Smith said of his outrage over Bailey’s treatment. “It’s because he’s not
being afforded his basic constitutional rights.” The jail’s treatment of
Bailey, Smith said, has made it more difficult to give Bailey a fair trial
because it has impacted his mental state. Smith said Bailey understands the legal
process, but he’s now more likely to act out in an inappropriate, even
aggressive, manner in court.
January
3, 2006 News Herald
Orlando Marcus Holly waited until the lights were off and his 49-year-old
cellmate was asleep before Holly began kicking him, a Bay County Sheriff's
Office investigator said Monday. Investigator Mitch Pitts also said Holly,
25, probably would have killed Robert Sweatt if not for the swift reactions
of guards at the Bay County Jail Annex. Sweatt's teeth were kicked out, his orbital
bone was shattered and he had inner cranial bleeding. Sweatt was rushed to
Bay Medical Center and is recovering in surgical intensive care, Pitts said.
Court records show that Holly was charged with battery three times in 2005,
including a count of battery on an inmate. The day before the alleged attack
on Sweatt, a judge sentenced Holly to more than a year in prison after Holly
admitted to probation violations.
January
2, 2006 News Herald
Police charged a 25-yearold inmate with severely beating a cellmate 10 days
after two guards witnessed the attack in a dormitory at the Bay County Jail
annex, according to arrest documents. Investigators accused Orlando Marcus
Holly of aggravated battery on a detainee more than a week after the alleged
beating. It was so severe that the 49-yearold cellmate remained in critical
condition in surgical intensive care on Sunday. According to an arrest
affidavit, Robert Sweatt was sleeping on a floor mat Dec. 20 when Holly began
stomping on his face, kicking out Sweatt's teeth, shattering his orbital bone
and causing inner cranial bleeding. Sweatt was rushed to Bay Medical Center.
Two Bay County Jail guards witnessed the attacks, police reported. It is
unclear when Bay County Sheriff's Office investigators were notified of the
attack, and officials from the Bay County Jail and the Sheriff's Office could
not be reached Sunday. Court records show that Holly was charged with battery
three times in 2005, including a count of battery on an inmate. The day
before the alleged attack on Sweatt, a judge sentenced him to more than a
year in prison after Holly admitted to probation violations.
December
31, 2005 News Herald
Emerald Correctional Management LLC is formally protesting Bay County's
decision to negotiate with another firm for new jail construction. Steve
Afeman, Emerald's executive vice president, said Friday that his company
would formally send to Bay County a Notice of Protest for choosing on Dec. 20
to negotiate with Corrections Corporation of America to build an addition to
the jail annex on Nehi Road and related projects. Emerald has requested from
the county every document and piece of information relevant to the RFP, or
Request for Proposals. The move has confused Bay County officials and the
Tennessee-based CCA because no bidder has been awarded a contract. Roger
Hagen, contract monitor for the county, said Friday that he had not received
the Notice of Protest from Emerald. Earlier this month, county staff produced
an analysis that reflected the variations in both firms' proposals. Neither
firm adhered precisely to what was asked for in the RFP, said county
spokeswoman Catherine Zehner, so adjustments were made to "try to level
the playing field." Afeman said it appears that "CCA has adjusted
their bid after looking at our" proposal. Hagen and CCA deny that such
action occurred.
December
30, 2005 News Herald
Emerald Correctional Management LLC still wants the contract for Bay County's
jail projects and has requested extensive documents related to the county's
decision to negotiate with another firm. Steve Afeman, Emerald's executive
vice president, said Tuesday that his company wasn't yet formally protesting
how the county handled the request for proposals, or RFPs. "We're still
looking at the comparison for how they formulated their bid structure,"
he said. "We want to leave our options open until … we feel everything
was reported accurately." Afeman is referring to the county staff's
interpretation of Emerald's and Corrections Corporation of America's RFP
responses. As early as today, the Shreveport, La.-based Emerald may decide
whether to file a Notice of Protest of the RFP, Afeman said. But Emerald's
Tallahassee attorney, Obed Dorceus, said in an e-mail message late last week
to county officials that a "formal written protest will be filed within
the time required by law." The attorney further asks the county to
suspend activity regarding the RFP until the dispute is resolved.
December
21, 2005 News Herald
Bay County plans to stick with Corrections Corporation of America to run its
jails and build the jail annex addition. At Tuesday's County Commission
meeting at Panama City City Hall, the board voted unanimously to instruct
county staff to negotiate a contract with CCA. The county still reserves the
option to pull out if it does not like the final price CCA delivers for the
project. If a compromise cannot be reached, Commissioner George Gainer said
the board will consider building and operating jail facilities itself.
Besides the jail annex addition on Nehi Road, the county wants the downtown
Bay County Jail demolished and new holding cells connected to the Bay County
Courthouse. Besides Tennessee-based CCA, the only firm that responded to the
request for proposals, or RFP, was Emerald Correctional Management in
Shreveport, La. For the entire scope of services, Emerald listed its price as
$35.4 million. CCA estimated a cost of $41.5 million. Gainer said he was not
comfortable with CCA's price estimate, and he is concerned because the
expanded jail annex could be at or over capacity several years after its
expected opening in spring 2008. "This does not meet our needs," he
said. "A lot needs to take place with the negotiating team for this to
move forward." "We need to think long and hard" about the
contract, he added. "It's going to affect everyone in Bay County for 50
years." Budget Officer Mary Dayton said that if CCA funded the design
and construction of the jail annex addition with its 8-percent interest rate
over 25 years, the interest alone would total $56.7 million. She said the
county could get an interest rate of 4.5 to 4.7 percent, and over 25 years,
that would total $32.6 million in interest. Commissioner Mike Thomas asked
county staff to analyze what debt payments would be if the county tried to
pay for the project in 18 to 20 years.
December
18, 2005 News Herald
To pair as "jail project contenders" Emerald Correctional
Management and Corrections Corporation of America, as did a Nov. 22 News
Herald headline, is akin to pairing as boxing-ring "contenders" Pee
Wee Herman and Muhammad Ali. CCA manages jail and prison complexes totaling
almost 70,000 beds. That's 23 times as many as Emerald's 3,000, and even
those are more likely found in less rigid detention centers. But, the two are
squared off a in the political arena, not a boxing ring. The prize is a $31
million to $38 million construction job, plus a 10-year contract worth at
least $170 million to operate the greatly enlarged county jail. A majority of
Bay County commissioners in early December charitably advanced Emerald to a
second round this week, on Tuesday. If not Tuesday, then sometime, someone on
the County Commission needs to ask, "Who ARE these people?"
Emerald's brochure - the one for jail management (the Emerald Companies'
emblem appears on numerous other closely held enterprises including
homebuilding, real estate and drug testing) - directs attention to its
six-man management team. Emerald says it has been doing business out of
Shreveport, La., since 1989. In a fashion familiar to anyone who ever puffed
a resume, Emerald boasts in its management team "More than 80 years of
law enforcement experience," "More than 45 years in principal
founder of Emerald Companies," worked "in the correctional and construction
industries for more than 20 years." He also heads Emerald Correctional
Management, LLC; Emerald P.M. Group, LLC; Emerald Properties, Inc., and The
Emerald Group, hardly any of which show up online as identifiable entities.
Lee also serves as vice president of W. T. Lee Construction Co., presumably
headed by W. T. Lee, who brings "more than 35 years" experience as
the management team's business-development man. Glenn P. Hebert, the chief
operating officer, worked for 13 years in the Sheriff's Office of Vermillion
Parish (pre-Katrina pop. 50,000). Before that, he worked in retail. Emerald's
chief of security, Raywood LeMaire "brings more than 35 years of law
enforcement experience" including a memorable 20 years as Vermillion
Parish sheriff. "It was legend that if you crossed the Sheriff, you were
fed to the crabs at Raywood's cabin in Freshwater Bayou," a former
resident once said. LeMaire was sheriff in 1990 when a crazy man shackled in
an isolation cell plucked out his own eyes. To LeMaire a violent prisoner was
a violent prisoner, mental case or not, and treated accordingly. The deputy
who discovered the self-mutilation took an hour to decide whether to take the
man to a hospital. Eventually, blind but back on his medication, the
man sued LeMaire for negligence and won a jury verdict. LeMaire got the
verdict thrown out. LeMaire was still sheriff in 2002 when he was busted by
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents. He pleaded guilty to several
charges, including shooting over-limit ducks in Freshwater Bayou ponds baited
with 500 pounds of rice. He was fined $2,130. The government kept the ducks.
LeMaire announced he wouldn't seek reelection in 2004. Clay Lee, identified
as CEO and "a correctional management," "More than 30 years in
correctional fiscal management," and, "More than 40 years providing
correctional training." Most of this cumulative expertise is contributed
by four men, all longtime friends or relatives. General Manager Stephan
Afeman worked for 17 years in the drug-screening industry. Comptroller M.
Shane Carnahan has nine years of experience in the correctional industry.
They round out the management team. Whatever "the correctional
industry" means with regard to each, they and many others across America
are betting it's a growth industry. Until its Bay County foray, Emerald
Correctional Management has been a smalltime player that capitalized on
hustling even smaller-time players. Like The Music Man, they'd go into small,
isolated and impoverished counties and persuade local officials that an
economic boom was just a detention center away. Local officials had only to
pay to build the facility and pay them to operate it. Emerald's eastward
march for new territory leaves behind in Louisiana and Texas some business
success but some bad feelings. The most publicized was La Salle County (2000
pop. less than 5,900). County commissioners were persuaded by a lobbyist and
the management team to issue $22 million in bonds to build a 500-bed prison.
Although commissioners eagerly embraced the idea, they agreed to keep public
involvement at arm's length. The secretiveness enabled commissioners and
Emerald to reach convivial agreement without the hindrance of county legal
and fiscal staff. When the public learned what transpired - that the bonds paid
an outrageous 12-percent interest, underwriter fees were 6 percent, Emerald
would get a flat amount for operating the prison no matter how small the
inmate population, and the persuasive lobbyist reportedly received a
percentage of the deal, not a fee - the public was not amused. Lawsuits
ensued. It was too late to stop the bond fiasco. As part of the lawsuit
settlement, however, Emerald agreed to be paid based on the actual number of
prisoners. Emerald also agreed to pay the town of Encinal $50,000 and La
Salle County $100,000. Both payments were part of Emerald's bid but somehow
were omitted from the contract. When County Commissioner George Gainer talks
about Bay County being victimized by bad contracts in the past, this is the
kind of shoddy legal work he means. La Salle County had to issue an
additional $4.5 million in bonds to pay contractors so the work could
proceed. The absence of public input caused additional oversights. Now open,
"The facility itself used up all but a few connections-worth of our
existing water supply capacity," says Encinal City Council member Barba
de Chiva. "It uses - and stinks - all of our sewer capacity. Any further
development is now contingent upon our spending millions of dollars to
upgrade local infrastructure."
December
16, 2005 News Herald
Emerald Correctional Management LLC says its method for financing jail
expansion will help save the county at least $20 million compared to
Corrections Corporation of America's payment option. But after meetings with
Emerald's staff, at least two County commissioners believe it is better for
the county to finance the project itself because the county has a lower bond
rating than either company could obtain. "That's not going to be
there," Commissioner Mike Thomas said of Emerald's financing plan.
"We can save money doing a bond ourselves," he said, indicating
that the county's bond rating is around 4.5 percent and if either company
funds the project, their bond rating would be 7- to 8-percent. CCA proposes
to fund the expansion itself at a projected cost of $334,476 per month for 25
years, totaling around $100 million. With private bond placement, as Emerald
suggests, the total debt over 18 years would be around $80 million, or
$350,000 per month, said Glenn Hedert, chief operations officer for the
Shreveport, La.-based company. In a letter this week to Commission Chairman
Mike Nelson, CCA stated that Emerald did not adhere to project specifications
in the county's request for proposals, or RFP, and that is why its plan costs
less. "If they were compliant with the RFP, their proposal would've cost
as much as what we projected," said Jennifer Taylor, senior director of
business development for Tennessee-based CCA. Nelson said Thursday he
received the 18-page letter at his office, Mike Nelson & Associates, but
that he threw it away without reading all of it. "They've already had
their say," Nelson said, referring to Emerald's and CCA's presentations
to the commission on Dec. 6. "If Emerald sends me anything, it's going
to get tossed, too."
November
19, 2005 News Herald
Corrections Corporation of America fired a Bay County Jail Annex nurse for
the way she handled an inmate's complaint of labor pains, according to her
termination letter. Joan Elliot, 48, of Panama City, refused to acknowledge
wrongdoing in the events that lead up to Jennifer Bozeman, 26, giving birth
to a premature baby in the infirmary more than four hours after reporting
labor pains to jail guards, according to CCA records. Bozeman was in jail at
the time for failing to pay a $500 child support fine. CCA reprimanded nurse
Melissa Blalock, 36, for her role in the incident on Nov. 7, according to CCA
records. The names and positions of the employees receiving disciplinary
action were released to The News Herald in accordance with the state Sunshine
Law, but only after a written request to the Tennessee based company's
corporate headquarters and Bay County Jail Warden Mark Henry denied access to
the employees' personnel files. According to CCA records, Elliot was
terminated on Tuesday after CCA officials determined the nurse failed to
follow CCA sick call policy. Specifically, Elliot failed to "accommodate
unscheduled inmates/residents with conditions that require immediate
attention, including acute illness and injuries," according to her
termination letter. During a follow-up discussion regarding the jail birth,
Elliot told Henry she had done nothing wrong and would not do anything
differently if the same situation arose again, according to CCA reports.
Elliot told CCA officials she was dealing with several medical calls at the
time, including a seizure, two guards bitten by an inmate and several inmates
waiting in the infirmary while Bozeman complained of pains. Jail officials
issued a written reprimand to Blalock, but did not terminate her. They said
Blalock failed to keep Bozeman in a "stable position/location"
until the inmate could be transferred to the hospital. Blalock should not
have allowed the expectant mother to walk in the unit, climb up and down from
the examination table or sit on a bench in the waiting area, according to CCA
reports.
November
16, 2005 News Herald
One employee has been fired and another reprimanded after an investigation
into a birth at the Bay County Jail annex revealed a series of missteps -
from a nurse who ignored cries for help to a supervisor unaware of the labor
- that preceded a delivery in the infirmary. Jail officials would not reveal
the names or positions of the employees who received disciplinary action, and
a Sunshine Law request made Tuesday afternoon was not immediately answered.
Florida's public records statutes routinely cover discipline reports of
public employees, including jail guards and nurses. "I can only talk in
general terms," Warden Mark Henry said Tuesday afternoon. "We have to
be cognizant of other people's rights. These two employees have been
disciplined and it has become part of their official records. But that is
proprietary information kept by the company." Jennifer Bozeman said she
complained of labor pains for more than four hours before she was taken to
the infirmary and seen by a nurse. Bozeman said fellow inmates helped her
through the ordeal, nursing her while jail staff ignored her pleas for help.
Bozeman's daughter, Crystal, was born just before 7 a.m. and was airlifted to
Gainesville's Shands Hospital. The baby remained there on Tuesday, where she
is being treated for birth defects. Bozeman was jailed Sept. 10 for failing
to pay a $500 child support fine, although the fine was paid late Monday
night by a friend. While the names and positions of the disciplined employees
have not been released, CCA officials did divulge a 32-page report that
documented mistakes and policy violations the night of Bozeman's labor. Among
them: Nurse Joan Elliott was informed of the labor pains at about 2:30 a.m.,
and told guards to have Bozeman fill out a "sick call," a written
documentation of an inmate's illness. The slip was not given to medical staff
until 4:30 a.m. When a female guard handed the slip to Elliott, the nurse
said "it could wait." Elliott, in a written statement, indicates
that on Monday night she dealt with several medical calls, including: a
seizure, two guards who had been bitten and scratched, an inmate with
scratches, and a number of inmates waiting in the infirmary. Elliott later
retrieved sick calls and treated at least two other sick patients before she
received word from guards that Bozeman was having "stomach pains."
It was not until 6 a.m., Elliott wrote, that a guard told the infirmary
nurses that Bozeman was in labor. Capt. Richard Bouchard, who worked the
overnight shift, responded at least eight times to the dorm where Bozeman was
held and was never notified by a pair of guards that there was a pregnant
inmate complaining of labor pains. Bouchard also said "nor was there any
documentation in the post log book that the (labor pains were)
addressed." By the time Bouchard was notified, Bozeman already had been
escorted to the medical unit. Jail personnel waited more than 25 minutes to
call an ambulance after a nurse determined Bozeman was indeed in labor. The
child was born before officials contacted paramedics to take her to Bay
Medical Center. At about 6:05 a.m., a guard told nurse Melissa Blalock, who
was starting her shift, that Bozeman was in labor, and Blalock ordered the
woman to be brought to the infirmary. Blalock and Elliott then checked
Bozeman for delivery symptoms and determined at 6:30 a.m. that she was in
labor. Bozeman was sitting in an infirmary restroom when Blalock assisted her
to an exam table, although Bozeman was sent back to a waiting room and
Elliott ended her shift. At about 6:55 a.m., Bozeman screamed for help and
the child was delivered before Blalock could remove Bozeman's pants. Blalock
removed the umbilical cord from around the child's neck, ordered a guard to
call 9-1-1 and helped cover the child in blankets. Paramedics arrived at the
jail at 7:15 a.m. and the child was taken to the hospital at 7:20 a.m. -
nearly five hours after Bozeman first told guards she was in labor.
November
15, 2005 News Herald
She was in labor for more than four hours, crying in a crowded dorm room,
bent and writhing on a bunk, crooked with pain and sweat and gritted teeth,
pleading for help. When help finally came, so too did her child. The
26-year-old woman who gave birth in the Bay County Jail annex said Monday
that guards and nurses repeatedly ignored her pleas for medical attention,
allowing her to struggle for four hours - using inmates as nursemaids -
before the baby was born in the infirmary. While jail officials have hedged
against the release of information related to a personnel investigation,
Jennifer Bozeman offered sharp criticism of the annex and its medical staff,
saying Monday that officials failed both mother and child. "They just
ignored me," Bozeman said in an interview with The News Herald.
"They should have gotten me to the hospital. I kept telling them: 'It
hurts, I'm in labor.' They didn't do anything. It was just handled wrong. I'm
still hurt by it. I'm still having flashbacks." Bozeman's account was
confirmed by two female inmates who stood by her throughout the labor, as
both women said that it took more than four hours before the expectant mother
was transferred to a medical pod at the Nehi Road annex. The inmates both
issued stinging rebukes of the jail staff, calling the situation untenable
but believable. In fact, Charla Meadows, 33, said medical attention is hard
to come by at the facility - if it comes at all. "It's crazy in
here," said Meadows, being held on a cocaine charge. "Jennifer told
them at about 2 o'clock that she was hurting bad. I mean, you could see her
all bent over. One of the guards asked me if could get her some ice, so I
did. I just had to stay with her. She started hurting worse and worse, and
nobody would do anything to help her." According to all three women, the
incident unraveled like this: Bozeman first told an officer that she may be
in labor shortly after 2 a.m. The officer asked Meadows to deliver some ice,
and later allowed Bozeman to take a warm shower. As the pain progressed,
Meadows continued to ask for medical help. An officer tried unsuccessfully to
contact the overnight nurse, and at about 4 a.m. guards told Bozeman to fill
out a "sick call." The "sick call" is a form used to notify
personnel of medical problems, although Bozeman said the form went unheeded
for an additional two hours. During that period, another inmate - Tris Souza,
43 - sat with Bozeman, massaging her back and rubbing her forehead. As the
pain reached its zenith, Souza began pounding on a cell window, pleading for
help. "We were just trying to get their attention," said Souza,
also being held on drug charges. "She just kept getting worse and worse,
and I was like: 'When are y'all going to help her?' They just kept ignoring
us. That's not so uncommon in here, though. "I've seen things that are
totally unbelievable. They think ibuprofen will cure anything." About 6
a.m. - with a shift change - the daytime nurse ordered guards to have Bozeman
delivered to the infirmary. Once there, Bozeman said medical personnel
diagnosed her condition as kidney stones and allowed her to wait in a chair.
The baby, Crystal, was born within minutes. "I had to catch my own
baby," Bozeman said. "It fell out into her pants," Meadows
added. Officials from Corrections Corporation of America, the private,
Tennessee-based company hired to run a pair of facilities in Bay County, have
hesitated to release details of an internal evaluation. Warden Mark Henry
cited medical privacy laws last week and declined to release information,
although he did note that the annex was at full staff during the incident.
Roger Hagen, the county's jail contract monitor, said he is awaiting
information from CCA, and said the timeframe between Bozeman's first
complaint and the birth appears to be a key factor in the evaluation.
"That's my concern," Hagen said Monday. "There is, however,
some question of whether the midnight nurse had competing priorities. The
length of time it took the nurse to see her is a concern, but I'm waiting to
see what this person was up against. Were there other things going on that
prevented (the nurse) from seeing (Bozeman)?" Bozeman's delivery came
about two months early, and the child remained in a neonatal care unit at
Gainesville's Shands Hospital on Monday. The baby was born with birth
defects, Bozeman said, and the family is concerned about her health. Bozeman
has been jailed since Sept. 10 for failing to pay a $500 fine related to a
previous adoption. Since then, county taxpayers have paid nearly $3,000 - or about
$45 per day - to keep Bozeman behind bars. "I'm still so upset,"
she said. "I'm still so hurt by it. It was just handled wrong. They
should have gotten me to the hospital."
November
11, 2005 News Herald
Jennifer Bozeman owes the state of Florida $500. She never paid, got sent to
jail, birthed a baby in the infirmary, and now Bay County taxpayers are
footing the bill - to the tune of about $2,730 so far. And she has not been
charged with a crime. By holding Bozeman in jail, taxpayers have vastly outspent
her debt to the state Department of Revenue regarding a child support fee for
a previously adopted child. The county pays about $44 per day per prisoner.
The new mom has been in jail for 62 days and has 28 to go. If she stays in
jail the full 90 days, it will cost taxpayers about $3,960. That does not
include her hospital costs, which the county could be billed for. Bozeman,
26, was back Thursday at the Bay County Jail annex, where she gave birth
early Monday to a 5-pound, 8-ounce daughter in an infirmary. The birth is the
subject of a personnel investigation into several questions, including,
according to the county's jail manager and the Bozeman's mother: How long did
officials wait to give Bozeman medical treatment? In a brief phone interview
earlier this week, Bozeman said she told a jail guard that she was suffering
the pangs of labor just after 2 a.m. Bozeman's mother, Doris Ayers, said the
baby was born between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Officials from Corrections
Corporation of America, the private, Tennessee-based company that was paid
$14 million in 2005 to run two Bay County facilities, have repeatedly hedged
against releasing documents related to the birth. Warden Mark Henry said
Thursday he could not speak to specifics of the case, citing medical privacy
issues that hinder the release of Bozeman's information. Bozeman could not be
reached in jail Thursday for a waiver. The News Herald has requested
documents related to staff levels and medical procedures the morning that
Bozeman gave birth. "At this point," Henry said, "there isn't
a whole lot I can tell you. I wish I could, but I can't do it without
violating her rights. Even as an inmate, people still enjoy rights and
privileges that I would not want to violate." One of those rights, Ayers
said, would be a proper birth. "It's just absurd," she said,
"that it happened like this. No one should have to catch their own
baby."
November
9, 2005 News Herald
The last of four men accused of taking hostages last year in a jail standoff
will not go to trial next week as planned. Instead, Kevin Winslett will be
evaluated for his mental competency to stand trial. Bay County Sheriff's
Office investigators said Winslett, 33, Kevin Nix, James Norton and Matthew
Coffin took over the fourth floor of the Bay County Jail on Sept. 5 and 6,
2004, and held jail nurses hostage in a police standoff. The standoff ended
when deputies shot one of the men and a nurse.
November
9, 2005 News Herald
Bay County Jail officials have launched a "full-fledged
investigation" of personnel at the Nehi Road annex after a pregnant
prisoner repeatedly called for medical attention hours before she gave birth
in the infirmary early Monday morning, according to the county's jail
liaison. Conflicting reports have emerged about the birth of a 5-pound,
8-ounce baby girl named "Crystal," who was born at least one month
premature and was expected to be taken Tuesday to a neonatal facility at
Shands Hospital in Gainesville. The baby's mother, Jennifer Bozeman, was
recovering Tuesday afternoon at Bay Medical Center, where she was under watch
by authorities and was expected to return soon to jail. "I don't know
what happened really," Bozeman said. "I went into labor early
Monday and I told one of the (corrections officers), but they didn't really
do anything. They were supposed to get me down to the infirmary, but they
didn't." According to Bozeman's mother, Doris Ayers, jail officials have
been evasive, releasing scant information about Jennifer, the baby or the
birth. Ayers said the birth announcement came from the lips of a fellow
prisoner during a mysterious phone call early Monday morning. "(The
warden) is not saying a whole lot," Ayers said Tuesday. "You know,
they actually told (Bozeman) that she had a kidney stone. That's what they
said was bothering her. … She told them she was having labor pains, and she
told me that by the time somebody came to get her, she had to catch the baby.
"That's exactly what she told me - that she actually had to catch her
own baby." Officials offered a slightly different account, although
Roger Hagen, who monitors the county's contract with the private company
hired to run the downtown jail and Nehi Road annex, said Tuesday that early
indications show a procedural breakdown among personnel. "That's my
understanding," Hagen said. "There is an indication that there were
some problems in the way it was handled. The warden is conducting a
full-fledged investigation. Right now, he's doing a personnel evaluation to
find out what happened." Henry is the third Bay County Jail warden in 22
months, and was hired in September by Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation
of America, the private company that holds a contract to run three county
facilities. Henry, who last worked at the Jackson County Jail and spent
nearly 30 years in the federal prison system, took over after the former
warden quit and an assistant warden was fired.
October
1, 2005 News Herald
A man convicted of DUI manslaughter and an accused killer face additional
criminal charges after attacking guards at the Bay County Jail on Friday,
according to court records. William Deshonn Jones, 25, and Lashod Marquis
Black, 21, each face a charge of battery on a corrections officer following
separate incidents at the county's main jail. According to court records, at
about noon, Jones became upset at a jail guard and threw two trays of food at
the guard's chest. Jones' outburst came a little over an hour after a guard
accused Black of grabbing her arm during a cell inspection, according to
court records.
September
21, 2005 News Herald
Kevin Winslett should be ready for a new trial in November. Winslett, the
accused ringleader of a takeover of the Bay County Jail last September, went
to trial in August with his three co-defendants, but his case was declared a
mistrial. Co-defendants Kevin Nix, Matthew Coffin and James Norton were
convicted of false imprisonment and sentenced to 15 years in prison. They
went to trial on the same charges that Winslett faces, but were acquitted of
the most serious charges against them.
September
20, 2005 New-Herald
Lucrative contracts to operators of Bay County facilities and a $5 million
increase in funds for blighted communities contribute to the county’s budget
increase for fiscal year 2006. Operating costs for the two county-owned jails
is projected to rise $2 million, to $16.3 million for FY 2006. That’s despite
a decrease in the inmate population from about 1,100 last year to 900
currently, according to Roger Hagen, Bay County correctional program manager.
Usually, there are 3 percent to 4 percent more inmates each year. There are
fewer inmates now because those nabbed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officials no longer are being housed in the Jail Annex. The operations cost
per prisoner is expected to be $45.35 in FY 2006, about $1 more than it is
now, said County Budget Officer Mary Dayton. Corrections Corporation of
America runs the jails, but its contract expires next year. The county is
looking to cut back on the amount it pays the contractor, whomever is
selected. Emerald Correctional Management Corporation, based in Shreveport,
La., also is bidding to operate the jail. “I feel like the CCA contract has
been far too lucrative,” Gainer said. “If we don’t have a bid that’s much
lower, then the county ought to consider running it by ourselves.”
September
13, 2005 News Herald
For the third time in 22 months, the Bay County Jail has a new warden.
Corrections Corporation of America officials have hired Jackson County’s
corrections chief to run the beleaguered Panama City Jail after the former
warden quit and an assistant warden was fired less than a month ago. Mark A.
Henry, who last worked at the Jackson County Jail and spent nearly 30 years
in the federal prison system, is expected to start next week, according to
Bay County’s jail contract monitor. Roger
Hagen, who acts as a liaison between Bay County commissioners and the private
company hired to run three local facilities, said commissioners signed off on
the hire after CCA officials tabbed Henry sometime last week. The hire came shortly
after the dismissal of Assistant Warden John Rochefort for violating an
undisclosed company policy and Warden Kevin Watson asked for a transfer for
“personal reasons,” CCA officials said in mid-August. The company declined to
give the exact reason Rochefort was fired, nor would they say in what
capacity Watson would be retained. CCA officials did not return phone calls
Tuesday.
September
12, 2005 News Herald
Strategy is a part of any trial. But when four men accused of taking hostages
in a police standoff at the Bay County Jail were preparing to go to trial
together, strategies were everywhere. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office had a
plan to keep the four from attempting anything in the courthouse like what
they were accused of doing at the jail. Prosecutors had their reasons for
trying all four together, despite the security risks. And the four defense
attorneys had the job of devising an attack that would work for their
individual client, but not hurt the other three. Coffin’s lawyer, Nancy Jones Gaglio, said there was an
agreement going into trial that their clients would not try to blame each
other for the takeover.
Gaglio was able to address issues about jail conditions. “Judge allowed me to
go there a little bit,” she said Wednesday. “But part of my defense was it
was just a chaotic place and (jail operator Corrections Corporation of
America) certainly wasn’t taking care of and running the place properly. I
was trying to show that what happened was a direct result of CCA’s negligent
maintenance.”
September
7, 2005 News Herald
Kevin Nix and Kathy Baucum share the same nightmare. Nix is one of three
men convicted of falsely holding three jail nurses, including Baucum, against
their will in a September 2004 takeover of the third floor of the Bay County Jail.
The inmates were convicted last week of false imprisonment. On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet sentenced
Nix, 29, and co-defendants Matthew Coffin, 20, and James Norton, 32, to 15
years in prison each, to begin after their current prison sentences expire.
That basically means that Norton will spend the next 16 years in prison, Nix
28 years, and Coffin 24.
September
2, 2005 News Herald
Three Bay County Jail inmates who held nurses prisoner last September during
a jail takeover were acquitted Thursday of the most serious charges against
them. Jurors acquitted Kevin Nix, James Norton and Matthew Coffin of
kidnapping, aggravated assault and escape. Instead, they each were convicted
of three counts of false imprisonment. In addition, Nix was convicted of
attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and Norton of simple
assault. The three were facing up to life in prison on the kidnapping
charges, but could now see greatly reduced time. False imprisonment is a
third-degree felony punishable by five years in prison. Specifically, Nix, 29, Norton, 32, and
Coffin, 20, were convicted of illegally holding jail nurses Glenda Baker,
Kathy Baucum and Amie Hunt against their wills during a 12-hour standoff with
deputies Sept. 5 and 6. They were acquitted of any charges involving former
jail guard James Hall, who was kept in a cell for two hours before being
released in exchange for pizzas and cigarettes.
September
1, 2005 News Herald
A September standoff at the Bay County Jail ended in gunshots, but testimony
in the case ended on Wednesday without the smoking gun. Circuit Judge Michael
Overstreet ruled that testimony about gunshots from a hostage negotiator and
SWAT team that wounded an inmate and a hostage were irrelevant to the charges
against Matthew Coffin, Kevin Nix and James Norton. The three men began trial
this week on charges of kidnapping, escape and aggravated assault. They are
accused of participating in a takeover of the jail’s third floor on Sept. 5
and 6 and face life in prison if convicted as charged. Ann Marie “Amie” Hunt
told jurors that the takeover went from a kind of “nutty” situation to a
dangerous one as the night progressed.
“At the very beginning,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “they
were a little nutty. They just wanted to find a way out. They were as polite
as they could be for the situation we were in.” Then, Hunt said, the inmates
broke into the drug storage lockers and began ingesting narcotics. As the
night progressed, she said, Nix became agitated with nurse Glenda Baker’s
praying. Another nurse, Kathy Baucum, said Baker was constantly praying and
also “speaking in tongues.” When it came time to offer a hostage in return
for pizza and cigarettes, Nix insisted Baker go because she was “freaking him
out,” Hunt said. Hunt said an inmate told her she might end up as “collateral
damage” when officers stormed the jail. The standoff ended, Hunt said, when
she was brought before a barred gate at the end of a hall. Nix, she said, was
standing behind her with a scalpel to her throat. “I don’t know who shot me,”
she said. “He was just a figure, a person standing there, then, boom. I
looked down, and I got shot. Then, boom, and I got shot again.” One bullet shattered her knee, an injury that
incapacitated her for months. Hunt was able to walk into court and take the
witness stand with the help of a cane.
August
27, 2005 News Herald
Kevin Winslett got a mistrial. Kevin Nix stuck a pen up his nose. The first
day of trial for four men accused of taking hostages in a jail standoff in September
got off to an interesting start Tuesday. Testimony in the trial of the
remaining three defendants will resume today. Winslett, Nix, James Norton and
Matthew Coffin began trial on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and
escape. They are accused of holding four people hostage during an attempted
escape Sept. 5 and 6 at the Bay County Jail. The standoff ended with gunfire
that wounded two of the men and a jail nurse. All four face up to life in
prison if convicted as charged. The first prosecution witness Tuesday was
James Hall, a former jail guard and one of the four allegedly held hostage.
He said he was the only guard working the jail’s third floor the night of
Sept. 5, with 80 inmates to watch. Hall said he opened a cell during “pill
call,” when medications are dispensed, to check on an inmate who did not
respond to him. Hall said while he was in the cell, he was hit twice from
behind and knocked to the ground. Initially in his testimony, Hall said it
was Norton who hit him. Hall changed that later and said he did not know who
hit him, only that Norton was the closest to him when he looked up from the
ground. Hall said he first told jail administrators that he had been knocked
unconscious and during that time his keys and radio were taken. Months later,
when being interviewed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, he
changed that, saying he was not unconscious but told jail officials that to
try to save his job. Hall also said inmates ripped his uniform shirt before
releasing him to make it look like he had put up a struggle. Hall was fired
from the jail for several policy violations stemming from the incident on the
third floor. Former jail nurse Glenda Baker told jurors she was working her
first full day at the jail on Sept. 5. Baker said she never actually was
threatened during the incident but felt threatened. “You said you felt like
you couldn’t leave,” Chris Patterson said to Baker during cross-examination.
“Did you ever ask?” Baker thought about it for a minute and said, “I don’t remember.”
Prosecutors decided to try the four together, a rare strategy, that made for
extraordinary security as well as legal complications. Tuesday morning began
with prosecutor Quentin Broxton’s opening statement. He described the
takeover as an elaborate escape attempt that backfired. Winslett’s attorney,
Doug White, then began to lay out his defense for jurors. He said this would
be a case of perspective in which jurors may have a hard time understanding
the thinking of those behind bars. “If we’ve never been jailed, can we still
understand the context of a prisoner?” White asked. “Can a deaf person
appreciate a classic symphony?” Fellow defense attorney Nancy Jones told
jurors in her opening statement that conditions at the jail were “horrible”
and “horrendous.” “Conditions in that jail were so bad they made one’s toes
curl,” she said. White said the four men’s actions on Sept. 5 were to bring
attention to jail conditions, but were not well thought out. “These four
young men acted out in ways that were not brilliant,” he said. “They were not
smart. And in some cases, they were downright dumb.” White then said that
Winslett’s conception of reality also may be skewed by a diagnosed mental
disorder. Prosecutor Bill Lewis objected. The defense lawyers, prosecutors
and Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet left the room to discuss the objection.
A part of White’s defense was that Winslett has a “mental defect” that would
affect his ability to form the necessary intent to have committed the crimes.
White denied that it was an insanity defense and refrained from calling it a
“mental health” defense. Lewis argued that any mental health defense requires
a notice to the prosecution that would give the state an opportunity to
prepare witnesses and have the defendant evaluated. White argued that a
notice was required only if he was pursuing an insanity defense. Overstreet
found that a notice was required in this case and prevented White from
pursuing that aspect of his defense. White asked for — and Overstreet granted
him — a mistrial so White can file his notice and prepare for another trial.
While the lawyers and judge were out of the room discussing Winslett’s case,
Nix, who was one of the defendants sitting closest to the jury, started
playing with a blue Sharpie felt-tip pen. He took off the cap, sniffed the
tip, put the tip in his mouth and chewed on it, then spit a piece of it onto
the table. He then put the tip up his nose. When Nix’s lawyer, Mike Hunter,
returned to the courtroom, he found Nix with blue lines on his nose, lips and
hands. Hunter asked for a continuance, saying he needed to have his client
evaluated for his mental competency to continue. Hunter said Nix told him
that in times of stress, fear or anger Nix “loses time” or blanks out. Hunter
said Nix did not know what he had done in court. Overstreet asked two
psychologists to interview Nix from noon to 2:30 p.m. to give their best
assessment of his mental ability to continue with the trial. Nix then was
found competent to proceed. “Putting a pen up your nose isn’t really
consistent with a mental disorder,” Dr. David Smith told Overstreet.
August
18, 2005 News Herald
Less than eight months after taking over as warden, the head of the Bay
County Jail has resigned, according to a Corrections Corporation of America
spokesman Wednesday. Kevin Watson submitted a letter to CCA officials Tuesday
requesting a demotion and transfer for “personal reasons,” said Steve Owens,
spokesman for the Nashville-based company contracted by the county to manage
the downtown jail and annex. Watson’s resignation came the same day CCA fired
John Rochefort from his position as an assistant warden for violating CCA
policies, Owens said. Owens and Jennifer Taylor, CCA’s senior director for
business development, said Watson’s decision to step down and Rochefort’s
termination are not related. Taylor said Watson flew to Nashville on Tuesday
to deliver a letter to CCA officials requesting the change of position. CCA
has not determined what position Watson will fill with the company and he has
taken an indefinite leave of absence, she said. Roger Hagen, the contract
monitor for Bay County, said Wednesday that Rochefort was terminated for
“performancerelated issues.” Hagen said he was aware Watson had requested
vacation time and may not return as warden. Both facilities have been subject
to increased scrutiny in recent weeks because of a foiled escape attempt by a
suspected cop killer from the downtown jail and a sex scandal at the annex
involving a prison guard, a nurse and an inmate.
August
11, 2005 WNYT
A man awaiting trial on charges stemming from the September hostage-taking at
the Bay County Jail faces new charges after guards said he tried to smuggle a
razor blade into the jail. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office charged
32-year-old James Richard Norton with introduction of contraband into a
detention facility Wednesday.
August
10, 2005 News Herald
Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators and jail officials are trying to
determine how an accused cop killer came within a few days of escaping from
the sixth floor of the county’s downtown jail. Robert Bailey, 23, of
Milwaukee, Wis., is accused of attempted escape and introduction of
contraband to a detention facility after jail guards and Sheriff’s Office
investigators searched his cell Monday evening and found hacksaw blades and
evidence that Bailey was trying to cut his way out of the cell’s windows,
according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The search of Bailey’s jail cell came
after U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents contacted the Sheriff’s
Office on Monday afternoon to report they had learned during an investigation
that Bailey was planning a jailbreak, said Capt. Jimmy Stanford, head of the
Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division. After pulling Bailey from his cell, located
in a maximum security pod on the jail’s sixth floor, investigators said they
discovered about seven hacksaw blades in the toilet, hidden under Bailey’s
bed and stashed in a cutout and patched section of the ceiling. Investigators
also reported finding bolts sliced in metal grates covering windows and cuts
in a metal divider between the two windows. The grates placed over the
6-inch-wide Plexiglas windows are bolted into the window frame at the bottom
and top. The top bolts had not been sawed through, investigators said. With
Bailey remaining behind bars, investigators and jail officials are turning
their attention to how the inmate was able to obtain the hacksaw blades and
how his planned escape attempt went unnoticed, Stanford said. Because Bailey’s status as a “high-risk” inmate prevented
him from having direct contact with visitors, investigators have not ruled
out that a guard or fellow inmate may have supplied Bailey with the hacksaw
blades, Stanford said.
July 20, 2005 News Herald
Four men accused of taking hostages in a Bay County Jail standoff last year
have been scheduled for trial the last week of August. It is unlikely,
however, that the four will be tried together. James Norton, Kevin
Winslett, Matthew Coffin and Kevin Nix are accused of holding nurses hostage
during a jail standoff Sept. 5 and 6. All four are facing kidnapping charges
that could land them in prison for life.
July
18, 2005 News Herald
A married jail nurse was arrested late Saturday and accused of having sex
with a female inmate on an examining table in the Bay County Jail annex,
leading to a felony count that was vehemently denied Sunday by the man's
wife. Authorities charged Christopher Michael Byrd, 33, with sexual
misconduct between a detention facility employee and an inmate, a third-degree
felony that could land the licensed practicing nurse in jail for five years.
According to a Bay County Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit: Byrd asked a
guard to release a female inmate to the medical unit sometime Saturday night.
Byrd told the guard that he had permission from a supervisor to allow the
inmate to walk to the medical pod without a runner. In jail lingo, a
"runner" is an escort generally used to accompany inmates between
units in a facility. Once the woman arrived in the medical unit, Byrd told
her to go to an examination room. Inside, they began canoodling before the
woman dropped her pants and the pair had sex on a table. It is unclear how
authorities discovered the alleged intercourse. The charge against Byrd is
part of a state law passed four years ago. Legislators passed in 2001 the
"Protection Against Sexual Violence in Florida Jails and Prisons
Act" as a measure to prevent misconduct between jailers and inmates in
detention facilities. The act contains a provision that says consent cannot
be used as a defense during prosecution.
June
16, 2005 AP
A state investigation has confirmed that a Bay County Jail inmate committed
suicide in a shower room and found no evidence officials or other prisoners
knew he planned to kill himself. A summary of the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement investigation into the April 5 death of James T. Sly Jr., 35, of
nearby Springfield, was released Wednesday. Sly was found hanging by a
bedsheet from a shower head. The summary does not address whether guards
followed proper procedures before the death. A May report from Bay County's
jail contract monitor alleged that a jailer included Sly in midnight head
count without actually seeing him, assuming the inmate was there because
water could be heard running in the shower. Company officials said they are
waiting to review the full state investigation report before commenting on
county allegation or the guard's status.
May
20, 2005 News Herald
Corrections Corporation of America officials remain silent about a report
issued by the county’s jail program manager stating a corrections officer did
not properly account for an inmate later found dead from an apparent suicide.
However, the family of James T. Sly Jr. has not stopped demanding answers
from the company contracted to oversee the Bay County Jail. They want to know
why the 35-year-old jail inmate was able to hang himself while under the
control of CCA. According to a recently released report by Bay County’s
contract monitor, Roger Hagen, a jail guard identified as J. Harris
"counted" James Sly as part of a midnight shift head count without
seeing the inmate. The report states the guard "assumed" James Sly
was in the shower because the shower water was running. Harris failed to
follow CCA’s policy that requires guards to only count an inmate after seeing
the person’s "living, breathing flesh," according to Hagen. Hagen’s
report conflicts with previous statements made by the jail’s warden, Kevin
Watson, who in April told The News Herald that a preliminary investigation
suggested that no CCA policies or procedures were violated concerning James
Sly’s death. Watson also said no CCA employees had been reprimanded because
of the incident. In his report, Hagen called on CCA
to "take appropriate disciplinary action" against the officer and
"provide special training for all officers" on the counting
procedures. On
Thursday, Watson declined to comment further on James Sly’s death pending the
outcome of the FDLE investigation. He also declined to comment on Harris’
status with CCA. A report from the FDLE is expected to be completed within
the next two weeks.
May
17, 2005 News Herald
The correctional officer responsible for checking on inmate James T. Sly
during the early morning shift on April 5 was supposed to see him "in
the flesh." He did not, and that night Sly apparently hanged himself in
the inmate showers. The death is still being investigated by the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement. However, an incident review by Roger Hagen,
Bay County’s correctional program manager, found that the Corrections
Corporation of America policies were not followed on the night Sly died. The
fact Officer J. Harris did not physically see Sly when he was doing rounds is
a violation of CCA’s policy "Count Principles and Procedures," Hagen
says in the report, which was forwarded to the County Commission May 10. That
finding counters Warden Kevin Watson’s preliminary investigation last month,
which suggested that all CCA policies or procedures were followed on the
night Sly died.
April
22, 2005 News-Herald
The Florida Ethics Commission found former Bay County commissioner Danny
Sparks in violation of a gifts law Thursday. On terms he agreed to, he will
pay a $1,000 civil penalty and admit fault. Kerrie Stillman, assistant to the
executive director of the Ethics Commission, said that an attorney for Sparks
met with an Ethics Commission advocate and they both approved a settlement
agreement. This includes paying $1,000 "with public censure and
reprimand." The ethics board will submit a final order of the case to
the governor’s office on Tuesday. Gov. Jeb Bush will review it and issue an
executive order stating the findings. He has the authority to impose the
fine, Stillman said. Sparks, contacted at home Thursday, said he was unaware
of any settlement or ruling regarding his case. He said he wouldn’t comment
on it, anyway. Sparks is accused of breaching Florida ethics law during a
trip he and other county officials took in February 2000 to Tennessee to
visit a jail run by Corrections Corporation of America, which also operates
Bay County’s jail and annex. He participated with others in a round of golf —
valued at $240 per person — paid for by county financial adviser Gary Akers.
Florida ethics laws prohibit public officials and employees from accepting
any gift worth $100 or more from a lobbyist. In July 2003, the Florida Police
Benevolent Association filed complaints with the Ethics Commission against
Sparks and two other former county commissioners, Carol Atkinson and Richard
Stewart, as well as former county manager Jon Mantay, former county attorney
Nevin Zimmerman, and Bob Majka, county emergency services director. Public
hearings on the charges would have been held if Sparks didn’t settle his
case. His ethics violation admission frees the county from paying his
attorney fees, said Commission Chairman George Gainer. In March, the County
Commission agreed to pay for the fees of all parties being investigated for
ethics complaints if they were eventually exonerated. Sparks’ case is the
only to be resolved to date.
April
13, 2005 News-Herald
A week after apparently hanging himself in a Bay County Jail shower, James T.
Sly was laid to rest Tuesday in a Panama City cemetery. Special agents with
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have not released the results of
their investigation into the death of the 35-year-old Springfield man, said
FDLE spokeswoman Lisa Lagergren. Sly, a father of six children, was found
dead in a fifth-floor shower room early April 5 by corrections officers,
according to jail officials. Jail officials said because of Sly’s suicidal
tendencies at the time of his arrest, he was placed in an observation unit of
the jail and interviewed at least five times by a mental health counselor.
Jail officials said counselors in February approved Sly’s move into a general
population pod where he continued to receive treatment. Jail officials said
Sly did not display signs that he wanted to hurt himself and guards had no
reason to believe something was wrong when Sly requested to take a shower at
about 2 a.m. on April 5.
April
9, 2005 News-Herald
A Bay County Jail corrections officer faces battery charges following an
investigation into a fight between the guard and an inmate earlier this
week. Corrections Corporation of America fired Grant Cox, 35, of Panama
City on Friday following an internal investigation of a Wednesday evening
melee involving Cox and 19-year-old Skylar Jones, said Warden Kevin Watson.
The incident occurred moments after a jury announced it could not reach a
verdict in Jones’ attempted first-degree murder trial. Watson said Cox
violated Tennessee-based CCA’s policy by striking Jones during a "verbal
altercation" in the jail’s elevator. Watson said Cox allowed the inmate
to "push his buttons." "That was certainly not the right thing
to do," Watson said. Jones said the two men exchanged profanities in the
elevator and said the argument became so heated that Cox grabbed him by the
throat and threw him to the ground. He would not provide details on the
argument. "He put his knee into my
chest and said he was going to" hurt me, Jones said. Jones said he was
not handcuffed at the time. Jones said Cox got off of him when the elevator
doors opened but rushed at him as Jones started walking out of the elevator.
Jones said the guard knocked him into the trash can. Three other CCA guards
noticed the fight and rushed to assist Cox, Jones said. After his
termination, Cox was cited on the misdemeanor charge and released without
posting bond.
April
5, 2005 News-Herald
About three months after police thwarted a Springfield man’s attempt to kill
himself on the DuPont Bridge, the 35-year-old was found dead inside the Bay
County Jail on Tuesday morning. Jail officials said James T. Sly hanged
himself at about 2:40 a.m. in the shower room of his fifth floor housing
unit. Because of the attempt to kill himself in January, Sly originally was
placed in an observation unit of the jail and interviewed at least five times
by a mental heath counselor, Thore said. About a month later, Sly was allowed
to move into a general population pod on the fifth floor of the downtown jail
and continued to receive treatment, Thore said. At about 2 a.m. on Tuesday,
guards conducting a head count listed Sly as being in the housing unit’s
shower area, Thore said. When guards returned about 30 minutes later to
conduct another count, Sly’s cellmate said Sly still was in the shower, Thore
said.
March
14, 2005 News-Herald
You can turn a Styrofoam cup inside out and still drink from it. Several
years ago, an inmate at the Bay County Jail asked then-corrections officer
Kevin Watson if he was aware of this interesting fact. "I said
something like I didn’t think he could do it, but he took that cup he had and
carefully worked it with his hands until it was turned inside out,"
Watson said. Having successfully completed the task, the inmate asked Watson:
"Do you know what the moral of this story is?" "What’s
that?" Watson responded. I have nothing but time," the inmate said.
That is just one of many lessons Watson said he has used to guide him through
18 years in corrections and his first three months as the Bay County Jail’s
warden. "He was right," Watson said of the inmate’s message.
"These guys have nothing but time." During a recent interview with
The News Herald, Watson explained how he has wasted little time making his
mark on the aging facility and a staff trying to recover from repeated
criticism by the press and the community. The newest warden for
Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America’s Bay County facility has
literally "cleaned house" since taking over the reigns from former
Warden Denny Durbin.
March
2, 2005 News Herald
Bay County will reimburse former county officials for attorney’s fees paid to
defend themselves against investigations of ethics violations. On
Tuesday, the Bay County Commission voted 5-0 in favor of reimbursing five
people: former Commissioners Carol Atkinson, Richard Stewart and Danny
Sparks; former County Manager Jon Mantay; and former County Attorney Nevin
Zimmerman. Commission Chairman George Gainer emphasized that the board
will reimburse only the fees that pertain to the officials’ defense of taking
a trip to Nashville, Tenn., in February 2000 to tour a jail operated by
Corrections Corporation of America. The reimbursements also are contingent on
the former county officials’ exoneration. During the trip, at least one
of the county officials, former Commissioner Danny Sparks, played a $240
round of golf paid for by county financial adviser Gary Akers. CCA paid
for county officials’ flights to Nashville, which The Florida Commission on
Ethics found problem- atic because the county should have footed the initial
expense for the trip, said county attorney Mike Burke. It would have been
permissible, he said, for the county to collect reimbursement from CCA
afterward. Bay County was negotiating a contract renewal with CCA at
the time. The Florida Police Benevolent Association, a union representing
police and correctional officers, filed the ethics complaints. The golf
game was not part of PBA’s original complaint. Instead, the complaint was
limited to allegations that CCA paid the officials’ travel, lodging and meal
expenses for the trip. Florida law prohibits public officials from
accepting any gift with a value of more than $100 from a
"lobbyist." In August 2004, Atkinson was cleared of the charges, so
her $1,085 in legal expenses is guaranteed reimbursement. Burke said she
proved that she was unaware CCA, not the county, was paying for the Nashville
trip.
February
24, 2005 News Herald
Bay County Jail officials ordered last weekend the installation of exterior,
sliding-bolt locks on transport van doors to prevent escape attempts by
inmates, said the jail’s warden.
The new locks come after an inmate broke out of a Corrections Corporation of
America transport van Friday afternoon, resulting in an 18-hour manhunt. On Friday,
18-year-old Jeremy D. Aultman of Panama City Beach manipulated the CCA van’s
door-locking mechanism through the interior paneling, CCA officials said.
Aultman then escaped from the van that was transporting 13 inmates to the Bay
County Jail Annex, CCA officials said.
Along with new locks, maintenance crews placed a steel plate over the
interior passenger-door panels of the transport van that Aultman escaped
from, Watson said. Watson said steel plates already
were in place on other CCA vans. Watson on Tuesday defended the actions of
his transport driver, who prisoners said failed to notice Aultman trying to
escape and then ran from the vehicle to catch Aultman, according to police
reports. Watson said Tyndal followed CCA
policies and has not been disciplined. Tyndal climbed out of the van to chase
Aultman but gave up and returned to the van, according to the reports. Though
none of the 12 remaining inmates joined Aultman in trying to flee, some
reported to police that they had ample opportunity. Inmate Ryan Meadows and
Stanford W. Ferguson sat behind Aultman during the transport from the main
jail to Bayou George, according to CCA incident reports. "Tyndal jumped
out of the van, leaving his door and our door wide open — keys still in the
van," Meadows stated in the incident report. Ferguson concurred Meadows’
report that Tyndal chased Aultman without securing the van’s doors. Meadows added that when Tyndal came back to the van, the
guard took the inmates on a "high-speed" chase through the nearby
residential area called The Cove. Friday’s escape attempt occurred about five
months after four inmates at the main jail escaped from their cells and held
CCA employees hostage. A faulty cell door lock received part of the blame for
allowing the uprising, according to a state investigation.
February
24, 2005 News Herald
Former Bay County Commissioner Danny Sparks has entered into a "joint
stipulation" with an advocate for the Florida Commission on Ethics in
which Sparks admits he violated state law when he accepted a $240 round of
golf paid for by the county’s financial adviser. The Ethics Commission
must approve the stipulation, which it will consider at its April 21 meeting.
The Florida Police Benevolent Association, a union representing police and
correctional officers, filed ethics complaints against Sparks and five other
former and current county officials in July 2003. The complaints targeted a
February 2000 trip the officials took to Tennessee to visit a jail operated
by Corrections Corporation of America, which also operates Bay County’s jail
and jail annex. As a second leg of the trip, the officials traveled to
Arizona to view a publicly run jail. Bay County was negotiating a contract
renewal with CCA at the time. The PBA also filed complaints, each with
multiple allegations, against former Commissioners Carol Atkinson and Richard
Stewart, former County Manager Jon Mantay, former county attorney Nevin
Zimmerman, and county Emergency Services Chief Bob Majka. The Ethics
Commission issued probable-cause findings against all but Atkinson. All
allegations against her were dismissed. Spark’s stipulation with the
commission advocate includes a recommendation that he be fined $1,000 and
that he be publicly censured and reprimanded. The public censure and
reprimand would occur as part of an executive order by the governor. The $240
golf game, which was played during the trip, was paid for by Gary Akers, a
financial consultant that assists the county with bond issues. Florida law
prohibits public officials from accepting any gift with a value of more than
$100 from a "lobbyist." Ken Kopczynski, PBA’s legislative
assistant, said Ethics Commission investigators found out about the golf game
as part of their review of the PBA’s complaint. The Ethics Commission
dismissed allegations against Sparks related to CCA’s paying his travel
expenses. The commission based the dismissal on its determination that Sparks
was not aware that CCA was paying for the trip. The dismissal of the
allegations against former Commissioner Atkinson was based on the same
determination. In its probable cause findings issued in September, the Ethics
Commission found: That Majka, Mantay and Zimmerman may have violated state
gift laws by allowing CCA to pay their travel expenses. That Majka and
Stewart, in addition to Sparks, may have violated gift laws by accepting
rounds of golf from Akers. The commission dismissed the most serious
allegations — that the officials accepted the gifts with knowledge that they
were intended to influence future votes or decisions. Kopczynski said
Wednesday that he believes the stipulation with Sparks is
"reasonable." But he noted that allegations related to CCA would
not be addressed until the other officials enter into stipulations or
settlements or take their cases to hearing. Kopczynski’s organization, the
Police Benevolent Association, opposes privately operated prisons and jails.
February
22, 2005 News Herald
Will Rogers famously said that if you find yourself in a hole, the first
thing to do is stop digging. Corrections Corporation of America would do well
to heed his advice. Last summer’s takeover and hostage situation brought
scrutiny to CCA, the following investigations and News Herald reports exposed
gaps in security. CCA went into damage control mode. Now that Bay County is
talking about building an expansion to the existing jail annex for
maximum-security inmates, nearby residents are worried — and rightly so
("Jail plans hit home," Feb. 21). Even as Ryan Burr was writing the
story about residents’ fears, an inmate escaped from a van transporting
prisoners to the facility from downtown. Residents raise these kinds of fears
any time a new prison or jail is planned. "Not in my back yard" is
a common refrain no matter how safe a facility is. Most of them are, in fact,
safe as can be and the fears turn out to be all hype. This time, though,
residents do have something to be worried about: a corporation which has,
time and time again, proven itself to be incompetent and possibly dangerous
to its prisoners and workers. According to the state of Florida, 109
prisoners escaped from the Florida Department of Corrections in the fiscal
year beginning July 2003. But almost every single one came from a work
release program — in other words, they only had to walk away. Inmates who
escape these programs are non-violent and pose little threat to the
communities around them. Only three actually escaped from the custody of
correctional facilities. Since September, five prisoners have escaped their
cells at CCA facilities in Bay County — more than other correctional
facilities in the entire previous year in the entire state of Florida. That’s
not the kind of record that inspires confidence. It’s more important for the
county to ensure that CCA establishes a normal level of security than it is
to build new facilities or shuffle prisoners from one jail to another. CCA is
steadily losing the trust of Bay County citizens by failing again and again
to meet security requirements. If CCA didn’t learn its lesson from the events
of September, it’s unlikely that one more escape will drive the point home.
First things first: Bay County needs to follow through on its plan to accept
bids for the jail contract and decide who could do the job best — even if
that means giving CCA the boot. A maximum-security jail doesn’t need to be a
dangerous place for nearby residents. Normal jails don’t have escapes every
year, or even every few years. It’s only because of CCA’s lax security that
residents have to worry. Once the jails have a real measure of security, a
maximum-security jail near residences might make sense. Until then, the NIMBY
folks have a point — with CCA in charge, no one would want a jail in their
back yard.
February
21, 2005 News Herald
When Dana Knight awoke one morning in 1997 to find bloody handprints on a
rented U-Haul truck and the driver’s window busted out, she didn’t have to
think long about possible culprits. Living near the Bay County Jail Annex on
Nehi Road, she understands there is a risk of escapees coming onto her
property. That is what happened in July 1997. Four inmates — three with
previous charges of murder or attempted murder — broke out of the jail annex.
When one of them could not jumpstart Knight’s U-Haul, the group went to
another residence and stole a vehicle, Knight said. Within about two days,
all of the inmates were apprehended. Knight and her husband, Dan, have two
children, ages 6 and 11. The couple used to live near the main Bay County Jail
in downtown Panama City, which keeps the most serious criminals in maximum
security. "I don’t think the CCA (Corrections Corporation of America)
has done their job," she said, referencing an inmate takeover on Sept. 5
and 6 at the downtown jail. Four men were arrested in that incident and face
kidnapping charges. CCA operates both facilities.
February
20, 2005 News Herald
A 23-year-old Bay County Jail inmate faces a charge of introducing
contraband into a corrections facility after he told a guard he was hiding
money in his rectum, according to a jail investigation report. Chris Eckman of Panama City informed a jail guard Friday
evening of a $100 bill hidden in his body, according to the report. The report does
not explain the reason Eckman possessed the cash. Eckman is awaiting trial on
charges of smuggling drugs into the jail , according to court records. Eckman
was convicted of burglary and grand theft in 2001 and placed on probation,
according to court records. In 2002, he was arrested for violating probation
and in 2004 was found possessing methamphetamine and Ecstasy inside the jail
, according to court records.
February
20, 2005 News Herald
Police captured and returned to jail a Panama
City Beach man
on Saturday, a day after he escaped from a transport van. Panama
City police found Jeremy D. Aultman, 18, at about 7
a.m., walking through a residential area about a block from where he escaped,
according to police reports. Aultman
became the subject of a manhunt Friday afternoon when he unlocked the transport
van’s door from the inside and ran from the vehicle as it waited on a traffic
signal. Thore said Aultman was en route to the Bay County Jail Annex in Bayou
George with 12 other inmates when he escaped. Thore said Correction
Corporation of America ,
the Tennessee company that manages the jail
for Bay County
, continues to investigate the incident.
February 19, 2005 News
Herald
A Panama City Beach teen remained on the run Friday night after escaping
from a Bay County Jail transport van Friday afternoon, a jail official said.
Assistant Warden Richard Thore said police continued to search for accused
felon Jeremy Daniel Aultman, 18, of 229 E. Lakeshore Drive. Thore said the
search began at about 1:30 p.m. after a Corrections Corporation of America
transport van driver reported that an inmate escaped from the van. The CCA
driver was transporting 13 inmates from the downtown jail to the CCA jail
annex in Bayou George, he said. CCA manages the jail , the jail annex and the
Bay Correctional Facility. The CCA van was stopped at the intersection of
U.S. Business 98 and Cove Boulevard, when Aultman tripped a locking
mechanism, pulled the van door open and fled south, Thore said. The 12 other
inmates remained in the van, he said.
February
9, 2005 News Herald
The four men who investigators say took hostages during a Bay County Jail
takeover in September may be ready for trial by late spring. James Norton, Kevin Winslett, Matthew Coffin and Kevin Nix
are accused of holding nurses hostage during a jail standoff on Sept. 5 and
6. All four are facing kidnapping charges that could land them in prison for
life.
February
5, 2005 News Herald
Police arrested a Bay County Jail corrections officer on multiple drug charges
while on his way to work Friday afternoon, according to a Bay County
Sheriff’s Office news release. Jamie Bishop, 29, of the 5200 block of
State 22A, faces charges of selling cocaine, possession of cocaine,
possession of steroids, possession of Xanax, possession of drug paraphernalia
and sale of a controlled substance, according to the news release. Bishop was
taken to the Bay County Jail and held pending bond.
January 24, 2005 News Herald
Former jail nurse Ann Marie "Amie" Hunt was a bundle of emotions
Friday as she talked about the night she almost died during an inmate
standoff at the Bay County Jail. Hunt was shot three times the morning of
Sept. 6 after a 12-hour standoff between four inmates and Bay County
deputies. Bullets entered her hip, back and left leg, damaging bones and
vital organs. Hunt, who was unable to stop herself from crying through much
of the interview and showed flashes of deep anger, said she has hired a
lawyer to explore the incident, the way it was handled and how it has been
investigated by the different agencies involved. She declined to go
into too much detail about the night of Sept. 5 and morning of Sept. 6, but
did say she never felt like her life was in danger during the standoff.
Investigators said four hostages gained control of a third-floor holding
cell, including the nurses’ station and prescription drug cabinet. Through
the standoff, the inmates released all the hostages but Hunt. Her husband, James Hunt, is still employed by Corrections
Corporation of America, the jail’s owner. He said he’s on the payroll but is
allowed to stay home and care for his wife.
January
1, 2005 News Herald
On the evening of Sept. 5, four inmates at the Bay County Jail broke free
from their third-floor cells, subdued a guard and took four people hostage.
The standoff ended 12 hours later in a hail of gunfire that injured a hostage
and two inmates. Three months later, the incident continues to brew. A
guard has been fired and the warden replaced while three deputies who opened
fire have been cleared by prosecutors and investigators. But many questions
remain: Did jail supervisors fail to fix broken door locks? Did a guard fail
to secure the inmates’ cells? Does the county need to rethink its
relationship with Corrections Corporation of America, the Tennessee company
hired to run the jail and annex? The Bay County Commission could answer
the last question in the coming year, as it decides whether to put the jail
operations contract — which CCA has held for nearly 20 years — out for bid.
December
30, 2004 News Herald
Like anything else, a jail is as secure as its weakest link. And as
Anthony Cormier’s Wednesday article "County report addresses issues in
jail incident" described the findings of Bay County’s contract monitor,
any weak link can become the weakest under the right circumstance. Therefore,
contract monitor Roger Hagen’s report on the September hostage incident
should not be reviewed as just another attempt to get to the bottom of the
inmate takeover. Investigative authorities have done that, tracing the
immediate spark to an apparently manipulable guard whom Corrections
Corporation of America has since dismissed. To some extent, CCA preempted
Hagen’s report by also reassigning the jail warden. Clearly, too much was
amiss to blame just a wayward guard. Supervisors rarely checked duty logs,
Hagen found. And when they did, it apparently wasn’t to look for weak links —
a broken key and a missing flashlight repeatedly were documented, for
example, to no avail. CCA should correct notated security related maintenance
issues within 24 hours, Hagen said, reasonably. The new warden’s biggest
challenge will be to persuade jail staff that CCA really wants to start doing
things right. Alas, from Hagen’s report, that’s a tall order. Hagen depicted a
culture in which employees feared retaliation by management if they made
supervisors "aware of any problems, staff errors or performance
deficiencies." In other words, the culture outside the cells seemed
little different from the culture that prevailed behind bars. We agree with
Hagen that CCA needs to refute what he calls a "correctional code of
silence." Do it by calling employees together, or in writing, but do it.
If employees don’t believe that CCA means business, their business becomes to
create even more weak links, not fix them.
December
30, 2004 News Herald
A man who says he was in the Bay County Jail in September when four other
inmates took hostages on the third floor has sued the jail’s corporate owner
in federal court. Richard Lewis Bell Sr. of Ellenwood, Ga., filed suit Nov. 8
against Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America seeking $100,000
for reckless endangerment, "cruel and harsh treatment,"
"mental stress," failing to maintain a maximum security area, and
failing to comply with the state "no smoking" law. Bell stated in a
handwritten complaint that he went through "living hell" during and
after a Sept. 5 takeover of the third floor. He stated that after deputies
stormed the cellblock and shot two alleged hostage-takers and a nurse, the
jail’s guards "went total nuts." Bell wrote that he and other
inmates who were not involved in the takeover were thrown to the floor and
grabbed by the hair. He stated that in the days that followed, two-man cells
were filled with four inmates each, and the inmates were fed once every 24
hours.
December
29, 2004 News Herald
Bay County Jail managers were not regularly reviewing duty and maintenance
logs in the weeks before September’s inmate takeover and failed to address
issues — including a faulty cell door — that precipitated the standoff,
according to a county review obtained by The News Herald. An Unusual Incident
Review, completed last week by Bay County’s jail contract monitor, Roger
Hagen, offers a chronology of the takeover and 10 corrective actions for
Corrections Corporation of America supervisors. Among the recommendations are
disciplinary action for a third-floor guard — who two weeks ago was fired —
and a more thorough review by managers of daily logs compiled by jail staff. In the county’s review, Hagen found that Officer James
Hall was "less than truthful with law enforcement" when he recanted
portions of his story during interviews with police. Hall repeatedly
told Sheriff’s Office investigators that he was scared to work on the third floor
of the downtown facility and acknowledged violating numerous CCA policies
because he knew supervisors rarely checked duty logs. Hagen’s review seems to
second that notion. "When reviewing this documentation, for a 2-4 week
time period prior to the incident," Hagen wrote, "it was apparent
that managers or supervisors are either not regularly reviewing the logs or
if they are, they are not addressing the issues they document. As an example,
a broken key and a missing flashlight were repetitively documented by
different shift floor officers in the third floor post duty log for the
entire time frame I reviewed." The logs show a history of maintenance
problems on the third floor, including reports of broken locks that went
unfixed at least two weeks before the takeover, according to a November
examination by The News Herald. State agents confirmed the newspaper’s
examination in an Florida Department of Law Enforcement report, in which
guards, nurses and inmates all claimed that the door to cell C-1 easily could
be defeated. Perhaps a more pressing issue
cited in the review is a "correctional code of silence," which
keeps staff from reporting problems for fear of retribution. "Most of
the staff I had discussions with," he wrote, "were concerned about
being identified if they shared issues or concerns with me."
December
19, 2004 News Herald
The Tennessee company that operates the Bay County Jail fired a corrections
officer Friday, three months after inmates held him hostage during a 12-hour
standoff with police. Corrections Corporation of America terminated James C.
Hall of Lynn Haven for violations of CCA policy, according to Kevin Watson,
Bay County Jail warden. Watson declined to comment on
specific violations Hall committed. He confirmed that Hall’s violations were
related to the escape of inmates from their cells in September. Hall, 26, had been
on administrative leave since Sept. 6 pending police and CCA investigations
into the jail break that resulted in four inmates escaping from their cells
and taking Hall and three nurses hostage. According to an Florida Department
of Law Enforcement report on the hostage-taking incident, Hall admitted
during an interview with law enforcement agents that he allowed inmates to
shut themselves into their cells and falsified shift logs relating to
inmates’ time in the jail’s third-floor day room. The inmates, nurses and
Hall told investigators that inmates were able to escape from their cells
because of faulty locks on cell doors, something they said was common
knowledge in the jail, according to the FDLE report. Inmates also told
investigators they decided to start the incident because of inhumane living
conditions at the jail, including insufficient medical care, physical and
mental abuse by guards and low-quality food, according to the FDLE report.
December
16, 2004 News Herald
The Tennessee company that runs the Bay County Jail is "switching out
wardens" less than a week after the release of a state report detailing
personnel failures and maintenance problems that spurred September’s inmate
takeover. Despite the timing, Corrections Corporation of America officials
insist that the move — current Warden Denny Durbin is out; longtime CCA
administrator Kevin Watson is in — has nothing to do with the 12-hour siege
and torrent of scrutiny that followed. The
Sept. 5 standoff, which ended in gunfire on the third floor of the downtown
facility, left one hostage and two inmates with bullet wounds. But the FDLE also
confirmed a News Herald investigation of equipment failures on the jail’s
third floor, where shift logs and maintenance records show a history of
broken locks in the segregation unit. One of the accused inmates slipped from
one of the cells at the start of the takeover, and FDLE interviews indicate
that the maintenance problems were repeatedly reported to jail supervisors.
One of the hostages told agents, according to an interview transcript, that
Durbin and security chief Chuck Bellows were aware of the broken locks before
the takeover. Also, the lone guard working on the third floor told
investigators that he routinely falsified shift logs, broke company policy
regarding the number of inmates allowed out of their cells and allowed
prisoners to lock their own cells the night of the siege.
December
9, 2004 News Herald
So, it all started months before, with a jail cell lock that didn’t work. It
ended, of course, when a Sheriff’s Office SWAT team terminated with bullets a
tense 12-hour hostage standoff. In between, from May to September, the broken
lock repeatedly was brought to Corrections Corporation of America’s attention
by guards and other jail personnel. It repeatedly got fixed but never for
very long. It apparently didn’t work for almost two weeks before the Sept. 5
blowup. The last guard who brought it to CCA’s attention did so indirectly,
by being knocked to the floor by inmates leaving the cellblock to raise
havoc. The ensuing bloody confrontation involving inmates, hostages and SWAT
team sharpshooters was unusual by any corrections measure. The broken lock
wasn’t, at least not at the Bay County Jail.
The News Herald’s Anthony Cormier has written, and on Tuesday the
release of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report confirmed, that
jail staff reported the broken lock at least five times. The easily opened
cell was common knowledge around the jail. It
does indicate that CCA was not concerned about oversight. Bay County has a
stunningly ineffective full-time corrections program manager on county staff
(he complains he gets no respect from CCA). The Sheriff’s Office, the jail’s
best customer, has no say in managing what goes on inside. County commissioners think only about cost.
December
9, 2004 News Herald
A guard failed to secure cell doors that he allowed inmates to shut
themselves the night of a 12-hour siege at the Bay County Jail, according to
interview transcripts obtained by The News Herald. Officer James Hall
acknowledged to detectives that he falsified shift logs related to inmates’
time in a third-floor day room and said he made a "mistake" in allowing
three of the four accused hostagetakers out of their cells in the hours
before the Sept. 5 standoff, the transcripts show. Hall, 26, also admitted
lying to Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents about the severity of a
blow to his head during the takeover, according to an interview conducted
more than a month after the incident. In a Nov. 22 interview with a Bay
County Sheriff’s Office investigator, Hall said he did not secure a lock box
—which ensures all the cell doors are locked — and told inmates to close cell
doors themselves. According to the transcript: Hall had allowed four inmates
— including suspected hostage-takers James Norton, Kevin Winslett and Kevin
Nix — to mingle in a day room earlier in the day. Corrections Corporation of
America policy maintains that only one inmate at a time be allowed to enter
the segregation unit’s day room. Hall said he normally allowed more than one
inmate into the day room, and often falsified shift logs to show that only
one prisoner was in the room recreation area. The guard knew that this was a
policy violation, but said that he knew he wouldn’t be disciplined because
supervisors "hardly ever check the logs." Despite indications that
the doors may not have been closed, Hall and others — including inmates and
nurses — maintain that Norton escaped from his cell because a door lock was
broken. Maintenance records show that the lock to Norton’s cell, 3C-1,
repeatedly malfunctioned and had not been fixed in two weeks before the
takeover. Nix, Nurse Kathleen Baucum and Norton’s cellmate each told FDLE
agents that Norton’s door did not lock, and jail staff repeatedly told
supervisors of the problem. A 750-page FDLE report, released this week,
indicates that the equipment malfunction triggered the breakout. "It’s a
well-known fact," Baucum told investigators. "It’s been put in
writing by me … it’s been put in writing by my supervisor … and by another
nurse and by (Chief of Security Chuck) Bellows himself." In an interview with FDLE agents, Norton accused Hall of
being "in on" the escape plan and said Hall had only one request
for the inmates: "Just don’t hurt me." Hall strongly
denied the allegation that he knew of the inmates’ plan, saying he lied
during his initial interview because he wanted to keep his job. Hall said he
was "scared" to work on the third floor and believed that a second
officer should be assigned to the pod during each shift. "The way the
jail is run," Hall told investigators, "the way it was run when I
was there scares me, it doesn’t feel safe ever."
December
8, 2004 News Herald
The use of deadly force by police during a jail uprising and hostage
situation in September that left two prisoners and a hostage injured was
necessary, State Attorney Jim Appleman has determined. In a letter sent to
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Monday, Appleman stated his
office had reviewed the FDLE’s investigative report of the incident and
determined that officers’ gunfire was justified, including a SWAT team
member’s shot that injured a hostage. The standoff began at about 8 p.m. on
Sept. 5, when officers from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s hostage
negotiation and SWAT teams responded to a report of a hostage situation at
the Bay County Jail, managed by Corrections Corporation of America. According
to the FDLE report, during an attempt to escape, inmates Kevin Winslett,
Kevin Nix, Matthew Coffin and James Norton had jumped a CCA corrections
officer and three nurses working on the third floor of the jail and were
holding them hostage. During the 12-hour standoff, the hostage negotiation
team was able to free the corrections officer and two nurses before one of
the inmates, Kevin Nix, threatened to kill the remaining nurse, Ann Marie
"Amy" Hunt, according to the report. Lead negotiator Jimmy
Stanford, who was conducting face-to-face negotiations with the inmates, saw
Nix with his arms around Hunt with a scalpel to her neck and a syringe to her
stomach, according to the report. At that time, convinced the "situation
was getting worse," Stanford said Tuesday, he pulled a pistol and fired
at Nix’s legs. SWAT team members Lt. Rad Nelson and Sgt. Tony Bruening were
hiding in a room near the hostages and the inmates when they heard the shots,
according to the report. They came out of the room and fired toward the
inmates. One of the rounds from Bruening’s gun hit Hunt in her left hip and
came to rest in her kidney, according to the report. Hunt was struck three
times, including in her lower leg and the small of her back, according to the
FDLE report. Nix suffered a gunshot wound to the front of his left calf, and
Norton was shot once in the in the front lower left leg, according to the
report.
December
8, 2004 News Herald
It was common knowledge, an open secret that everybody — guards, nurses,
inmates and supervisors — was in on. Florida Department of Law Enforcement
documents confirmed Tuesday that a broken lock triggered September’s inmate
takeover at the Bay County Jail, allowing one prisoner to escape from his
cell and ambush the lone guard on the third floor of the downtown facility.
The FDLE file supports a recent News Herald investigation, which revealed two
weeks ago that jail staff reported five times in the 60 days prior to the
takeover that third-floor locks were broken or had malfunctioned. According
to maintenance records, work orders and shift logs, jail personnel requested
maintenance work for a door lock to Cell 3C-1. The first request was made on
May 23; the final request came on Aug. 23, when a guard wrote that the door
again needed to be fixed. But the work order was returned without a signature
and remarks include: "need to fix door … officer did not have
time." It was this broken lock, the FDLE case file shows, that allowed
inmate James Norton to escape at the beginning of the 12-hour siege. Norton slipped
out of his cell, then struck officer James Hall in the back of the head,
stole his keys and freed four other inmates.
FDLE interviews with guards, nurses and inmates indicate that jail
supervisors were aware of the equipment problems, although officials from the
private company hired to run the jail have declined comment on the matter. Hall, the officer
who was slugged in the head with a padlock wrapped inside a sock, told
investigators that the third-floor locks long had been a problem, according
to an FDLE transcript. In a meeting with The News Herald last week, CCA
President John Ferguson said Hall had been placed on administrative leave
since the incident. "Cell 1 does not lock," Hall told the agents.
"Everybody knows it. We have put in a request to get it fixed.
Maintenance says that they have fixed it, but they can still roll right out
of it."
December
1, 2004 News Herald
It was an ambush. A corrections
officer on the third floor of the Bay County Jail was tricked by an inmate
"playing possum" and struck in the back of the head with a padlock
or bar of soap wrapped in a sock, according to CCA officials who laid bare
Tuesday the chronology of events that precipitated September’s standoff at
the downtown facility. CCA President John Ferguson
acknowledged that the incident on Sept. 5 was a watershed moment for the Bay
County Jail and may have sullied CCA’s public reputation. A controversial
afteraction report, compiled by an outside law firm to gauge CCA’s liability,
sparked the disconnect and left both sides wondering how to mend a
relationship fractured by the takeover.
Last month, CCA officials delivered to the county’s contract monitor a ream
of documents requested four days after the incident. The News Herald also
requested and obtained those records, which showed a history of broken locks
and equipment problems on the third floor of the jail, where the takeover
occurred. According
to Turner: At about 9 p.m. on Sept. 5, a third-floor corrections officer
approached an inmate in a segregation unit about a dose of medicine. When the
inmate didn’t respond, the officer entered the cell and tried to awaken him.
The inmate, Turner said, was "playing possum" and setting the stage
for a pre-planned escape attempt. With the officer in the cell, another inmate
sneaked behind and swung at the officer’s head with an improvised weapon —
likely a bar of soap or padlock wrapped in a sock and wielded like a mace.
The officer radioed for help and the shift captain raced to the third floor,
slamming shut a riot gate and shutting down elevators to keep the inmates
from getting off that floor. With their escape foiled, the inmates rushed
across the hall to a nurse’s station — where an examination of maintenance
records shows at least one instance of broken locks in the 60 days preceding
the takeover. At least one CCA staffer
has been placed on administrative leave since Sept. 6, although officials
refused to identify the employee or the employee’s position. In a letter to
Bay County’s jail contract monitor, a CCA attorney wrote that any employee
who failed to follow company policy has been "counseled, retrained,
reassigned or disciplined, as appropriate." It is unclear how many
employees this applies to, and CCA officials said they could not immediately
release that information.
November
22, 2004 News Herald
The medical pod and segregation wing of the Bay County Jail were plagued by
broken and jammed door locks in the weeks leading up to September’s inmate
takeover, according to maintenance requests and work orders obtained by The
News Herald. There is plenty of smoke but no smoking gun in a ream of
documents released by Corrections Corporation of America, the Tennessee
company tasked with an internal investigation of policies, procedures and
possible failures that contributed to the 12-hour standoff on Sept. 5.
Records indicate that a series of equipment problems on the third floor of
the Bay County Jail precipitated the uprising, which ended when negotiators
stormed the medical pod and shot one hostage and two inmates. A CCA liaison
met Friday morning with Roger Hagen, the county’s jail point man, to hand
over records requested four days after the incident. The News Herald also
filed public record requests for the documents. Hagen and CCA engaged for
more than two months in a muted battle over the records, publicly squabbling
over an "after-action report" and a dearth of communication during
the internal probe. Hagen said Friday he expected to review the materials
over the weekend before reporting back to the Bay County Commission, which
soon is expected to seek bidders on the contract to run the downtown jail and
Nehi Road annex. A News Herald examination of the
paperwork reveals no definitive evidence suggesting how the inmates escaped
their cells, although shift logs and maintenance requests show a history of
equipment problems on the floor where the four accused inmates were being
held.
According to jail records: At least
five times in the 60 days prior to the takeover, CCA personnel requested
maintenance work for a door lock to Cell 3C-1.In interviews following the
standoff, authorities suggested Norton set off the takeover by escaping from
his cell, 3C-1, and beating a guard in the medical pod. One of the hostages,
Glenda Baker, told The News Herald that she was distributing medicine on the
third floor when the lights suddenly went off and one of the locks failed.
Baker said one of the inmates released the others and overtook the floor’s
lone guard, and negotiators contend that the inmates used a padlock to seal
the faulty door from police. Perhaps the most controversial element of CCA’s
investigation is the "after-action report," a compilation of
liabilities put together for the company by an outside law firm. Jennifer
Taylor, CCA’s senior director of business development, said Friday that there
was some confusion about the legal probe, which resulted not in a tangible
report but informal guidelines for the company to follow. CCA employees who
failed to follow company policy in connection with the incident have been
"counseled, retrained, reassigned or disciplined, as appropriate."
It is unclear how many employees this applies to, and CCA officials said they
could not immediately release that information.
November
20, 2004 News Herald
Bay County and the company hired to run its jail met Friday to make amends
for two months of quiet bickering, with each side making concessions to the
other in the fight for information about September’s hostage taking and
standoff at the Bay County Jail.
A Corrections Corporation of America liaison was in Panama City on Friday for
a discussion with Roger Hagen, the county’s jail point man. Hagen previously
said he was frustrated by CCA’s slow response to the request, which was made
four days after the takeover.
November
14, 2004 News Herald
Everybody wants to know what happened — and CCA refuses to say. Bay County officials trying to determine
the root of September’s inmate takeover at the Bay County Jail have run into
a corporate-size roadblock and are now trying to pry vital information from
the tight-lipped, $141-million company that operates the county’s downtown
facility. Corrections Corporation of
America was blamed last week for a lack of cooperation during the aftermath
of the hostage-taking and standoff that landed a nurse and two prisoners in
the hospital. County leaders criticized the company for operating in secret
and failing to consult with local administrators on the outcome of a
controversial after-action report. The
report is supposed to detail how four inmates got free from their cells,
obtained weapons, took hostages and kept the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at
bay for 12 hours. Roger Hagen, the
county’s correctional program manager, said CCA has kept him in the dark
during its investigation and has not consulted with him. Commissioners Jerry
Girvin and Cornel Brock said they were not aware of any communication between
the county and the company — despite contrary claims by CCA. "We’ve been
in contact with Bay County throughout this process," said Louise Chickering,
a marketing executive at the company’s Nashville, Tenn., headquarters.
"We are keeping them up to date." "They are? Well, who are
they talking to?" Hagen asked last week. "It’s not me. You’d think
by now they would have been in contact with someone." Said Girvin:
"It sounds very confusing to me, on their part. On CCA’s part." The
disconnect was triggered by an incident summary and review that Chickering
said was completed more than two weeks ago. But last week, Chickering hedged
against that claim, saying that only "the investigation is complete but
the report is not." Several groups, including The News Herald, have
filed formal requests to review the report, but a CCA attorney said the
after-action report never will become a public record. That’s because the investigation was performed by a
private law firm hired by CCA, legal counsel Gus Puryear said Thursday. The
law firm, Puryear said, was brought in to protect the company from liability. For Brock and
Hagen, CCA’s reluctance to share information is troubling. The county
recently recouped $1.25 million from the company in return for a contract
extension through September 2005.
To dissuade the county from bidding out the contract to operate the jail —
which commissioners ultimately decided to do — CCA offered to reduce Bay’s
bill by $83,333 a month from June 1 through May 31, 2005. CCA also paid the
county a lump sum of $250,000 on Oct. 1. The company also has been besieged by bad
public relations, as CCA struggled with riots, takeovers and a homicide in
the last four months. In a two-week period in July, inmates nearly overtook
facilities in Colorado and Mississippi. That followed a July 7 homicide in
Nashville and a smaller uprising in Oklahoma. A Colorado Department of
Corrections report indicated that understaffing led to a slow response to a
disturbance at the Crowley County Correctional Institution — where inmates
beat cellmates and set fires across the facility. That the company has not
been forthcoming during its investigation of the Bay County Jail is disconcerting,
Hagen said. While he has remained in touch with local CCA administrators,
Hagen said his dealings with the corporate office have been uneasy at best.
Like others, Hagen has tried for weeks to keep abreast of the company’s
critical incident review. But getting his hands on the after-action report
has proved impossible. "I don’t know if I can get a copy," Hagen
said, "and its contents have never been discussed." Brock, who leaves office Tuesday, said the problem may
lie with the County Commission and its staff, which has never shown the
"enthusiasm" necessary to keep tabs on the jail.
November
9, 2004 News Herald
A state investigation into September’s inmate takeover and police shootings
at the Bay County Jail is complete and likely will be turned in to the State
Attorney’s Office today. In its
review of the incident, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement focused
solely on the shootings of a jail nurse and two inmates accused of
barricading themselves inside a third-floor medical wing. In addition to
FDLE and Sheriff’s Office documents, CCA spokeswoman Louise Chickering said
jail administrators completed an after-action report about two weeks ago.
Chickering also said the company had been in contact with Bay County
officials about its findings. A CCA attorney later denied a News Herald
public record request to review that report.
Panama City lawyer Cliff Higby said the report had not yet been
finished. And Roger Hagen, Bay County’s correctional program manager, said
the Nashville-based company had not spoken with local officials regarding the
after-action report. "I don’t know who in the world they’ve been talking
to," Hagen said two weeks ago. "But they haven’t been talking to
me."
November
3, 2004 News Herald
One of four men charged in a September jailhouse kidnapping pleaded Tuesday
to the charges that had him in the Bay County Jail initially. Matthew Coffin, 18, pleaded no contest to escape, robbery
with a weapon and attempted robbery with a weapon. Coffin is one of four men
accused of taking hostages in a jailhouse standoff Sept. 5. The standoff
ended when sheriff’s deputies stormed a third-floor holding cell and shot a
suspect and the hostage.
October
9, 2004 News Herald
The company that manages the Bay County Jail has completed an internal investigation
into a September hostage taking at the facility. Louise Chickering, a spokeswoman for the Nashville-based
Corrections Corporation of America, said company investigators have finished
an "after action report" assessing the incident. "We have completed
the report and are keeping the county up to date on all our processes and
getting as much feedback as possible," Chickering said. The report is
not available for public inspection, Chickering said. On Sept. 5, police said four jail prisoners barricaded
themselves with four CCA nurses on the third floor of the jail. The Florida
Department of Law Enforcement is expected to complete a
"fact-finding" report by the end of October, said Lisa Lagergren,
spokeswoman for the FDLE.
October
6, 2004 News Herald
Police are awaiting the autopsy report for a 22-year-old Springfield man
before closing the investigation into his suspected self-inflicted death at
the Bay County Jail during Hurricane Ivan. Bay County Sheriff’s Office
Investigator John Sumerall said it appears that William Henry Cantor hanged
himself from his jail cell bunk with a bedsheet Sept. 15. He said Cantor died
alone in a jail cell located in a section of the jail used specifically for
inmates who request to be isolated from other inmates.
September
26, 2004 News Herald
An inmate disappeared from the Bay County Jail in downtown Panama City at
about 8 p.m. Friday and remained on the lam Saturday night. "We’re
working some leads. As of yet they have proven to be fruitless," said
Lt. Dave Delaney with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. "We are actively
looking for him."
September
12, 2004 News Herald
I will not second-guess the command decision to utilize deadly force when
SWAT members stormed the Bay County jail. I will let an objective and
comprehensive afteraction investigation review those facts. There are,
however, several initial items which warrant complete review. As a retired
associate warden with the Federal Bureau of Prisons (22˝ years), I’ve had
some experience in these matters. First, was there a clear chain of command?
Who was "calling the shots" regarding the negotiations — Bay County
Officials or Corrections Corporation of America’s warden of the site? Second,
was there a public information officer designated to speak on all matters to
the media? Negotiators usually never speak to the media during negotiations
as Sheriff Frank McKeithen did. Third, I read where a door would not lock and
the staff panic-button alarm system malfunctioned. These issues are
inexcusable. Security conditions (cell locking mechanisms, staff emergency
equipment, etc.) must be checked each shift — daily — and when found
inoperative fixed immediately, or replaced with functioning equipment.
Fourthly, how could inmates access controlled medications? Facilities are required
to have these items safely secured (behind a grille in a safe) and available
for immediate disposal through a chute in event of an emergency. Finally,
who’s overseeing CCA’s compliance with contractual requirements, correctional
personnel and jail standards, and regulations? Many important issues must be
addressed through an objective post-incident investigation team.
Accountability for incompetence must be made. By Fred Apple. The writer, who
helped run federal prisons in Minnesota, now is retired and lives in Panama
City.
September 9, 2004 News Herald
He missed. He just missed. Bay County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jimmy
Stanford was aiming for the inmate’s leg, aiming to end a 12-hour standoff
that had quickly dissolved, that had been calm and controlled but soon
spiraled into a violent, drug-laced nightmare. There he was Monday morning,
on the third floor of the Bay County Jail, trying to quash a rebellion and
earn freedom for the final hostage. He saw the nurse, a scalpel to her throat
and a hypodermic needle at her chest, the inmate standing behind her.
September 9, 2004 News Herald
The Florida Ethics Commission on Wednesday issued probable-cause findings on
two former Bay County commissioners, a former county attorney, a former
county manager and a current county employee on charges related to a 2000
trip to Nashville, Tenn. The Ethics Commission’s findings are related to a
February 2000 trip the county officials took to Tennessee to visit a jail
operated by Corrections Corporation of America, which also operates Bay
County’s jail and annex. Bay County was negotiating a contract renewal with
CCA at the time of the trip. In July
2003, the Florida Police Benevolent Association filed complaints with the
Ethics Commission against former County Commissioners Carol Atkinson, Danny
Sparks and Richard Stewart, former County Manager Jon Mantay, former county
attorney Nevin Zimmerman, and Bob Majka, then and still the county’s
emergency services director. The Ethics Commission dismissed all complaints
against Atkinson because she believed the county was paying for the trip,
according to the Ethics Commission’s report.
September
8, 2004 News Herald
The wisdom of the bloody end Sheriff Frank McKeithen ordered to a weekend
hostage standoff at Bay County Jail will be thoroughly weighed under more
tranquil circumstances, as it should. Given the criminal history of four
inmates who took hostages and threatened to take lives, though, the sheriff
for 11 hours lived with the knowledge that these were not just boys acting up.
It appears that all four should have been in a better guarded state
penitentiary or institution; one may be a mental case. The
hostage-takers’ grievances deserve attention, not from sympathy for their
diet or sloppy medication management, but as a more sober-minded look at the
county’s repeated inability to properly monitor or control what goes on
inside the jail or to properly address complaints raised by inmates over and
over, year after year.
CCA also is constantly pressured to do everything more cheaply.
September
8, 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
A sheriff's negotiator won the release of three employees before a SWAT team
stormed the Bay County Jail when inmates threatened to torture and kill their
remaining hostage, a nurse who then was accidentally shot, authorities said
Tuesday. The nurse suffered gunshot wounds in the back and leg Monday and
remained hospitalized in stable condition, said sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth
Sasser. Inmates had taken over the six-story jail's third-floor infirmary,
and one of them was holding a scalpel to the nurse's neck when the SWAT team
and armed jailers ended an 11-hour standoff that began about 9 p.m. Sunday,
Sasser said. The hostages - three female nurses and a male guard - worked for
Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the
jail under contract with the county. Licensed practical nurse Glenda Baker,
however, told The News Herald of Panama City that she was one of the hostages
released during the night. The lights had gone off and a door to the floor's
cells failed to lock before the incident occurred, Baker said. One inmate
then released others and four hostage-takers overpowered the only guard on
the floor. Then a panic button failed, she said. A television anchor said she
had received a telephone call Sunday night from someone claiming to be
holding hostages at the jail. The caller said he was upset about health
hazards there.
September 8, 2004 News Herald
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continued its investigation on
Tuesday into the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s response to a Bay County Jail
hostage situation that ended in gunfire early Monday morning. Four jail
inmates were charged in the hostage taking, which ended when Bay County SWAT
team members stormed the third-floor area where the men had barricaded
themselves with four hostages. A
CCA nurse and two inmates were injured by gunfire when the SWAT team moved
in.
September
6, 2004 AP
A SWAT team stormed the Bay County
Jail on Monday to end an 11-hour hostage standoff, injuring one hostage and
three inmates, authorities said. An undetermined number of other employees
were freed. The injured hostage, a nurse, suffered a leg wound and was
undergoing surgery at a hospital, and her injury did not appear to be
life-threatening.
July
22, 2004 News Herald
A jail melee that left three prisoners injured this week was motivated by
"racial prejudice," according to arrest affidavits filed Wednesday
at the Bay County Courthouse. Six men attacked two men "en
masse," using their fists and a makeshift weapon — a padlock stuffed in
a sock — during a quarrel Monday at the Bay County Jail, authorities
reported. One of the alleged attackers also turned on a third man who tried
to quell the fisticuffs, police said. Five of the prisoners were
charged with two counts of felony battery on a detainee. They are: Tyree C.
Cleveland, 22; Danny D. Dorsey, 19; Shawn C. Ponds, 28; Demar J. Davis, 19;
and Derrick M. Bell, 19. Johnny L. Brown, 23, was charged with three counts
of felony battery, accused of shoving the man who tried to break up the fight
into a metal bunk. An official from Corrections Corporation of America,
which runs the Bay County Jail and its annex on Nehi Road, said the fight
occurred on the fifth floor of the downtown Panama City facility. Spokeswoman
Mary Hughes said two guards were on duty at the time and called for backup
when the melee began. The injuries were minor, Hughes said, and
the alleged victims were treated at the jail. Arrest affidavits said
the suspected attackers had been calling two of the victims a racial epithet
the week before the incident and made the men complete their daily work
assignments. The alleged attackers also used the epithet during the beating,
the affidavits said. "We were not aware of that," Hughes
said. "The chief was told that by the (Bay County) Sheriff’s Office,
which is investigating it."
March 31, 2004 The Ledger
The last two of six Bay County Jail inmates charged in the beating death of a
fellow inmate pleaded guilty and were sentenced Monday. Investigators
said Chad Littles, 18, was beaten to death in October 2002 because others
thought he was an informant for the guards, The News Herald reported.
James DeRossetti, 22, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years
in prison; Larry K. Burks, 20, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and was
given seven years in prison. "I'd just like to say I feel real bad
for what happened," said DeRossetti. "I hate that it happened. I
just wish this court and the people of Bay County could know what really
happened, but it won't never come out." Originally, the six
defendants were charged with second-degree murder. The others were sentenced
earlier. Jeremiah Samuel Hinsey, 22, pleaded no contest to manslaughter
in July and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Carlos King, 32, pleaded no
contest to aggravated assault June 8 and was given five years in
prison. Malachi Najair, 26, was sentenced Aug. 22 to 12 years in prison
after entering a plea to felony battery and violation of probation. Ronald
Lawson, 26, was sentenced in October to five years in prison for felony
battery. Littles' mother has sued Corrections Corporation of America
Inc., which operates the jail, claiming it did not protect her son. That
lawsuit hasn't been resolved.
March 15, 2004 News Herald
After a surprise visit to inspect the conditions of the Bay County Jail
Thursday, Bay County Commissioner John Newberry shook his head in disbelief
and said "the place needs to be dynamited." Newberry told
Denny Durbin, the facility’s administrator, that he visited the jail
unannounced so there would be no question about whether or not he was seeing
typical conditions. Newberry also questioned jail officials about their
refusal to release medical records of two inmates who asked News Herald staff
to look into claims of physical abuse by CCA employees. On Wednesday,
Kenneth Pringle, 28, called The News Herald from the Bay County Jail Annex
and asked to be interviewed about beatings he said he’d taken from guards. In
order to verify his claims that he received medical treatment for injuries, a
reporter requested Pringle’s medical records. After Pringle signed a
waiver to make his records available, another inmate, Timothy Pilgreen, made
similar claims and requested a waiver from jail officials. But
Assistant Warden John Rochefort refused to release the records and said The
News Herald would have to subpoena them. After News Herald staff
submitted a freedom of information request for the medical records, jail officials
released Pilgreen’s records. Pilgreen said he had been removed from the cell
and handcuffed during the search. Pilgreen said he followed a
guard’s instructions to face the back wall of the cell, but when the officer
came in and removed the handcuffs from one arm, he "slammed"
Pilgreen’s head into the concrete wall, Pilgreen said. Pilgreen said he
fell to the floor and several correction officers began to punch and kick
him. Then, he said one of the jailers climbed onto the toilet and jumped onto
his left leg. An inspection of Pilgreen’s medical records
uncovered an evaluation from the jail’s medical staff that listed the reason
for examination as "use of force and restraints." The record,
dated Jan. 24, said Pilgreen’s left thigh was red and inflamed. It also said
he had a large knot and a small laceration on his right eyebrow, an abrasion
on his right knee and an "ecchymosis" — a bruise — on his
neck. Soon after the examination at the jail, Pilgreen was taken
to the emergency room at Gulf Coast Medical Center for an evaluation because
he was "taken down with force" and his thigh was "red and
swollen," the medical records showed. Newberry asked about roach
infestation based on comments inmates had made in a previous News Herald
article. Officials had previously said they sprayed for roaches once a month,
but Newberry suggested that might not be enough. Pilgreen’s medical records
revealed that he was treated for ant bites in December of 2003 and complained
of a spider bite in February. Newberry asked about mold, and Durbin
told him "there is very little ventilation." When Newberry asked
about heating and cooling, Durbin said "heating hasn’t been
reconstructed but (there) has been a lot of
improvement." Newberry said it was time to address the
condition of the jail.
March 10, 2004 News Herald
Even as it considers major changes in its jail operations in the next couple
of years, Bay County is talking with current jail operator Corrections
Corporation of America about ways to reduce costs in the meantime.
"Right now you’ve got the best of all worlds," Roger Hagen, the
county’s newly hired corrections program manager, told county commissioners
Tuesday. "You’ve got two years to deal with the broader issue of where
we want to be five, 10 years from now." The county’s contract with
Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, expires in 2006, but the county
has an opportunity to terminate it this year. If it decides to do so, the
county must notify CCA by the end of June. The county pays CCA on a
per-inmate, per-day basis. With the jail population exceeding capacity most
days, the county has seen its jail costs skyrocket. If the current trend
continues, the total cost for the current fiscal year will exceed $14
million.
March
8, 2004 News Herald
Even though the combined population of Bay County’s two jails has swollen
beyond the designed capacities by more than 300 inmates, jail officials say
the buildings are not overcrowded. At the Bay County Jail in downtown Panama
City last week, some inmates slept in steel bunks that lined the concrete
walls of dayrooms — open areas outside of the cells, where inmates spend most
of their waking hours. Mold and rust were visible on the walls of the shower
room and inmates said it did not drain properly. Other inmates said the
interior walls of the jail should be painted and still others complained that
they did not get enough to eat. Wesley Smith, a 20-year-old inmate,
asked why his room constantly leaks around the ceiling. The walls of Smith’s
cell, which abut the shower stall, were damp and what appeared to be mold was
visible in the corners around the ceiling. Smith said living in the damp
conditions often makes him sick. During two separate interviews
with Smith at the Bay County Jail, roaches could be seen crawling on the top
of a desk in an interview room. Bellows directed questions about the
facility to the jail’s spokeswoman, Mary Hughes, the administrative
supervisor for Corrections Corporation of America’s Bay County facilities.
John Rochefort, assistant warden for the Bay County Jail Annex on Nehi Road,
said the downtown jail was designed to hold 212 inmates. There were 445 in
the facility on March 1. On the same day, he said there were 565 inmates in
the annex, which is designed to hold 456 people. During a tour of the annex on
Tuesday, bunks could be seen overflowing into dayrooms. A female inmate said
they were "way over" capacity in her dorm. During an
interview last week, Smith said he had looked on in horror as a group of
inmates beat to death 18-yearold Chad Littles in a cell at the annex Oct.
6. Littles’ mother is suing CCA, claiming the jail didn’t do enough to
protect her son. If steps have been taken to thwart violence, Smith and
Allen said they couldn’t tell. Both said they had been beaten so severely in the
last year that they required hospitalization. Allen said he has been
beaten on five separate occasions. He blamed the guards. "(A
female guard) walked into the pod I just got put in and said, ‘Hey, there’s a
guy in here for raping somebody,’" Allen said. The beatings soon
followed, Allen said. In November 2002, Allen said, he was beaten so
severely he required staples in his head. On another occasion, Allen said, he
was beaten until he had a seizure. Following that incident, Allen said
he was put in the isolation ward for mental patients. For safety reasons,
inmates are let out of their cells one at a time to use the dayroom. But on
one occasion, he said, guards let an inmate who had already made violent
threats into the dayroom with him. Allen said he was beaten again.
"Rochefort did confirm a story by one inmate who asked not to be
identified for fear of retribution. He said inmates at the Bay County Jail
were able to tie pieces of bed sheets together and lower a pillowcase to the
ground from the sixth floor in order to smuggle in contraband.
February
26, 2004 News Herald
One Bay County Jail inmate received 10 years in prison and another received
five years after pleading no contest to charges stemming from the beating and
stomping death of another inmate. Jeremiah Samuel Hinsey, 22,
received 10 years for manslaughter and Carlos King, 32, five years for
aggravated assault in the 2002 death of Chad Littles, 18, at the jail's annex
outside Panama City. Circuit Judge Don T. Sirmons gave each credit for 505
days time served Tuesday as he sentenced them in accord with plea agreements.
They join two other inmates already sentenced for participating in the
killing. Two more are awaiting trial. Investigators said Littles, who
died from a head injury, was killed because other inmates mistakenly believed
he was an informant. Malachi Najair, 26, was sentenced in August to 12
years after pleading no contest to felony battery and unrelated charges.
Ronald Lawson, 26, was sentenced in October to five years for felony battery.
Larry K. Burks, 20, and Nicholas Hulsey, 22, are set for pretrial hearings
March 10 on second-degree murder charges. A lawsuit by Littles' mother
is pending against Corrections Corporation of America Inc., the private
company that runs the jail for the county.
October
14, 2003 News Herald
Circuit Judge Don T. Sirmons followed the agreed upon sentence in Ronald
Lawson’s plea deal Monday and gave him five years in prison for his role in
the beating death of a Bay County Jail inmate last year. Lawson, who was
originally charged with second degree murder in the death of Chad Littles,
18, pleaded no contest to felony battery several months ago.
October 8, 2003 News Herald
Bay County commissioners said Tuesday they’re not ready to decide whether to solicit
bids for operation of the Bay County Jail and annex. At the conclusion
of a 3˝ hour workshop, the commission tabled the issue for two months.
They hope that will provide time to determine whether a new county position
will help them address the persistent problem of rising jail populations and
the associated costs. Commissioners approved the new staff position in
the current year’s budget, which began Oct. 1. The yet-to-be-hired employee
will provide heightened oversight of the county’s contract with Corrections
Corporation of America, the private company that has operated the jail since
1986. "At this point, I’m not prepared to give a formal notice to
CCA that we’re going to do a (request for proposals)," Ropa said.
"What I’m looking for is more investigation into what exactly we should
ask for in an RFP or what we should ask of our current vendors."
The county’s contract with CCA does not expire until the end of September
2006. But the county can terminate the contract in the mean time by
providing the company 90 days’ notice. If the county wanted to solicit
proposals for next fiscal year, it would have to provide such notice in
June. County staff had suggested that if the commission wanted to
solicit proposals, it should go ahead and provide CCA notice. That would give
the staff plenty of time to prepare a request for proposals. But
Commissioner Cornel Brock said he thinks the commission should test the new
con tract oversight position to see what difference it
makes. Commissioners first broached the subject of soliciting proposals
from other private jail-management companies when they were reviewing their
budget for the current year. With one month still uncalculated, the jail
contract exceeded its $10 million budget by more than $1 million. The
bill has been running about $1 million a month. Commissioners
budgeted $12.6 million for this year. That took into account an
increase in the per diem, per-inmate rate charged by CCA. The rate this year
will be $43.16.
July
25, 2003 News Herald Bay County commissioners said Thursday they want
to take a fresh look at their options for operation of the county jail.
Reacting to a suggestion by Commissioner Mike Ropa, they agreed to put the
issue on the agenda for their Aug. 19 meeting. At that time, they will
discuss giving Corrections Corporation of America — which runs the main jail
and annex — notice that they intend to solicit bids from other private
jail-management companies. Some commissioners suggested they’d like to expand
the discussion to include the possibility of the county’s reassuming
responsibility for jail operations. Ropa said cost is the primary
reason he wants to put the contract out for bid. Budget Officer Mary
Dayton told commissioners she expects payments to CCA to exceed the budgeted
amount by more than $2 million. The county budgeted roughly $9.9 million for
the year, and so far has paid $9.2 million with three months left to pay.
Monthly bills have been running about $1 million, Dayton said.
Commissioner John Newberry said he generally questions private jail
operation, and suggested that incarceration "really ought to be a
government function."
July
15, 2003 News Herald
A union that represents law enforcement and correctional officers said Monday
that it had filed ethics complaints against three former Bay County
commissioners, a former county manager, a former county attorney and the
county’s chief of emergency services. The Florida Police Benevolent
Association said its complaints stemmed from a February 2000 trip the
officials took to Tennessee to visit a jail operated by Corrections
Corporation of America, which also operates Bay County’s jail and
annex. Ken Kopczynski, PBA’s legislative assistant, said the union has
documentation that CCA paid for the trip, including airfare, hotel rooms and
meals. At the time, CCA and the county were negotiating the renewal of
the contract for Bay County jail operations. "It is very
questionable since they were in the middle of contract negotiations (with
CCA,)" Kopczynski said. Kopczynski said PBA began looking into
Atkinson after she began chairing the privatization commission last year. As
part of that research, he said, "we came across this
trip."
July 8, 2003 News Herald
The third of six men charged in the death of a Bay County Jail inmate pleaded
no contest to manslaughter Monday and faces 10 years in prison.
Jeremiah Samuel Hinsey, 21, was one of six men charged in the death of Chad
Littles, 18, who died Oct. 6 at the jail annex on Nehi Road. Investigators
said six inmates beat Littles to death when they thought he was an informant
for the guards. Hinsey, Carlos King, 31, Ronald Lawson, 25, Nicholas
Hulsey, 21, Malachi Najair, 25, and Larry K. Burks, 19, were charged.
King and Lawson entered pleas in their cases last month. King pleaded
no contest Monday to aggravated assault. He was accused of barring Littles’
escape from a group of inmates who had attacked him. It was while Littles was
facing King, investigators said, an inmate swept Littles’ legs out from under
him. Littles was kicked and beaten while he was down. He died from a
head injury. Lawson was one of those accused of kicking Littles. He
pleaded no contest to felony battery. Both men will be sentenced to
five years in prison, according to court records, after all six cases have
been disposed of. Hinsey tentatively was scheduled for sentencing Sept.
22. He agreed to testify against the remaining co-defendants if called by the
state. Prosecutor Ashley Adams said additional depositions in this case
are scheduled for August, which could move all the cases closer to
completion. Najair’s attorney said in court last month that he is
considering a plea offer as well. No contest means the men don’t admit
their guilt, only that the state could prove they did the crime.
Littles’ mother sued Corrections Corporation of America Inc., the jail’s
corporate owner, claiming the jail didn’t do enough to protect her son. The
morning of Oct 6, guards conducted a routine security inspection in Littles’
cell pod, which was completed five minutes later. Two minutes after
officers left the minimum-security pod, an inmate came to the front of the
pod and told the guards that an inmate was down, according to jail
officials.
June 11, 2003 News Herald
Malachi Najair might be the next Bay County Jail inmate to enter a plea in
the beating death of Chad Littles Najair, 25, is charged, along with three
other inmates, with second degree murder. He’s accused of participating in a
beating Oct. 6 in the jail annex on Nehi Road that killed the 18-year-old
Littles. On the morning of Oct. 6 guards conducted a routine security
inspection in Littles’ cell pod, according to Corrections Corporation of
America, the jail’s corporate owner. The CCA said the inspection was
completed five minutes later. Littles’ mother, Frances Hughes, sued
CCA, claiming it failed to provide the proper number of guards or monitoring
equipment for the cell block, or train the guards properly.
June 10, 2003 News Herald
Two men entered pleas Monday to their involvement in the death of a Bay
County Jail inmate in October. Carlos King, 31, and Ronald Lawson, 25, both
face five years in prison after pleading no contest to lesser charges than
the second-degree murder they were facing. Chad Littles, 18, died Oct.
6 while being held at the Bay County Jail Annex on Nehi Road. Investigators
said six inmates beat Littles to death when they thought he was an informant
for the guards. Littles’ mother, Frances Hughes, and a representative
from the attorney’s office handling her lawsuit against the jail’s corporate
owner, Corrections Corporation of America, were in the audience to see King
and Lawson change their pleas. Hughes said in her lawsuit that CCA
failed to provide the proper number of guards or monitoring equipment for the
cell block, or train the guards properly.
April 18, 2003 News Herald
The Bay County jail’s 2002-03 budget allocation is almost two-thirds spent,
halfway through the fiscal year, due to an exorbitant number of inmates.
"If this trend continues, Bay County’s current (Corrections Corporation
of America) budget of $9,990,780 will need to be increased," Rogers
wrote in a letter recently to the Bay County Emergency Services Department,
which is responsible for monitoring the county’s contract with CCA.
April
3, 2003 News Herald
Corrections Corporation of America has pledged to work with the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement to address discrepancies in computerized arrest
information for inmates at the Bay County Jail. In January, the FDLE
reviewed CCA’s computerized arrest records against 288 booking reports. FDLE
found a "high percentage" of discrepancies, ranging from incorrect
or misspelled names to incorrect charges. A number of the discrepancies
occurred because arresting officers failed to enter proper Florida Statute
numbers to identify criminal charges.
December
17, 2002 News Herald
A man who used his little brother's name to avoid being booked into the Bay
County Jail Sunday remained at large Monday after escaping out an unguarded
back door at the Bay County Jail.
December
6, 2002 News Herald
Correctional officers at the Bay County Jail released the wrong woman Tuesday
when a female inmate assumed the identity of a sleeping woman who was in the
same holding cell for detoxification. While the intoxicated woman was
sleeping in the cell, Robbie Levingston, 29, answered for her, signed for her
belongings and walked out of the jail, said Bay County Sheriff's Lt. J. D.
Nolin. Chief Michael Thompkins, of the CCA, said an incident like this
has never happened in his 14 years at the Bay County Jail and new procedures
are in place so it never happens again.
October
9, 2002 News Herald
Office of Emergency Services has intiated its own investigation this week
into the death of a Bay County Jail annex inmate. Sheriff's
investigators said the Chad Littles, 18, was beaten to death Sunday by six
other inmates at the annex on Nehi Road. Bob Majka, chief emergency
services, said his office oversees the contract between the county and
Corrections Corporation of America, the operators of the Bay County jail and
its annex. He said Tuesday that a member of his staff was looking in to
the death of Littles to ensure that jail staff performed in accordance with
the jail's policies, and that those policies were in agreement with the
contract. Majka said his office has become more involved in monitoring
activities at the jail since inmate Justin Sturgis, 20, died Feb, 15 after an
apparent drug overdose at the main jail. Both facilities are operated
by CCA. A grand jury handed down a presentment in the Sturgis case that
was critical of how the situation was handled. Steven Owen, CCA
spokesperson, said Tuesday that jail personnel weren't responsible in any way
for Littles death. When Bay County contracted with CCA back in the
mid-1980s, it became the first county in the country to turn its jail over to
a private company. Owen said there were cameras installed in the pod,
but they didn't work. They'd been installed 15 years earlier to monitor
a specific remodeling project and hadn't been in operation since.
October
8, 2002 News Herald
A county judge Monday said there was "no chance" he would allow six
men accused of a jailhouse slaying to post bond. They are accused of
beating to death fellow Bay County Jail inmate Chad Littles, 18, on
Sunday.
October
7, 2002 News Herald
Six inmates at the Bay County
Correctional Facility Annex on Nehi Road were charged Sunday with the beating
death overnight of Chad Littles, 18, of Panama City. Littles was serving time for failure to pay a fine –possession
of less than 20 grams of marijuana, resisting an officer without
violence/violation of probation on an original charge of burglary of a
structure. Bay County Sheriff Guy Tunnell said James DeRossutt, also known as
Nicholas Hulsey, 19, of Alabama; Malachi Najair, 25, of Callaway; Carlos D.
King, 30, of Panama City; Larry Burks, 19, of Panama City; Jeremiah S.
Hinsey, 18, of Evansville, Ind.; and Ronald Lawson, 24, of Fort Walton Beach
assaulted Littles.
They are now in the main Bay County Jail
and will make first appearances on the open charge of murder today. Tunnell said Littles was killed after an altercation in the B
dorm of the minimum security annex, where about 80 inmates are housed. The
fight began after a routine shakedown yielded an instrument for applying
tattoos.
Tunnell said most of the inmates felt
Littles had told Corrections Corporation of America guards about the
tattooing tool. But Capt. Ralph Dyer of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said
that was not the case. "The sad thing is that Littles was not an informant,"
he said. "He was called back into his cell to unlock his locker, which
guards could not open. The other inmates thought he was a snitch and that he
had told guards about the tattooing tool." After guards let the inmates back into their cell pod, at least
four of the defendants allegedly confronted Littles at the rear of the dorm
and began to beat him.
Littles was able to get away temporarily
and was trying to summon guards when King blocked his way and, according to
witnesses, enticed the same inmates to "finish him. At that time,
according to Tunnell, DeRossutt came up behind Littles and pulled his feet
out from under him, causing his head to strike the concrete floor with full
force, knocking him unconscious. Witnessses said Najair, Burks, Hinsey
and Lawson then began to kick or hit Littles while he was lying on the floor.
Guards arrived and summoned the on-duty nurse for CCA. The nurse then called
EMS to transport Littles to Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced
dead.
August
19, 2002 News Herald
While grand jurors found no criminal liability in the death of a Bay County
Jail inmate, their presentment found there were "serious
deficiencies" on the part of jail personnel "which led, or contributed
to the death of Justin Sturgis." CCA representatives said Sturgis
caused his own death. However, the medical protocols the jail had in
place were inadequate and weren't followed anyway, according to the
presentment. "Correctional personnel failed to demonstrate
adequate health training in responding to the level of distress evidenced by
Justin Sturgis," the jury's presentment stated. In addition,
policies that require a "system of structured inquiry and
observation" to an inmate's medical condition were not adhered to.
"That structure was sorely lacking in the Sturgis case."
Jurors singled out jail nurse William Schwarz Jr. and recommended that a copy
of the presentment be sent as a report of his performance to the Florida
Department of Health's Division of Medical Quality Assurance.
"William Schwarz was deficient in the performance of his duties as the
facility's sole health care professional," the presentment said.
"Such deficiencies may have contributed to the death of Justin
Sturgis." The report did not address inmate's allegations that
jail personnel tainted Sturgis. Grand jurors also recommended that the
Bay County Commission look into the matter to see if it merits termination of
the county's contract with CCA.
August
13, 2002 News Herald
Attorney Wes Pittman said Monday he was angered by comments made by
Corrections Corporation of America officials after a grand jury released its
findings into the death of a Bay County Jail Inmate. Grand Jurors issued a
presentment containing views, criticisms and suggestions Thursday after
investigating the death of Justin Sturgis, 20, who died the morning of Feb.
15 after an apparent drug overdose at the jail, a CCA facility. “It is
a very solid finding of fault on the part of the grand jury as to the
ludicrous nature of health care, or lack of health care, in the Bay County
Jail,” said Pittman, who represents the Sturgis family While grand
jurors found no criminal liability in Sturgis’ death, there were “serious
deficiencies” on the part of personnel “ which led, or contributed to the
death.” Sturgis apparently swallowed
10 to 12 Ecstasy pills during a traffic stop, just before he was arrested for
DUI. He started suffering some degree
of distress about 3 a.m., according to the presentment, but wasn’t taken to
the hospital until three hours later. He died of malignant hyperthermia, a
rare reaction to the drug. His body
temperature was 108 degrees when he was admitted to the emergency room, said
a Bay Medical Center doctor. CCA representatives said Thursday that
Sturgis caused his own death by swallowing the drugs to avoid prosecution and
not telling the jail nurse what he had done. “When Mr. Sturgis failed
to give the nurse adequate information concerning the quantity and nature of
the drug, he effectively removed any possibility of survival,” said Louise
Green, CCA vice president of communications.
Pittman, who returned to work Monday after being on vacation in Canada
last week, said those comments did nothing to head off a lawsuit he plans to
file late this week against CCA. “It was almost laughable, the comments
that the two CCA defense lawyers made following the publication of the
presentment,” he said. “In effect, CCA
has issued a death sentence to any kid who takes drugs. That’s hardly a commendable attitude for
contract persons charged with the protection of individuals within their
custody and who are unable to take care of themselves. “Even someone
who has subjected himself to an overdose of drugs must be cared for. There’s no excuse in denying someone
reasonable medical care.” Pittman said he’s been in contact with
several people who have been denied medical care at the jail. He said the lawsuit he intends to file
might include plaintiffs other than the Sturgis family. “It’s more than
a weekly event that I’m receiving letters and telephone calls from people who
have been deprived of medication that’s been prescribed to them,” Pittman
said. “They have been totally ignored
just as Justin Sturgis was.” CCA attorney Deeno Kitchen said last week
that over the last 30 months, jail personnel have taken 480 inmates to area
hospitals with 81 being admitted. “If we err at all, we err on the safe
side every time,” he said. “We take
them and let the doctors make the call.
In this instance we followed what we understood the instructions to
be.” Kitchen said Monday that the threat of a lawsuit wouldn’t stop the
jail from adopting changes grand jurors recommended. He said the rules of evidence would
prohibit Pittman from using any improvements the jail made as proof of
negligence. “We want to do the right thing,” Kitchen said. “If we’re going to improve it, we will
improve it.” He said the jail provided a lawyer, Emily Dowdy, for
inmates to go to with complaints. Dowdy said that a “very small percentage”
of the numerous letters she receives daily from inmates are about medical
care. She said the media coverage of
Sturgis’ death, and the grand jury’s investigation, sparked an increase in
the number of medical complaints she receives. “Both medical offices
(at the jail and annex) are real good about following up on things when I
call them,” Dowdy said She said she contacts medical personnel about
the inmate’s complaints. She then
writes back to the inmates asking that they contact her if their situation
doesn’t improve. “Some do” write back, Dowdy said. “The majority don’t.” Pittman said
the more he looks into the situation at the jail the more he
uncovers.
August
8, 2002 News Herald
While grand jurors found no criminal liability in the death of a Bay County
Jail inmate, their presentment found there were "serious
deficiencies" on the part of jail personal "which led, or
contributed to the death of Justin Sturgis" said CCA attorney Deeno
Kitchen. However, the medical protocols the jail had in place were
inadequate and weren't followed anyway, according to the presentment.
"Correctional personnel failed to demonstrate adequate health training
in responding to the level of distress evidenced by Justin Sturgis," the
jury's presentment stated. In addition, policies that require a
"system of structured inquiry and observation" to an inmate's
medical condition were not adhered to. "That structure was sorely
lacking in the Sturgis case." The grand jury was empanelled in
July to review a Bay County Sheriff's Office investigation into the incident
and interviewed 18 witnesses, including jail and medical personnel. The
jury issued a presentment on July 17. Named parties were given a chance
to review the findings, and the presentment was made public Thursday.
Jurors singled out jail nurse William Schwarz Jr. and recommended that a copy
of the presentment be sent as a report of his performance to the Florida
Department of Health's Division of Medical Quality Assurance. "William
Schwarz was deficient in the performance of his duties as the facility's sole
health care professional," the presentment said. "Such
deficiencies may have contributed to the death of Justin Sturgis."
A specific problem jurors cited was apparent miscommunication between Schwarz
and emergency room Dr. George Tracy. Tracy
testified that he told Schwarz to take Sturgis' vital signs and call him
back. Schwarz said Tracy told him to call back in two hours. That
prevented Tracy from getting Sturgis' information in an timely manner, jurors
wrote. Harry Harper, Schwarz's attorney, said his client was the only
nurse on duty that night in a jail that held more than 300 people. The
report did not address inmates' allegations the jail personnel taunted
Sturgis. The presentment recommended numerous changes in jail policy
and procedures. He said cameras had been installed in the holding cells
to monitor inmate activities. Kitchen, however, couldn't say if those
cameras would record- the the presentment suggested- as well as
monitor. Kitchen said the jail also would try to set aside a specific
area for distressed inmates where medical personnel could more easily monitor
their condition. The presentment was critical of the fact that jail
guards, instead of nurses, had to keep track of Sturgis' symptoms.
Green said the jail was audited recently and found in compliance with the
provisions of the Florida Model Jail Standards and American Correctional
Association Standards. Grand jurors also recommended that the Bay
County Commission look into the matter to see if it merits termination of the
county's contract with CCA.
July
12, 2002 News Herald
Grand jurors are expected to decide
today whether criminal charges will be brought against Corrections
Corporation of America officials in the death of an inmate in February. Justin Sturgis, 20, died the morning of Feb. 15 after an
apparent drug overdose at the Bay County Jail, a CCA facility. Inmates at the facility at the time of Sturgis’ death told The
News Herald that guards taunted and laughed at Sturgis while he was in
distress, and didn’t call for an ambulance until it was too late to prevent
his death.
Sturgis’ family members filed notice
about two weeks after his death that they intended to sue CCA.
July
18, 2002 News Herald
Grand jurors found Wednesday that no one
was criminally responsible for a Bay County Jail inmate’s death, but have
issued a presentment, meaning they have something to say about the matter. Justin Sturgis, 20, died the morning of Feb. 15 after an apparent
drug overdose at the Bay County Jail, a Corrections Corporation of America
facility.
Attorney Wes Pittman, who expects to
represent Sturgis’ family in a lawsuit against CCA and possibly Bay Medical
Center, said the presentment will help his case. He said the family didn’t
feel like it needed an indictment to justify how serious the situation was. "Considering the hideous facts of this case, it was enough
that the State Attorney’s Office would take this to the grand jury,"
Pittman said. "There were some very serious, bad things, in (the
prosecutor’s) opinion, happening within the Bay County
Jail."
July
13, 2002 News Herald
Grand jurors started their second day of investigation Friday into the death
of a Bay County Jail inmate with testimony from the emergency room doctor who
treated him. Bay Medical Center Dr. George Tracy was the first witness
Friday. Tracy told The News Herald after the incident that he told a
jail nurse to monitor Sturgis' condition carefully and call him back, but the
nurse didn't call him until two hours later.
February
27, 2002 News Herald
The parents of Justin Sturgis have filed a notice that they intend to sue the
Bay County Jail and perhaps Bay Medical Center for failing to properly care for
Sturgis when he became fatally ill in a jail holding cell on Feb. 15. Doctors
believe that Sturgis, 21, died of malignant hyperthermia, a rare reaction to
the street drug Ecstasy. The medical examiner will determine a cause of death
when toxicology tests are completed. Investigators believe Sturgis swallowed
10 tablets of Ecstasy during a traffic stop on U.S. 98 to prevent police from
discovering the drugs. Inmates who were jailed with Sturgis told The News
Herald that jail officials denied Sturgis medical assistance for two hours.
The officials did not call for an ambulance until after the jail nurse
announced that Sturgis' heart had stopped, the inmates said. Inmates
also alleged that correctional officers laughed and mocked Sturgis even as he
was experiencing seizures. Attorney Wes Pittman said he will file suit
against Corrections Corporation of America
on behalf of the Sturgis family. CCA is the private
company contracted by Bay County
to manage the jail. "These parents do not want anyone else
to suffer the grief they are experiencing right now," Pittman said.
"Their motivation is to try and prevent this from happening to someone
else. "If the allegations made by other prisoners are correct, we are
certainly looking at CCA for violations of certain civil rights afforded to
inmates as well as being extraordinarily negligent." "We do
not see the county as the culprit," Pittman said. "It (the suit) is
going to be against CCA and possibly the hospital.
Bay
County Commission Chairman Cornel Brock said the commission is anxiously
awaiting the results of investigations into the incident that the Bay County
Sheriff's Office and CCA are conducting. "The county is very much
concerned," Brock said. "We don't take it lightly. An inmate who
becomes seriously ill while they are incarcerated ultimately is the
responsibility of the county.
February
24, 2002 News Herald
Justin Sturgis' gruesome death under
jailers' watch was a discomforting public intrusion, especially because, in
some ways, it's as if it happened somewhere else. Accountability for
public institutions, and thus self-government itself, remains an unfinished
portrait. Sturgis' death wasn't mentioned at Tuesday's County
Commission meeting, as surely it would have been had he died while taking
part in a local high school football practice. Sturgis was in the custody of
a private company, Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America.
When the company has something to say, a CCA spokesman told reporter Todd
Twilley, people will hear what people need to hear. A defense attorney who
beats a regular path to the jail told Twilley, "It's been fairly well
known for a long time that there's a problem down there." Fairly well-known by whom? Perhaps
it is good the public doesn't know a lot that is going on within public
institutions, even privately managed ones like the jail. Just as perhaps, it
is bad. With citizen oversight, maybe public officials - the ones who should
be accountable - would know what is going on. Panama City police, who brought Sturgis to jail on a
drunk-driving charge, apparently were unaware he had swallowed a potentially
fatal number of Ecstasy tablets to avoid additional charges involving drugs. At the jail, though, the whole line of command and custody -
admissions personnel, medical personnel, guards - should have known his
convulsions weren't just jailhouse malingering. The experts on such things,
other inmates, knew.
Just keep an eye on him, a doctor at Bay
Medical Center told the jail nurse by phone. The only sign of criminal wrongdoing that a Sheriff's Office
investigator has turned up in the case didn't involve jail staff, however,
the investigator told Twilley. It involved the plastic bag found in Sturgis'
stomach during autopsy. We have no reason to think otherwise. Still, we
believe criminal wrongdoing is too narrow a focus of an examination of what
happened to Sturgis.
Panama City police; the Sheriff's
Office, which has jurisdiction over the jail; Bay Medical Center; and no matter
the contracting, the Bay County Jail; all are public institutions. They are
operated by public employees but not under public oversight. The long-term value of grand jury oversight or charter-based
citizen oversight is not to point the finger at who didn't do what he was
supposed to, but to empower and enable citizens to know how things are
supposed to work, and whether they do or not - here, and now.
February
21, 2002 News Herald
A man who worked at the Bay County Jail
as a nurse said Wednesday that he quit last year because he felt pressure
from correctional officers not to do his job and feared that an inmate
eventually would die.
"And it happened," Jerry
Militich told The News Herald. "I
knew it was going to happen, and I couldn't handle it. So I left. When I saw
the paper, I had to call." Militich
was referring to a story about the death of 20-year-old Justin Sturgis early
Friday.
The specific pressure he said he felt
was to avoid sending sick inmates to the hospital. Corrections Corporation of
America, which runs the jail under contract with Bay County, must pay to
transport prisoners to the hospital and pay for the medication that inmates
receive. Militich said he worked for CCA for about a year during 2000
and 2001. He said Wednesday that some of the medical practices at the jail
while he was there upset him. Militich
said correctional officers and supervisors at the jail often leaned on him
not to send inmates to the hospital. In addition, he said, some inmates did
not receive medication that had been prescribed them. Many inmates have complained to their attorneys and The News
Herald about inadequate medical care at the jail. Militich said that having to send inmates to the hospital was
considered a problem at the jail. "I
was pressured not to send people to the hospital," he said. "There is a lot of pressure because of a manpower shortage
when you say, 'I want this guy to go to the hospital,' and they have to pull
one or two (correctional officers) from somewhere else" to go to the
hospital with the inmate. Militich said that
sometimes inmates went days without the medication they needed - or worse,
never got it.
"They would put (inmates) on
something else other than the medication they were prescribed because of the
cost," he said.
Sometimes the other medication was a
generic brand, but sometimes not, he said. Militich's description of the practices at CCA are comparable to
complaints inmates have made. Inmates
who were in the jail's basement Friday morning said they tried to alert
officers to get Sturgis to the hospital, but the guards mocked Sturgis and
let other inmates see his shaky condition. An inmate who asked not to be identified said he was
surrendering himself at the jail when he saw Sturgis convulsing at 3:30 a.m.
It was two hours later when paramedics arrived, the inmate said. Militich said he resigned in mid-2001 because he did not feel
that he got the backing he should have had to do his job. He said he never
saw an inmate who didn't get medical attention because he treated them if
they needed it.
Militich said that while he worked for
CCA, some nurses at the jail were qualified, while others "needed
help."
"I told one nurse before I left
that she needed to get to a hospital and learn some assessment skills,"
he said. "That's pretty strong language to tell a nurse." Militich recalled guards mocking inmates for their medical
condition.
He said one time correctional officers
announced loudly that an inmate was faking a medical condition. Militich said
that after he had the inmate sent to the hospital, doctors revealed that he
had suffered a seizure. During a similar
incident, Militich said, he felt such pressure from correctional officers
that he yelled out to them: "Well, hell, there's no reason for me to be
down here. You are all apparently qualified to assess this person medically.
Why do you need me?" "That was frustrating, because obviously they
weren't qualified," Militich said.
February
19, 2002 News Herald
Allegations that Bay County Jail guards
mocked an ill DUI suspect - who later went into convulsions and died Friday
morning - come as no surprise to local defense attorneys and a former
correctional officer who worked at the jail for three years. Inmates have said that guards did little to help 20-year-old
Justin Sturgis, who reportedly told one correctional officer he had taken 10
Ecstasy pills. No one called for an ambulance until he went into cardiac
arrest.
Criminal defense attorneys, meanwhile,
said some of their clients have complained for years about the way some
Corrections Corporation of America employees have treated them. CCA contracts
with the county to run the jail. And an
inmate who was in the jail at the same time that Justin Sturgis was showing
signs of distress told The News Herald on Monday that guards were treating
Sturgis like a "freak show" - parading other inmates by Sturgis to
watch his behavior.
According to inmate witnesses and an
investigator with the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Sturgis showed
seizure-like symptoms a short time after being taken to the jail. He began
shaking and told a correctional officer he had taken pills before being
arrested.
A nurse at the jail called Bay Medical
Center's emergency room about Sturgis. Based on what the nurse said, a doctor
advised that the nurse monitor Sturgis for a couple of hours. Inmates who said they were in the jail's holding area at the
time said Sturgis' condition deteriorated, and guards did nothing until he
went into cardiac arrest. Sturgis was taken
to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 7 a.m. Dr. George Tracy, who treated Sturgis, said it's his belief that
Sturgis suffered a rare reaction to Ecstasy. A plastic bag, presumably containing drugs, was found in his
stomach at the autopsy. The medical examiner will issue a final cause of
death when toxicology reports are completed. Tommy Sims Jr. said he worked for the jail for three years in
the late 1990s. Sims, who said he was fired because of allegations that he
had sexually harassed women inmates, said he felt he had to come forward
about conditions at the jail when he read about Sturgis' death. "Sure I've got faults, but the information I'm telling you
about what goes on at that jail, you can put me on a polygraph and I'll pass
it," he said.
He said that while he was working at the
jail, inmates in need of medical attention were often ignored and that
supervisors helped smooth over what he considered to be poor judgment on the
part of guards. Sims said he wonders whether guards looked in on
Sturgis when he was supposed to be under a medical watch. He said the practice in such situations when he was at the jail
was to simply post a note on the holding cell that the person inside was
under medical watch.
"You are supposed to look at the
inmate and sign off," Sims said of his
experience as a jail employee. "The only problem is they don't do
anything but sign off. They don't look inside." Inmates have reported that they tried to alert guards that
Sturgis was in trouble and needed medical attention. An anonymous source, who
is represented by criminal defense attorney Bob Pell, said he was at the jail
during Sturgis' plight. He said Sturgis was either being made fun of or being
ignored throughout the morning. "A
lot of times these inmates are hollering out for different reasons,"
Sims said. "But it's almost like they've stereotyped it to be a
troublemaker and so they yell out, 'Shut up!' or kick the cell door or
threaten to mace them." Sims said that while
he worked at CCA he violated some of the company's policies, but that so did
most other officers.
Sims said correctional officers are
sometimes fired when a problem occurs, but the problem isn't fixed. "If
(CCA) figures they can tell the public, 'We got rid of so-and-so,' then the
public thinks everything is all right," he said. Louis Green, the head of marketing for CCA in Nashville, Tenn.,
said it is the company's policy not to comment on statements that
ex-employees give to news organizations. She also said that CCA could give
out no information on the investigation into Sturgis' death. Pell said that he has heard complaints from his clients about
their treatment at CCA for years. "It's
been fairly well known for a long time that there's a problem down
there," he said. "There are several officers down there that are
very responsible. In fact, some of the information I've gotten is from
concerned officers who have seen people they feel should've gotten better
medical attention than they received." Assistant public defender Kelly McIntosh said inmates' voices
often go unheard, but that it could be hard to separate legitimate requests
for medical attention from false ones. McIntosh
also said it is usually hard to prove if someone was denied proper medical
attention.
"If I was a civil lawyer and trying
to prove it, it's hard to prove because (correctional officers) are going to
bind together and it's their word against someone in there who is
convicted," she said. "Who's a jury
going to believe?" McIntosh
said she believes video cameras should be installed in the jail to give
inmates a credible witness. "It's a
Catch-22," she said. "Who's going to believe them - and it's a damn
shame, it really is. But we hear it enough that I believe something is going
on. But how do you prove it until something like this happens?" Attorney Waylon Graham said he was at the jail to surrender a
client on Friday morning and saw CCA personnel and paramedics trying to
revive Sturgis. He could tell the situation was bleak, he said. "I've had clients that have had some trouble dealing with
CCA's bureaucracy and them getting their medication," Graham said.
"My experience with that is not some evil intent on the part of CCA -
it's just dealing with the bureaucracy." Correction officers were talking about and showing off Sturgis'
plight to arriving prisoners, a 24-year-old man who wished to remain
anonymous told The News Herald on Monday. His version backed up those given
by others who said they were present when Sturgis went into convulsions. "(The officer) was telling me I had to see this messed-up
kid here tonight. He said he ate like 10 Ecstasy pills at one time,"
said the man, who is no longer in custody. He was wary of giving his name
because of his pending criminal case. The man
said he was being booked when the guard offered to show him Sturgis. "It was the worst I've ever seen anybody on that drug
before. He was all over," the man said. "I told (the guard) if he
ate that many, you need to take him to the hospital and he was like, 'Oh,
he's just a drug addict.' "People were
just looking in there like he was a freak show. About an hour or an hour and
a half later, no one was looking at that room anymore and a CO (corrections
officer) came over and looked in and (Sturgis) was about dead. "The only time people checked on him were when they were
getting checked into the jail. They were showing him off."
February
18, 2002 AP
Sheriff's deputies are investigating
allegations that staffers at the privately run Bay County Jail failed to get
medical attention quickly enough for an inmate who later died. Justin Sturgis, 20, who had been charged with driving under the
influence, died Friday from a rare reaction to a street drug, believed to be
Ecstasy, Dr. George Tracy said. The
doctor treated him at Bay Medical Center where he died five hours after being
booked into the jail. An official cause of death will be made by the district
medical examiner's office following toxicology tests. Sheriff's investigator Ken Smiley said his initial investigation
of the death indicated no criminal wrongdoing. The jail is operated by the Corrections Corporation of America
of Nashville, Tenn. Spokeswoman Louise Green said the company would comment
only after it completes its investigation. Tracy said a jail nurse had called the hospital when Sturgis
became sick.
The doctor said he told her to keep
monitoring the inmate but that it was unnecessary to immediately bring him to
the emergency room based on her description of his condition. Other prisoners alleged that guards mocked the moaning Sturgis
for two hours before finally calling an ambulance. Jessie Powner, who was in a holding cell, said Sturgis was
banging himself against a wall, kicking and biting his lip while other
inmates yelled for guards to get a doctor. "When we looked in the window, he was having uncontrolled
convulsions,"
Powner told The News Herald of Panama
City for Monday editions. "The guard was laughing and said he was going
to be all right."
Sturgis' uncle, Dave Junker, said he was
told his nephew had asked for help three times. "We're very concerned if there was some neglect in the time
he could have went to the emergency room," Junker said. Smiley said the remains of a plastic bag were found in Sturgis'
stomach during an autopsy. That indicates he probably swallowed a drug to
avoid having police find it in his possession when they pulled over his
car.
July
10, 2001News Herald
A man accused of escaping from jail officials last month to avoid prison
could have received a harsher sentence Monday, but will still be behind bars
until he's almost 50. According to police, Collier walked out of the
Bay County Courthouse law library and escaped from two jail guards.
Investigators said he asked the guards if he could use the restroom and they
allowed him to go unescorted. The guards, both Corrections Corporation
of America employees, have been released by the company.
June
09, 2001News Herald
A man with an extensive criminal history, and facing another 30 years in
prison, walked out of the Bay County Courthouse on Thursday with a little
help from some friends. Tracy Lashawn Collier, 35, was recaptured near
a relative's house in Callaway Thursday evening. He'd escaped from Bay
County Jail guards about 3:30 p.m. while visiting the law library on the
third floor of the courthouse. Collier has a criminal record that
includes rape, escape, battery, resisting officers, possessing cocaine,
passing worthless checks, grand theft auto and obstructing justice by
disguise. While at the law library, he asked the guards if he could use
the restroom and was allowed to go in alone, the Bay County Sheriff's Office
said. When he didn't return after a period of time, the guards checked
on him and discovered he was gone.
April
21, 2001Naples Daily News
An inmate awaiting trial on domestic violence, document forgery and attempted
escape charges hanged himself in his cell at the privately operated Bay
County Jail. Sheriff's deputies said John Alvin Leggett, 38, used a bed
sheet for a noose. His body was discovered Wednesday during a bed
check. The jail is operated by Corrections Corporation of America, of
Nashville, Tenn., under a contract with the county. The sheriff's
office is investigating the death.
Blackwater River
Correctional Facility
Milton, Florida
GEO Group
Grand
jury probes Panhandle private prison deal: September 9, 2011, Mary
Ellen Klas Times/Herald. Another breaking expose on corruption surrounding
this prison.
FBI issues subpoenas apparently linked to Florida Geo
Group investigation, June 16, 2011. As previously
reported by DBA Press (“Legacy of Corruption,” February, 2011), the Federal
Bureau of Investigation has been quietly investigating the circumstances
which led to the appropriation and construction of Florida’s largest private
prison, Blackwater River Correctional Facility (Blackwater CF), operated by
Florida-based private prison operator, Geo Group. By Beau Hodai DBA
Press
New private prison in Milton shows Florida cost-savings
challenge, April 25, 2011, Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald
Tallahassee Bureau. Excellent piece exposing the cherry-picking going on in
this GEO for-profit prison.
DBA
Press Investigative Report: Legacy of Corruption January
22, 2011 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s unsettling history of extremely close
ties to private prison operator Geo Group and the possible federal
investigation into Florida’s private prison giveaway of more than $120
million. By Beau Hodai
December
1, 2011 The Daily News
Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole said Thursday that FBI agents had
asked him Wednesday about a private land sale in 2009 and the county’s sale
of land to build the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Milton. “It
was all the same things over again,” Cole said during a brief telephone conversation
about the search of his home and business. “They threw so much out there I
didn’t know what they were focused on.” FBI and IRS agents searched Cole’s
home in East Milton and his Pensacola business, Bob Cole’s Automotive. No
arrests were made and the agents declined to say what they were seeking.
Cole, who has been a commissioner since 2002, has maintained his innocence of
any wrongdoing. Although his County Commission offices were not searched
Wednesday, Cole focused his comments on his actions as an elected official.
“No vote was bought and I did not better myself because of a vote,” he said
Wednesday. “I am comfortable in my votes of the past on issues and no one
twisted my arm. Everything I have done is on the record and I feel good to
go.” Cole confirmed Thursday that agents asked specifically about his sale of
land to a business known as Beannacht Properties LLC. On April 17, 2009, Cole
sold 9 percent of a five-acre parcel on Welcome Church Road to Beannacht
Properties for about $50,000. Beannacht Properties is managed by Nina Roche
Cobb and her husband, Donald Cobb. Nina Roche Cobb is the daughter of John
and Deborah Roche, Gulf Breeze residents who own Lifeguard Ambulance Service,
which holds a contract with Santa Rosa County to provide emergency services.
A federal warrant was issued in August for documents pertaining to several
Santa Rosa County land transactions and material related to discussions
regarding the county’s Lifeguard Ambulance contract. It is not clear whether
the records request in August and Wednesday’s search of Cole’s home and
business are related. Calls to Beannacht Properties have not been returned.
Cole also acknowledged Thursday that the FBI has also asked him about the
county’s $2.65 million sale of land to a south Florida company known as the
GEO Group. The GEO Group bought the property so that it could build a $120
million private prison in Milton.
September
25, 2011 Pensacola News Journal
Two Santa Rosa County officials are due at Pensacola's federal courthouse on
Tuesday — with volumes of records — to answer four federal subpoenas served
in August. Cindy Anderson, executive director of the TEAM Santa Rosa Economic
Development Council, and Santa Rosa County Attorney Angela Jones will present
thousands of pages of documents as well as numerous digital files to the
federal grand jury. TEAM and the county each received two subpoenas in August
demanding records involving contracts, developments, land purchases, travel
and other interactions among TEAM, the county and numerous private parties.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office won't say why they want the
information. The subpoenas sought information about a wide range of topics: »
Santa Rosa County's purchase of an industrial park from Navarre developer
Bill Pullum in 2009. » Any County Commission or TEAM staff member's travel to
Pullum's private island in Honduras. » Any County Commission or TEAM staff
member's travel to Washington, D.C. » Any county business with Pullum,
developer Garrett Walton, architect and former state Sen. Charlie Clary, and
Okaloosa County businessman William McElvy. » The sale of any property
between the county and James "Jim" Young and/or KWY Investments,
the company that sold the property where the private Blackwater River
Correctional Institute came to be built in East Milton. » The county's
ambulance service contract. Subpoenas issued to other offices center around
how Blackwater River Correctional Institute came to be built by the Boca
Raton-based GEO Group and the nature of former state Rep. Ray Sansom's
relationship to the project.
September
1, 2011 Gulf Breeze News
A Grand Jury will meet in Pensacola on Sept. 27 to start reviewing
numerous boxes of documents from Santa Rosa County’s economic development
deals dating back to 2002. Subpoenas from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
were served on the County Commissioners and on the county’s economic
development arm, TEAM Santa Rosa, last Tuesday, Aug. 23. Commission chairman
Lane Lynchard and TEAM Santa Rosa Director Cindy Anderson each said they are
looking at this as an opportunity to clear the record – and the air – on
these projects once and for all. “Anytime you receive a federal subpoena of
any kind, it puts the county in a negative light. There is no doubt about
that,” said Lynchard, an attorney from Gulf Breeze. “But it is my
understanding this is the first federal subpoena of any kind that has been
received by Santa Rosa County, and I really look at this as an opportunity to
set the record straight on any questions concerning our economic development
dealings. “The records they wanted go back as far as 2002 from the County
Commission. I know there were a lot of questions surrounding the purchase of
the property in 2009 for the industrial park off Interstate 10 and U.S.
Highway 90. Maybe this can out those questions to rest once and for all.”
Anderson said most of the records subpoenaed already have been looked at and
found to have no problems by the State Attorney’s Office as well as the
Ethics Committee. “This really all started back when the ID Group of Gulf
Breeze got funding from some grants back in 2004,” Anderson said. “There has
been a group of individuals who have had questions on several projects since
then, and I really hope this latest review of all those records can put all
the questions to rest. “The investigation in March when records were
subpoenaed was concerning only the private GEO prison project. Now this
latest request has to do with any and all of our records going all the way
back to at least 2004. That is boxes and boxes of records.” The owner of the
ID Group was a former member of the TEAM Santa Rosa Board, and when TEAM
received a $170,000 Defense grant, the TEAM board hired the ID Group to do
the work required by the grant. Former State Rep. Ray Sansom was tied to the GEO
group from Boca Raton that built the private Blackwater River Correctional
Institute in East Milton last year. Questions have centered on Sansom’s
involvement with the GEO group in Boca Raton since 2008, when the group
purchased the property for the Milton prison. Subpoenas in March requested
any and all records concerning that prison project.
August
24, 2011 Pensacola News-Journal
A federal grand jury in Pensacola is investigating the building and funding
of a privately owned correctional facility that opened last year in East
Milton, including the role of former state Rep. Ray Sansom. On Tuesday, the
FBI seized a computer used by Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jim Melvin and
his predecessor, Gordon Goodin. Melvin, who took office last year, said FBI agents
told him the investigation was not focused on him but did not disclose what
they were interested in. Goodin, who served for eight years, said he was
confident the investigation didn't involve him. During the past five months,
the grand jury, working with the FBI, has issued three other subpoenas. The
first subpoena on March 29 requested that TEAM Santa Rosa, the county's
economic development agency, deliver all records pertaining to Project
Justice, the code name for the ultimately successful effort to bring a
private prison operated by the Boca Raton-based Geo Group to the county. The
Blackwater River Correctional Institute, owned by Geo under a contract with
the state, opened last year. It is designed for 2,200 high-security
prisoners. The March subpoena ordered Team Santa Rosa to produce all records
related to "the projection, planning, design, funding, appropriation,
construction and/or operation of any privately owned correctional facility
located in Santa Rosa County." The second subpoena to Florida's Office
of Legislative Services, dated May 27, requested travel vouchers since
January 2004 for Sansom and several of his aides. The third subpoena, with
the same date, was addressed to former Sansom aide Samantha Sullivan of Mary
Esther. It ordered records "pertaining to any function performed as a
legislative aide to state Rep. Ray Sansom" since Jan. 1, 2002. On March
27, 2008, Sansom traveled to Boca Raton on what he described in a travel
voucher as "personal business after Session 2008." On April 4, Sansom
inserted a provision into the 2008-09 general appropriation bill for $110
million for an addition to the Graceville Correctional Institute, owned by
Geo, in Jackson County. That appropriation was removed. Then, on April 8,
Sansom substituted an appropriation of $110 million into the 2008-09 state
budget for a private prison to be built anywhere in the state, with no
reference to Graceville. That money went to the East Milton facility, which
ended up costing $140 million. In February 2010, Sansom, while serving as
speaker of the House, resigned amid criminal allegations that he inserted a
$6 million appropriation into the state budget for construction of an
aircraft hangar in Destin for a prominent Florida Republican Party
contributor, Jay Odom. The state dropped its case against Sansom in March
after a Tallahassee judge blocked key prosecution testimony. Santa Rosa
officials reached Tuesday said they didn't know the reason for the seizure of
the commission computer. Commissioner Lane Lynchard said he learned of the
seizure from Santa Rosa County Attorney Angela Jones but didn't know what the
FBI's interest was. He said the county was served with two federal grand jury
subpoenas, but he didn't know what the other one involved. Jones was not in
her office Tuesday afternoon, and county spokeswoman Joy Tsubooka said copies
of the subpoenas would not be available until today. Melvin said the federal
agents appeared in his office with two subpoenas at about 10 a.m. "They
explained that they had no problems with me, but that they needed records
from the computer in my office," Melvin said. "They wanted to know
whether I would demand a court order. I told them I was not the custodian of
those records. They met with the county attorney, and then came and removed the
computer from my office." Melvin said he did not know the nature of the
records sought. Goodin, who was recently cleared of an ethics complaint
involving a 2005 trip he and his wife took to Central America, said he had
"no idea" what interest the FBI would have in the computer.
"I'm not worried about any more investigations," he said.
"They can investigate whatever they want." A message left at the
FBI office in Pensacola was not returned Tuesday.
June
17, 2011 WEAR TV
"This is the $120 million Blackwater River Correctional Facility. It's
been a pretty quiet addition to East Santa Rosa County, bringing hundreds of
new jobs here. But... the Federal Government is continuing wide-scale
investigation into what led to the construction of this prison." The
project has been under fire ever since it became public knowledge. The GEO
Group... The company that now runs the prison... Has documented ties to
several state lawmakers who help approve the 120 million dollar project.
Jerry Couey is one of many people around the state that's been closely
following the development of this prison for years. "Any citizen or
private business owner would love to have the same deal. I don't understand
how they got the deal and I've become very curious about how that occurred."
Jerry is not alone. The FBI obtained this subpoena in federal court back at
the end of march. In it... The US District Court for the Northern District of
Florida demands team Santa Rosa turn over all it's paperwork related to the
GEO group and the state lawmakers who backed the privatized prison project in
the legislature. , "I wish them well in their search. I think they're on
to something that certainly needs to be looked at, in a time in the state of
Florida where dollars are so precious, how did this happen." "It
would make sense for them to come to us, because they know we have to keep
track of all of this and it would be packaged all together all in one
place." "The FBI is very good at what they do, and I don't know
what's going to come of it. My gut gives me concern about how it
occurred."
August
16, 2010 Sunshine State News
Former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democratic nominee to be the next state CFO,
attacked a program backed by her Republican rival, Senate President Jeff
Atwater of North Palm Beach, that slashed 71 prison work squads, which she
insisted saved Florida taxpayers more than $35 million, and created a new
private prison. Labeling the Blackwater River Correctional Institution the
“prison to nowhere,” Ausley noted that the project had already cost the state
more than $110 million and that Atwater was ignoring recommendations made by
the Florida Department of Corrections. She also compared the project to a new
courthouse in Tallahassee which she labeled the “Tallahassee Taj Mahal.”
“Senate President Jeff Atwater’s ‘prison to nowhere’ is yet another product
of the broken system in Tallahassee, and once again Florida taxpayers are
stuck with the bill,” said Ausley. “Floridians are fed up with politicians
who play by their own rules with our money. Whether it’s the ‘Tallahassee Taj
Mahal,’ the ‘Prison to Nowhere’ or an airport hanger for a political
contributor, politicians in Tallahassee need to be held accountable.”
August
10, 2010 WCTV
Prison work squads are as old prisons themselves. But the state has slashed
the number of work squads since the new budget took effect in July. Motorist
Toby Edwards doesn’t think that’s good for roadways or the prisoners. “They
eat good and the state takes care of them but that’s coming from the
taxpayers,” Edwards said. “So they should be the ones out there picking up
the trash.” Another motorist, Steve Bedosky thinks the work should be
contracted to private companies. “I’ve never really been in favor of taking
those jobs away from the private sector and putting prisoners out there at a
lower price,” Bedosky said. But local governments don’t have the resources,
which means the work will often go undone. 71 crews like this one are being
cut. That’s going to mean taller grass, more trash on the road, and costs
being shifted. The Department of Corrections was forced by lawmakers to spend
24 million dollars opening a private prison orchestrated by disgraced former
speaker Ray Sansom. The private prison took money from the work squads, even
though new projections show the 2200 private prison beds weren’t needed. The
union representing correctional officers understands the need to keep
staffing up inside prison fences, but it objects to the work squad cuts on
moral grounds. “It’s just sad that the public has to pay for the legislature’s
irresponsibility,” Al Shopp with the Police Benevolent Association said. But
unless funding improves, prisoners will be spending more time behind bars and
less time cleaning up roadsides. The state is cutting 71 of 180 work squads
across the state.
June
8, 2010 St Petersburg Times
On the heels of its endorsement of Alex Sink for governor, the Police
Benevolent Association has now announced it will support Loranne Ausley in
her bid to be chief financial officer. Sink's endorsement was news because
the PBA hadn't endorsed a Democrat for governor since Lawton Chiles' first
run in 1990. Now, with its endorsement of an underfunded Ausley over Senate
President Jeff Atwater, the group seems to have gotten religion on Democrats.
Unsure about why the group is making the shift, but it could have something
to do with the opening of a new private prison in North Florida and lingering
unease over potential cuts to prison workers' pensions. Matt Puckett, the
deputy executive director for the PBA, says the group likes people "that
wanted to take care of law enforcement officers and public employees."
He also noted that "it didn't help matters" that the new private
prison opened up on Atwater's watch.
May
28, 2010 St Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist often laments "this culture of corruption in South
Florida," but increasingly it's Tallahassee that looks like a central
focus of multiple criminal investigations swirling about Florida. In recent
weeks, prominent legislators have hired criminal defense lawyers, while
high-ranking and low-ranking GOP staffers have been summoned to grand juries
meeting across the state. Among them: Crist's former top money-raiser,
Meredith O'Rourke; former state GOP executive director Jim Rimes; and
indicted ex-House Speaker Ray Sansom's former fundraising aide, Melanie
Phister, who at age 25 charged nearly $1.3 million on her state party credit
card. Veteran observers of the state's political process can't remember a
time when so many officials have been caught up in criminal investigations.
"I don't think we've ever had it at this level,'' said longtime lobbyist
Ron Book. Amid the most tumultuous and unpredictable election year Florida
has seen in decades, the names of at least a dozen political figures have
popped up in five major federal investigations probing the pay-to-play
culture of corruption in Florida: • Alan Mendelsohn, 52, a Fort Lauderdale
eye doctor and GOP campaign fundraiser, is indicted on federal fraud and
influence peddling charges. • Scott Rothstein, 47, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer
and campaign donor at the center of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, pled guilty
in January to multiple federal charges of racketeering, money laundering,
fraud. • Sansom, 47, charged with grand theft in state court for secretly
putting $6 million in the budget, is being looked at by federal officials in
North Florida for his use of a GOP credit card and his role in creating a
$113 million private prison.
May
4, 2010 Tallahassee Democrat
An influential state senator who is running for governor called for an
explanation Tuesday of how the Blackwater River prison privatization project
was handled in the state budget. Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, wrote to the
Department of Corrections and Department of Management Services regarding the
Santa Rosa County prison. She said the Legislature appropriated $87 million
for it as a 2,000-bed privately operated prison in 2008, intending that it
house medium- to close-security inmates. In the closing days of the session
that adjourned last week, the budget adopted by the House and Senate added
224 prisoners to the institution's capacity -- potentially worth $2 million a
year, or more, for GEO Group, the company negotiating with DMS to run the
prison. The appropriation was also changed to specify that the prison will
"primarily house special-needs inmates," such as those with mental
or physical health problems, and that it would be in Santa Rosa County, she
said. Dockery, who chairs the Senate criminal justice committee, asked DOC
and DMS if either department had requested the appropriation. She also asked
for a summary of responses from companies competing for the state's business,
what other locations were considered for the institution and why it was
designated for "inmates who require chronic medical and mental health
treatment." "She's asking all the right questions," said Ken
Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Police Benevolent Association, which
represents security officers in state-run prisons. The PBA opposes prison
privatization, which has been a highly controversial endeavor at six
corporate-run prisons in Florida. Spokeswomen for DMS and DOC said the
agencies are gathering information to respond to Dockery later this week or
next week.
May
4, 2010 St Petersburg Times
Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican running for governor, has
written DOC Secretary Walt McNeil and DMS Secretary Linda South to find out
more about the private prison Blackwater deal (more here on the background).
The letter is here: Dear Secretary McNeil and Secretary South: As chair of
the Florida Senate’s Committee on Criminal Justice, I am interested in the
background of the Blackwater River Correctional Facility (Blackwater) in
Santa Rosa County. I am aware that an appropriation of approximately
$87,000,000 was made in 2008 to contract for a 2,000 bed private correctional
facility to house medium and close custody inmates. The appropriation did not
specify a location for the facility or that the facility would primarily
house special needs inmates. I request clarification about the history of the
facility, including, but not limited to, the following issues: • Whether the
appropriation was requested by either the Department of Corrections or the
Department of Management Services and, if so, the basis for the request. • A
summary of the responses to ITN #DMS 08/09-026 (including vendor, proposed
location, proposed cost, and any distinguishing features of the proposal). •
The origin of consideration of Santa Rosa County as a location for the
facility and identification of other sites that were considered. • The origin
of the decision that the majority of the inmates in the facility would be
special needs inmates who require chronic medical and mental health
treatment, and whether that decision affected the costs of construction. I
would appreciate a timely response to this request. It is not intended to be
burdensome and you should contact me or my staff if there are difficulties
with responding in a timely fashion. Warm regards, Sen. Paula Dockery
April
25, 2010 Tampa Tribune
House and Senate budget chiefs agreed Saturday to open a private prison and
pour $61 million into the University of South Florida's Lakeland campus, but
remained at odds over a variety of cuts and competing proposals. The
Legislature, in its 2008 budget, approved the construction of the private
Blackwater River Correctional Institution, responding to predictions that the
state's prison population would jump more sharply than it has. The
state-of-the-art facility now stands empty. Saturday, the House agreed to
Senate budget chief JD Alexander's plan to cut state prison beds and
eliminate more than 300 positions, mostly vacant, in the state Department of
Corrections to fill 2,224 Blackwater prison beds. That's 224 more beds than
the facility was designed to hold, raising concerns about crowding.
Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said the state can avoid that problem by
"double-bunking" dormitory space. Ken Kopczynski, political affairs
assistant for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, questioned whether
it is ethical to turn incarceration of prisoners into a profit-making
industry. With 4,000 beds or more available in the state's public prisons,
Kopczynski said, there's no reason to open a private one. Alexander
disagreed. "I just couldn't, in all conscience, sit there with a brand-new,
$120 million facility and not find a way to use it; it just doesn't make
sense to me. I think this is a reasonable compromise."
April
24, 2010 Tampa Tribune
House and Senate budget chiefs agreed Friday on money for Florida Forever and
a range of other issues, but will spend the weekend haggling over items
ranging from crisis pregnancy counseling to trading state-run prison beds for
private ones. The popular-but-pricey Florida Forever program won $15 million
Friday after losing in budget negotiations last year. When the House refused
in 2009 to provide new money for the land conservation program, its line
item, to the alarm of environmentalists, vanished from the budget. This year,
the House initially left the program out of its budget plan for the fiscal
year that begins July 1. Janet Bowman of the Nature Conservancy said
environmentalists are grateful for the $15 million "bridge"
funding. The proposed cash infusion, she said, will pay for land appraisals
and allow the state to negotiate with land owners. Other issues on which
Senate and House budget chiefs agreed during the past several days: •Spending
$10 million on Everglades restoration. •Repealing a shoreline fishing fee
lawmakers passed in 2009. •Cutting state payment rates to nursing homes by 7
percent. •Spending $200,000 on a new Innocence Commission to study why
innocent people have wound up in prison and prevent future cases. •Spending
$11.7 million on aid to libraries, less than the full $21 million funding the
Senate proposed earlier. All decisions on the budget remain unofficial until
the end of conferencing. The nursing home rate reduction is among a handful
of recent agreements considered tentative, given concerns in both chambers
about potential harm to nursing home residents. House and Senate budget
chiefs will likely wrap up their negotiations on Sunday, at which point they
forward any remaining sticking points to House Speaker Larry Cretul and
Senate President Jeff Atwater for final decisions. Public versus private --
Among the issues still at play this weekend: How to handle the opening of
Blackwater River Corrections Institution, a private prison in Santa Rosa
County. The Legislature authorized construction of the low-cost, highly
efficient prison in response to predictions that the prison population would
jump more sharply than it has. The Senate is proposing to shutter less
efficient state facilities and eliminate more than 300 vacant positions in
the Department of Corrections to open 2,224 beds at Blackwater. That is 224
more beds than facility was designed to hold. Carter Goble Lee, the
Atlanta-based firm contracted as Blackwater's project manager, warned the
state Department of Management Services in an April 2 letter that the extra
beds would place the state at risk of litigation by violating an industry
standard of "25 square feet of unencumbered space per inmate."
Senate budget chief JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Friday the state can
avoid overcrowding by "double-bunking" dormitory space for
lower-risk inmates. "It's typical of the kind of structure that we have
in our publicly operated prisons, so we felt like that was a good, efficient
move to contain costs." The Senate proposes more than $24 million in
cuts to the state corrections budget to offset the cost of opening Blackwater.
Meanwhile, the state has 4,000 to 5,000 vacant beds available in the existing
state system, said Ken Kopczynski, political affairs assistant for the
Florida Police Benevolent Association. "There's no need for this
prison," Kopczynski said. "They should let it sit until they need
it." Alexander said that's not acceptable. "I believe it will save
us money," he said. "It's unconscionable to me to have a $120
million facility sitting empty - the newest, most state-of-the-art facility.
I don't know how I would tell the taxpayers that that's OK." The House
has agreed to the corresponding reduction in prison staff vacancies, but not
the extra 224 beds.
April
23, 2010 WEAR TV
It cost taxpayers over 120 million bucks and one state agency says it's not
needed. Now the deal to build a new prison in Milton is attracting the
attention of federal investigators. Dan Thomas/dthomas@weartv.com: "Take
a look we're out here at the site of the new state prison in Milton and
construction is full speed ahead out here today. It's 120 million taxpayer
dollars being spent to build it out here. It could mean up to 400 jobs here
to the local economy. One major problem with the project though? The State
Department of Corrections says they don't need any of this. It's a situation
that one report out of Tallahassee says has piqued the interest of the
FBI." An unnamed source close to the investigation, says the FBI is
curious about the prison deal. One of many dealings of former house speaker
Ray Sansom currently under scrutiny. We know the FBI has spoken to at least
one person locally about the matter. County Commissioner Don Salter says
Federal agents have not talked to him but he expects the whole thing to blow
over soon. Don Salter/Santa Rosa Commissioner: "Hopefully everything is
going to workout, I suspect after august after the primary election and in
November it'll probably calm down and everything will go forward." The
state senate wants the Blackwater prison open with prisoners shipped in from
existing facilities. Meanwhile the house didn't allocate any money to run it.
Salter says the state may have no choice but to open the prison. Don
Salter/Santa Rosa Commissioner: "It's my understanding that GEO bonded
this project. The state guaranteed those bonds. So one way or the other the taxpayers
of Florida will pay for this facility." Dan Thomas/dthomas@weartv.com:
"And just what the legislature decides to do with this facility and
those 400 jobs is expected to be decided next week." No matter what the
legislature decides, construction is expected to be complete in July. If the
facility is opened. They could start taking prisoners by November.
April
23, 2010 Florida News Network
The FBI is asking question about former House Speaker Ray Sansom’s
involvement with a legislative deal to build a private prison. The news comes
as the feds investigate Sansom, Marco Rubio, and former GOP Chairman Jim
Greer for spending millions on Republican Party of Florida credit cards. As
Whitney Ray tells us, the trouble for the GOP keeps growing. A legislative
plan to close as many as five state prisons and ship inmates to a private
prison run by GEO Group was scaled back last month by public out cry. Former
House Speaker Ray Sansom originated the deal with an amendment in the 2008
state budget. On March 30th, a concerned citizen filed a complaint with the
US Attorney’s Office calling for an investigation. A source familiar with the
complaint says the FBI has been asking questions. A GEO Group Lobbyist says
the feds haven’t questioned him. “I never heard anything like that at all,”
said Smith. According to our source the feds may be searching to see if
Sansom received any kickbacks from the company. GEO Group, formally known as
Wackenhut, gave Sansom’s campaign 500 hundred dollars for his 2007 campaign.
The company gave 145-thousand dollars to the Republican Party of Florida in
2008, and another 130-thousand in 2009. Neither Sansom’s lawyer nor the FBI
returned our requests for interviews. Plans to house 22-hundred inmates in
the private prison are moving forward in this year’s budget negotiations. The
Police Benevolent Association says lawmakers should halt the prison plan.
“The legislature would be smart to the taxpayers if they stopped this deal
and took another look at it,” said Puckett. Earlier this week news broke of
an FBI investigation into spending by Sansom, and several other high ranking
Republicans on party issued credit cards. Questions about the prison deal may
have spawned from their current investigation.
April
2, 2010 WEAR TV
A prison nurse in Santa Rosa County wants a federal and state investigation
into the deal to bring the private Blackwater prison to Milton. Elva McCaig
has compiled a lengthy and detailed account of the legislative moves former
state representative Ray Sansom made in the 2008 budget to make the deal
happen. She points out that the state bought the property for the prison from
the Geo Group for $1.6 million. The state also awarded Geo the contract to
build the facility for $110 million. She goes on to allege a number of other "back-room"
transactions. McCaig is a nurse at the state-run jail next door to the site
of the new facility, and she strongly opposes privatization of prisons.
March
31, 2010 Tampa Tribune
GOP leaders in the Florida Senate appeared Tuesday night to back off on a
controversial budget proposal that would force the closure of two state
prisons in order to open a cheaper private one. Senate Minority Leader Al
Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said Senate budget chief JD Alexander and Senate
President Jeff Atwater have agreed not to require the state to shutter two
as-yet unnamed prisons and privatize one to fill the private Blackwater River
Correctional Facility in Santa Rosa County. That privatization plan, from
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Alexander, appears in the proposed 2010-11
budget that the full Senate will begin considering today. Lawson, who filed
an amendment late Monday that would strip the Blackwater plan from the budget
entirely, said Tuesday night that he will file another that will leave it up
to the state Department of Corrections how best to fill the private facility.
Alexander and Senate President Jeff Atwater indicated Tuesday evening that
they would accept such an amendment, said Lawson, R-Tallahassee. Lawson's
district includes at least one small town fearing the loss of a local prison
rumored to be a target of closure under Alexander's plan. "This will
remove the panic," Lawson said. Blackwater still would open this year, he
said, but without an estimated cut to prison budgets of $20 million.
Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Tuesday that he still needs to see the language
of Lawson's amendment but that they mostly have agreed on a different
approach. The Legislature authorized construction of the low-cost highly
efficient Blackwater facility in 2008, responding to predictions that the
prison population would jump more sharply than it has. There is no version of
the privatization proposal in the House. The two chambers will have to negotiate
a final budget before the end of the session.
March
30, 2010 WJHG
More than 400 people showed up at a rally in Sneads this afternoon to protest
a Senate budget-cutting proposal. The plan would supposedly save $68 million
dollars by closing two state prisons and privatize a third. But some of the
money would go to pay a private company to operate the new 2200 bed
Blackwater Correctional Institute in Santa Rosa County. Folks in Jackson
County are worried Apalachee Correctional Institute will become a victim of
what they're now calling the 'Blackwater Bailout.' More than 400 people
showed up at a rally in Sneads this afternoon to protest a Senate
budget-cutting proposal. The plan would supposedly save $68 million dollars
by closing two state prisons and privatize a third. But some of the money
would go to pay a private company to operate the new 2200 bed Blackwater
Correctional Institute in Santa Rosa County. Folks in Jackson County are
worried Apalachee Correctional Institute will become a victim of what they're
now calling the 'Blackwater Bailout.' Jackson County Commission Chairman
Jeremy Branch didn't sugar-coat his feelings about Blackwater Correctional
Institution. "Let me tell you what I hope it does: I hope it stays there
and I hope it turns into a tombstone for privatization, I hope it's a
monument to help symbolize the death of privatization in the state of
Florida." The new prison in Santa Rosa County is 90% complete. The state
owns it, but is planning to let a private company operate it. Branch and others,
including the top State Corrections official, hope Blackwater never opens its
doors. DOC Secretary Walter McNeil says, "I will not stand idly by.
We're gonna fight until our little fingers are down to the bone to make sure
that this does not come to fruition." Former State Representative
Loranne Ausley asks, "when our communities are experiencing the worst
employment, foreclosure rate, our budget is the worst it has been, how is it
you can find 160-million dollars to build a prison that you don't need?!"
If the state taps ACI as one of the two prisons that will close, community
leaders say it will mean 640 workers will lose their jobs and the Sneads
economy will be devastated. James Baiardi of the Police Benevolent
Association, says "this is wrong, it's nothing more than a corporate
bailout, that's all it is. They made the mistake and they want you to pay,
your community to pay and they want the Correctional officers to pay for
their mistake." 74-year-old Reverend Willis Raines Sr. has lived in Sneads
his whole life. He raised 17 kids and knows firsthand ACI's impact on the
local economy. "It creates communities where people get their jobs and
support their families in our communities which is very, very
important." Others are concerned the state could close as many as 5
prisons and will begin the early-release of inmates to compensate for the
lack of prison beds. But former State Representative Curtis Richardson says,
"we're here to say not 'NO' but 'HELL NO!' We will not take it anymore.
They can keep this deal in Tallahassee. We're not gonna have it."
Richardson went on to blame former House Speaker Ray Sansom for the
situation. Sansom filed the 2008 budget amendment that issued state bonds to
build Blackwater and hire a private company to operate it. Richardson said
there's no question this can be tied to the kind of back room, smoke filled
room, dirty deals Ray Sansom has become associated with.
March
30, 2010 Palm Beach Post
Once again, a Tallahassee lawmaker is playing hide and don't seek with Florida's
budget. This time, the perpetrator is Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander.
Last week, the Lake Wales Republican bypassed standard procedures to amend
the proposed spending bill to close at least two state-run prisons, open a
new private prison and privatize others. Sen. Alexander claims moving
prisoners from state-run facilities to private ones will save $42 million a
year. Why, then, didn't he bother to notify the Department of Corrections?
Surely, the DOC should know about such a drastic change. Sen. Alexander's
last-minute move would benefit Boca Raton-based GEO Group, the company likely
to run one of the facilities. Sen. Alexander's amendment continues budget
sleight-of-hand begun by former House Speaker Ray Sansom. That Santa Rosa
County Republican slipped into the 2008 budget a $110 million appropriation
the state used to pay GEO Group to build the private prison in his home
county. That's the prison that Sen. Alexander now hopes to open. Mr. Sansom
resigned last year as speaker and this year left the House after indictment
on charges related to another deal he tucked into that budget — $6 million to
build an airplane hangar for a major contributor to himself and the
Republican Party. The GEO Group, which runs the South Bay Correctional
Institution, has had a number of inmate deaths and riots at its prisons. Last
year, a Texas appeals court upheld a 2006 $40 million wrongful death judgment
concerning an inmate fatally beaten in 2001. Unless other prisons close,
there aren't enough inmates to fill the 2,224-bed prison near the Blackwater
River in Santa Rosa County. Also, the company, which contributed $158,000 to
Florida Republicans and $17,000 to Democrats during the 2008 election cycle,
saw its stock price drop as much as 8 percent earlier this month when the
Federal Bureau of Prisons canceled plans to house illegal aliens convicted of
crimes. GEO Group expected those inmates to fill a facility it operates in
Michigan. An analyst pointed out at the time that all was not bad for GEO
Group because the company's earnings from the Blackwater facility had not
been included in its 2010 forecast. Sen. Alexander, whose amendment would
help Blackwater's profits, also did not include the impact it would have on
prison overcrowding when he forecast the savings privatization would bring to
the state. Secretary of Corrections Walt McNeil estimates the amendment would
shutter five prisons and force the department to release about 2,500 inmates
early. "Everybody," Mr. McNeil said, "should be concerned about
it." Everybody also should be concerned when legislators conduct state
business under the cover of darkness. Obviously lawmakers should discuss
prison projections and clear up serious disagreements about the numbers
before acting. Last year, the grand jury that indicted former Rep. Sansom
condemned the Legislature's clandestine budgeting process that lets a select
few lawmakers make decisions behind closed doors. Sen. Alexander should read
that grand jury report and take notes.
March
27, 2010 Palm Beach Post
After repeatedly emphasizing his commitment to "open and
transparent" government during a committee meeting Thursday evening,
Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander attached a last-minute
prison-privatization amendment to the state's spending bill without any warning
to anyone it would affect, including the Department of Corrections.
Alexander's proposal to open a privately run prison near the Blackwater River
in the Panhandle would shutter at least two state-run prisons and put 639
prison guards out of work, the Lakeland Republican told the committee. His
plan also would privatize an unidentified existing 1,350-bed prison, bringing
the number of guards who would get pink slips up to 1,400, according to the
amendment. Alexander says that shutting down prisons to fill a 2,224-bed
facility to be run by Boca Raton-based Geo Group would save the state about
$20 million a year. And it would put into use the state-of-the-art,
energy-efficient Blackwater prison the state paid Geo $110 million to build
near Milton in a deal slipped into the 2008 budget by state Rep. Ray Sansom
before he became House speaker. Sansom later stepped down from that position
in disgrace. But corrections officials object to the plan and say Alexander
overestimates the state's potential savings by going private. Geo is now
negotiating with the Department of Management Services to run Blackwater, but
with a major hitch: The state doesn't have enough inmates to fill it without
closing other prisons. That's because the state overestimated how many inmates
would be incarcerated and the prison population is declining despite
historically high unemployment. Alexander based his estimate on a $65-a-day
rate for inmates in state-run prisons and $41 a day that Geo says it can
charge for Blackwater, a savings of $24 a day for each of the 2,224 inmates
who would be housed at the facility. But corrections officials say the
savings would be about $9 million — less than half Alexander's $20 million
estimate — because their average daily rate is $52 while the private prison's
costs would depend on what kind of inmates were locked up at Blackwater.
"We don't believe this is the right way to open Blackwater," said
DOC spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. Blackwater was originally supposed to house
mentally ill and seriously sick inmates who cost more to care for, but
documents show that the state is now negotiating with Geo to care for inmates
who are the cheapest and easiest to supervise. "As discussed earlier
today, we wanted to provide you with a revised pricing for the Blackwater
Facility if it were to house 2,224 M-1/M-2/S-1 inmates," an unidentified
Geo official wrote on March 19 to Michael Weber, chief of private prison
monitoring at the Department of Management Services. M-1, M-2 and S-1 inmates
are relatively healthy and have no mental health issues. The $41-a-day price
goes up to $45 if the 2,224-bed facility does not run at full capacity,
according to the e-mail. But DMS spokeswoman Linda McDonald declined to say
who would run Blackwater because negotiations aren't finished. And she would
not say what type of inmates would be housed there. "That is not a
decision that DMS makes. Ultimately it could be the legislature, but DOC is
certainly involved, too," McDonald said. Plessinger said it is unlikely
that all the inmates from one prison could be transferred to Blackwater
because most prisons have a mix of classes of prisoners. She also said
corrections officials have no idea which prisons will be shut down. Deal
'sneaky,' some say -- Alexander's late-filed amendment is the latest twist in
a deal worked out in secrecy for at least two years since Sansom set it into
motion. Sansom resigned his speakership in 2009 after being indicted on
charges including grand theft related to a deal he tucked into the 2008
budget. He is facing trial on charges of steering tax money to build a jet
hangar for developer Jay Odom, who donated nearly $1 million to Sansom and
the state Republican Party, at a Panhandle college that hired him the day he
became speaker. In the same budget, the Santa Rosa County Republican also
slipped in a $110 million appropriation to build a private prison in his home
county. Alexander's privatization plan was never discussed during the Senate
Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee meetings where prison
spending is usually decided. The committee chairman, Victor Crist, voted
against the amendment Thursday. He said the potential savings by privatizing
the prisons could not only put people out of work but also devastate the
rural communities in which the prisons are based. "They generally are
the primary if not the only employer there. If you shut it down, you could be
shutting down a town. All of a sudden, everyone there could be out of
work," said Crist, R-Tampa. "How do they sell their homes? How do
they relocate even if they got a job with a private prison 300 miles
away?" And, Crist said, the laid-off prison guards — whose annual
salaries average between $30,000 and $35,000 — could wind up costing the
state more if they sign up for state services for the unemployed.
"Sometimes a dollar saved upfront could cost you two dollars
behind," he said. Alexander said he introduced the amendment because
Crist refused to do so and as Senate budget chairman he wants to save money
on prisons to help close a $3.2 billion spending gap. "Many states have
reduced their incarceration costs by using privatization," said
Alexander, R-Lake Wales. He estimated Florida could save up to $700 million a
year by privatizing each of its 62 prisons. But Police Benevolent Association
President Jim Baiardi said Alexander kept his plan quiet to avoid public
debate on the controversial issue. "It's been sneaky. Very sneaky. It's
almost like it's been done in the dead of the night. So much for open
government," Baiardi said, calling it a giveaway for Geo. "I don't
understand how they can say that," Alexander said. "The reality is
we've got a brand-new prison that the state directed and used taxpayers'
monies to build. I think putting that prison online, saving the money, saving
the maintenance costs, is something that only makes good financial sense for
the people of Florida."
March
26, 2010 Capital News Service
Three state prisons would be shut down and 640 correctional officers
would lose their jobs under the senate’s budget proposal. Some of the money
saved from shutting down the prisons and firing the officers would be used to
hire a private prison company for a facility in Santa Rosa County known as
the Blackwater Prison. Matt Puckett with the Florida Police Benevolent
Association says correctional officers who have risked their lives for years
are being sacrificed so the private sector can pull down state dollars.
“Basically the private sector has built a prison, we don’t have enough
inmates to fill this prison, so they are going to take inmates from the
private sector to fill it, so we are calling it the Blackwater bailout,” said
Puckett. The PBA is fighting for an amendment in the Senate’s budget to save
the prisons. The budget doesn’t name which prisons would be closed and gives
the state until July 1st to decide who will be laid off.
September
10, 2009 Northwest Florida Daily News
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office arrested eight undocumented
workers and charged six of them with fraud on Tuesday. Deputies conducted a
traffic stop near the area of a construction site on Jeff Ates Road in
Milton. Crews there are working to build a new private prison and the
Sheriff's Office had received word that some of the crew members weren't in
the United States legally. During the traffic stop on Sept. 8, a Special
Operations investigator determined the four people in the vehicle did not
have proper paperwork and documentation. The men said they were employed at
the construction site as masons. Lawmen contacted the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Agency and reported the arrest of two of the men in the car.
Abelino Oviedo-Salinas, 25, was arrested for traffic violation and Sergio
Mata-Oviedo, 18, was arrested for resisting an officer. The job foreman at
the construction site was cooperative and reported the men were hired by a
subcontractor at the site. The subcontractor said the men were sent to him
through Robles Masonry in Alabama. After investigating the claims, six more
men were arrested for providing false identification information to fill out
their tax forms. Margaro Elias, 48, Jaime Condeles, 37, Mariano
Sanchez-Ramiez, 21, Amado Landaverde-Vizcaya, 27, Jaime Flores-Aguilar, 32,
and Bernardo Mata, 25, were charged with fraud. ICE was notified of the six
arrests and bond was withheld for all the men arrested, pending their first
appearance. There were no local addresses, local ties or valid information
they could provide. Authorities report showed two of the men had fingerprints
that matched prior arrests under different names in other parts of the
country. Several of the other men, including the driver from the traffic
stop, have prior arrests for illegal entry into the United States.
July
24, 2009 Santa Rosa Press-Gazette
It doesn’t appear that some tensions have died down since Monday’s
meeting of the Santa Rosa County Commissioners where Chairman Don Salter
entered into the minutes he “as chairman feared for the safety of certain
individuals involved with economic development” based on the comments he
quoted of Alan Isaacson. Since then, the feelings are still there. “I have a
right to petition my government and asked them to take action based on the
contract I drafted with them,” said Isaacson. “Then to have someone who
accuses you of potential murder. “I was hurt, but I was also concerned about
the fact that in the past two months I found 11 instances of items being
withheld by TEAM. And that violates the agreement with the county according
to paragraph 14.” Paragraph 14 section b in the Funding Program Agreement
between TEAM and the Santa Rosa County Commission states, “TEAM shall,
subject to and comply with the provisions of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes,
and other relevant laws, permit public access to all documents or other
materials prepared, developed or received by it in connection with the
performance of its obligations or the exercise of its rights under this
Agreement, unless exempted or confidential by law. This Agreement may be
terminated by (the) County pursuant to paragraph 17 if TEAM fails to allow
such public access.” Isaacson, who is now a witness into the State Attorney’s
investigation into matters involving TEAM and government entities, is
wondering why the contract is not being followed. “In 2007 the state
attorney’s office told us TEAM was crystal clear on the regulations, but in
Oct. of 2008 they form a committee to study what they need to do to be in
compliance with the Sunshine Law,” said Isaacson. “Then in Jan. of 2009 they
are still studying it and are basically forced to follow the law.” Most of
the recent contention to arise this past week focused on an e-mail that came
to light when John Myslak, who is a TEAM Board Member, addressed charges
against him to members of the Santa Rosa County Commission as Myslak was
awarded a contract involving the GEO Prison Project in East Milton. Other
names were noted in the e-mail included TEAM members John Griffing, Pete
Gandy, and Dick Hohorst may have or are all being paid by taxpayer funds even
through the meetings leading up to these payouts which were held outside of
the sunshine. He also questioned the $70,000 grant/contract Jeff Helms, with
PBS&J, just finished with the Whiting Aviation Park. Since the e-mail was
sent it has been learned Helms was awarded the contract prior to joining the
board of TEAM Santa Rosa. Helms pointed out the contract he was awarded was
based on a request for proposals and we went through a process and was
fortunate enough to get part of the work. But questions involving the board
and recent action still remain. Ken Kopczynski, with the Florida Police
Benevolent Association, has been going through a battle to get documents
involving an open records request since Sept. 2008 as they were looking into
the matter with GEO Prisons. “We have had a long dialogue between the PBA and
the County,” said Kopczynski. “One of our guys heard about this private
prison on the agenda one Monday and they vote on the letter of support the
following Thursday. “Our member raised questions on how this prison came
about.” When the association sent their letter, TEAM replied their records
were exempt. “We also asked for correspondence between Management Training
Corporation and John Vanyur,” said Kopczynski. “They told us there was no
documents regarding MTC. “Yet we learn about an e-mail dated in April 2008
from Vanyur to TEAM Santa Rosa.” Since this time the Florida PBA, one of the
state’s largest unions, contacted Roy Andrews who on July 14 stated he was
not the custodian of the public records for TEAM, but that he has “given the
staff my opinion that all their records are public with the exception of
those exemptions specifically set forth in Florida Statute 288.075 for the
applicable time periods.” This is causing a great deal of concern to those
like Isaacson, who have been championing open records and meetings for a long
time. “If one of the largest unions in the state can’t get the information,
what makes you think an individual like me can,” said Isaacson. When asked
about if he has ever taken the time to talk to Isaacson about these questions
and concerns Salter stated they had talked some six months ago. “I talked to
Alan about six months ago for three hours to explain my position on economic
development and base protection and we agreed to disagree,” said Salter. “My
big point is for two years they have been saying their allegations on local
radio and everywhere they can that we are guilty and the allegations they
have. “If you have a problem and feel something is wrong then file the proper
complaint and let the legal system work through it; don’t convict in the media.”
“I want to say just as a reminder when you do stuff like this personalities
do arise,” said Isaacson. “But I do not apologize for what I am doing because
these items need to be done out in the open. “I have a fiduciary
responsibility to check on what is questionable and in my opinion in Oct. of
last year your own attorney agreed.”
Bradford County
Jail
Starke, Florida
TransCor
February 4, 2008 Jacksonville Times-Union
A privately contracted corrections officer is in jail after Bradford
County deputies charged him Friday with having sex with two inmates he was
transporting. Shaun McFadden, 26, was arrested at the Days Inn in Starke
after one of the women escaped from a motel room where she'd been taken and
called police, Bradford County Sheriff Bob Milner said. Both women went to
the motel willingly, but one became fearful and fled, Milner said. McFadden
is charged with two counts of having sex with an inmate in custody. He is
being held on $100,000 bail. Police didn't disclose the women's names. The
incident began after McFadden, an armed officer who works for the national
corrections transport chain Transcor, took four prisoners to the Bradford
County jail. Milner said such prisoners come from different locations and
spend time in the jail until being transported to their final destination.
The jail is paid a fee to house the prisoners. McFadden returned a short time
later and told authorities he needed to take the two women to a local
hospital for physicals so they could be cleared for further transport. McFadden
and the women, who were handcuffed and shackled, then left. A police report
said the women and McFadden had planned the move. The women told police they
intended to drink and smoke with McFadden, while one also planned to escape.
The women told police McFadden had consensual sex with them at the motel on
U.S. 301. One of the women said she became fearful that McFadden might harm
her and fled while he was in the shower. When police arrived, they found
McFadden and the other woman still in the room. The women were neither
restrained nor injured when police found them. One was to be taken to Brevard
County, while the other was headed for Atlanta. Milner didn't know what the
women were being held for, but they weren't charged in the Bradford incident.
Broward County, Florida
Wackenhut (Group 4)
November 13, 2008 Miami Herald
The Wackenhut Corp. overbilled Broward County thousands of dollars for
airport security guards, and collected hefty payments for unauthorized
overtime work by library guards, according to a county auditor's report. But
those irregularities could be just the tip of the county's problems with the
Palm Beach Gardens-based security company. County Auditor Evan Lukic also
found poor spending controls at nine county agencies that paid Wackenhut $5.8
million last year. The County Commission will discuss the report Thursday, as
Lukic vowed a more in-depth look at the billings. 'If we'd found little
chance of risk we'd say, `Case closed,' '' he said. ``This has opened the
door to look some more.'' A spokesman for Wackenhut downplayed the auditor's
findings, noting that the amount in question totals less than one percent of
the money the company was paid last year. ''We are pleased and proud of not
only our long-term relationship with Broward County, but also of the high
degree of safety and security we provide to the residents,'' Bruce Rubin
said. Rubin said Wackenhut has worked closely with the county ``to ensure
compliance and improve processes.'' County Administrator Bertha Henry
reviewed the report and told commissioners she agreed with its findings, and
had begun implementing fixes. Broward launched its audit last spring
following reports in The Miami Herald about problems in a Miami-Dade contract
involving the company. There, the county reported that Wackenhut overbilled
as much as $6 million over three years for phantom security guards at county
transit stations. Miami-Dade auditor Cathy Jackson said the company relied on
inaccurate and falsified records to try and cover up the billing. ACCUSATIONS
DENIED -- Wackenhut denied the accusations and supplied the county with
paperwork seeking to refute them. Miami-Dade has not yet responded, and the
company continues to supply guards for Metrorail under a contract that runs
through November 2009. Broward signed a three-year security contract,
including two one-year renewal options, with Wackenhut in June 2005. In the
first three years, the firm was paid $14.9 million. Lukic's audit found that
most county agencies doing business with Wackenhut failed to review and
validate daily entries on security logs that documented hours worked by
guards. Also, they didn't compare the hours Wackenhut billed with the hours
reported on the security logs. Likewise, little checking was done to ensure
that some highly qualified guards Wackenhut billed the county for actually
carried those special qualifications. AVIATION DEPARTMENT -- The one
department that did check: Broward County Aviation, where officials said
Wackenhut overbilled nearly $19,000. Those overcharges were recovered last
year, the audit said. In contrast, the report said, the library division paid
Wackenhut overtime for 14 branch guards even though OT wasn't properly
pre-authorized or substantiated by payroll records. In one week alone in
September 2007, the auditor found 233 hours of unauthorized overtime costing
$1,655.
November
11, 2008 South Florida Business Journal
Broward County auditors are raising red flags over how county agencies kept
tabs on nearly $6 million in billings by Wackenhut Corp. for security
services last year. In a report to be presented to county commissioners on
Wednesday, county auditors noted several problems with the way Wackenhut
invoices have been processed. Specifically, the report noted that county
personnel were not reviewing and validating daily entries on security logs
that document hours worked by guards. The audit also found that there was no
evidence that hours billed were hours actually worked. County Auditor Evan A.
Lukic said the decision to review the county’s oversight of Wackenhut grew
out of news reports earlier this year that alleged the Palm Beach
Gardens-based security company was overbilling Miami-Dade County for services
that were not performed. “We were concerned about the allegations we heard
and whether we were possibly experiencing the same thing here,” he said. “We
wanted to look at it from how are we controlling the contract and
administering it.” At this point in the auditing process, Lukic said, there
was no evidence Wackenhut engaged in any wrongdoing. However, based on the
audit’s findings Lukic said his department will take a closer look at
payments to “make sure that guards who we are paying for are present.” In
June 2005, Broward County entered into a three-year agreement with Wackenhut
to provide security services. Payments for fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007
totaled more than $14.8 million. In fiscal 2007, Broward County’s Aviation
Department topped the list with $2.1 million in security services billings by
Wackenhut. The county’s facilities maintenance division paid out $1.66
million to Wackenhut, and the county’s library division was billed nearly
$633,000. The report found that during a one-week period, the libraries
division paid 233 hours of overtime for security guards and found no evidence
that Wackenhut provided the required written notification and payroll
documentation to substantiate the overtime payments. When queried by the
South Florida Business Journal about the auditor's findings, Wackenhut issued
the following statement: "We've worked closely with facilities
management through the audit department to insure compliance and to improve
our processes." Questions also have been raised about matching guard
qualifications to pay rates. In some instances, the audit raised concerns about
guards with lesser qualifications billing at a higher rate, resulting in
overcharges. In an Aug. 22 letter, Broward’s director of the facilities
maintenance division advised Wackenhut President Drew Levine that he would
now require the company to provide documentation that links guards’
qualifications with their job classifications. In the meantime, Lukic is
asking the Broward County Commission to direct the county administrator to
come up with procedures to ensure that billings are validated, that the guards’
qualifications match their job descriptions and that overtime charges are
substantiated. In May, a Miami-Dade County audit found that Wackenhut
overbilled the county by as much as $6 million over three years for services
it did not provide to Miami-Dade Transit, and then falsified records to cover
up the over charges. In its response to that audit, which Wackenhut published
on its Web site, the company said it has cooperated with the county’s
investigation, but “continues to question the audit methodology.” Wackenhut
said a lawsuit by a former guard, who accused the company of padding its
bills, has caused the increased scrutiny. “It is Wackenhut’s belief that
county entities … have been placed under undue pressure and influence by
unsubstantiated allegations in this ongoing disputed litigation,” it stated.
Miami-Dade continues to review Wackenhut’s response to determine what actions
should be taken, county spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said.
Broward County
Detention Center
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Armor Correctional Health Services (formerly run by Wexford Health Services
and PHS)
December 1, 2008 Sun-Sentinel
The Broward Sheriff's Office and its prison healthcare contractor have
resolved two federal lawsuits brought by former inmates who said they were
denied HIV drugs during their incarceration. An attorney for Richard
Hardwick, 53, and Kevin Sauve, 38, would not disclose the terms of the
settlement Monday, saying his clients were bound by a confidentiality
agreement. Notices of the settlement were filed last week in federal court.
Hardwick and Sauve, both HIV-positive, spent time in Broward jails in 2007.
The men accused the Sheriff's Office and Armor Correctional Health Services
of showing "callous indifference" by refusing for months to give
them antiretroviral drugs. Defense attorneys responded in court filings that
it would have been irresponsible to start the men on medication without
assurance they would stick with the treatment once released. Both Hardwick
and Sauve had drug abuse and mental health problems that made them bad
candidates for the drugs, the attorneys said. Hardwick and Sauve reached
settlement agreements directly with Armor Correctional and will dismiss their
claims against the Sheriff's Office, said Jim Leljedal, an agency spokesman.
Yeleny Suarez, a spokeswoman for Armor Correctional, would not discuss the
terms of the deal. The firm works "tirelessly to meet the often
extensive and complicated health needs of incarcerated persons," Suarez
said. Settlement agreements must be approved by the presiding judge in each
case.
November
27, 2007 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
During the three months he spent in a Broward County jail, Kevin Sauve made
request after request for HIV medication. Not one was granted, according to a
lawsuit recently filed in Fort Lauderdale federal court. In one of his more
desperate written appeals, Sauve, 36, described piercing ear pain, night
sweats and rapid weight loss. In another, the Fort Lauderdale college
admissions officer asked to be tested for pneumonia, a potentially fatal
condition for patients with HIV/AIDS. "I was freaking out," Sauve
recalled. "I really thought I was left in there to die."
Ultimately, the Broward judge presiding over Sauve's criminal case, involving
charges of illegally selling pain pills, took the extraordinary step of
ordering his release so he could seek medical treatment from his own
physician. Sauve's federal lawsuit is one of two recent actions accusing the
Broward Sheriff's Office and prison health-care contractor Armor Correctional
Health Services of delaying the treatment of HIV-positive inmates. While such
complaints are not new, the federal cases advance an effort by area lawyers
and HIV advocates to change a system they say puts cost savings above the
welfare of seriously ill inmates, whose health could deteriorate quickly
without proper treatment. "In this day and age, when we know so much
about HIV and how to treat it, this is just unacceptable," said Greg
Lauer, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who represents Sauve. Lauer and attorney Dion
Cassata filed a similar suit in September on behalf of Richard Hardwick, 52,
of Deerfield Beach, and are investigating several additional cases. Officials
with Sheriff's Office and Armor rebuff the charges, saying their system for
treating inmates with HIV/AIDS works well and is a model for other prison
systems. "It's sometimes a difficult process, but obviously very
necessary to make sure we have a continuum of care," said Karen Davies,
who oversees the Broward jail contract for Armor. To be effective, HIV medication
must be taken at precise intervals. Patients who miss even a few doses may
become resistant to their drugs and require expensive blood tests to find a
new combination. Addressing the issue at a Nov. 15 forum at the Gay and
Lesbian Community Center, Davies said Armor starts HIV treatment immediately
for inmates who know which drugs they're taking. When inmates can't identify
their medications, Armor seeks medical records from physicians and
pharmacies, she said. "One of the issues we have difficulty with,
frankly, is getting information back from community providers," Davies
said. But anecdotal reports from attorneys and former inmates tell a more
complex story. In the last year and a half, the Broward Public Defender's
Office has filed complaints with Armor Correctional on behalf of 30 inmates
regarding improper HIV/AIDS treatment, said Shane Gunderson, client services
director for the office. On Oct. 30, Gunderson sent the list to the Sheriff's
Office. Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein called the issue a grave
concern. "The reason this became of paramount importance to us is the
very nature of treatment for HIV/AIDS requires that the treatment regimen be
tight, be consistent, and be regular," Finkelstein said. "When
medications are altered or delayed, it creates the possibility that very bad
medical things can happen, even death." For his part, Sauve insists he
informed medical personnel of his drug regimen May 1, the day he was arrested
on a charge of trafficking oxycodone. "I knew exactly what meds I was
on," Sauve said. "I told them what they were. I spelled them. I
even pointed to them on the wall." Sauve, who pleaded not guilty to the
drug trafficking charge, said jail doctors did not agree with the pills his
outside physician prescribed and refused to order them. On July 31, Broward
Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato reduced Sauve's bond from $500,000 to $0 so he
could pursue treatment on his own. His T-cell count, a measure of immune
strength, had dropped from an already low 169 to 27, Sauve said. Eight days
later, Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold released Hardwick after a hearing
revealed he had gone four months without HIV medication. Hardwick, who is
charged with driving with a revoked license and multiple counts of obtaining
a controlled substance by fraud, informed prison officials he needed HIV
medication within two days of his arrest, according to his federal lawsuit.
He pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. Lauer, a former state
prosecutor, and Cassata, who specializes in employment law, said they think
the Sheriff's Office and Armor systematically deny treatment to HIV-positive
inmates as a cost-cutting measure. With many inmates quickly posting bond and
leaving the jail system, medical personnel simply wait to order expensive treatment
and tests, they said. "The problem is they don't have any way to tell
who's going to be a long-term resident," Lauer said. "They have a
blanket policy to keep their fingers crossed and hope these people are no
longer their problem." Roughly 68,000 inmates pass annually through the
Broward jail system, with an estimated 3 percent of the group having
contracted HIV/AIDS. The Sheriff's Office has a $20 million annual contract
with Armor to provide health-care services. According to Davies, Armor recently
hired an HIV/AIDS specialist to work in the Broward jail system. Previously,
Broward medical personnel consulted with a Tampa-based specialist. Daniel
Losey, an attorney for Armor, defended the company. He declined to speak
about specific cases because of patient privacy rights and the pending
litigation.
August
21, 2007 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Some HIV-positive jail inmates in Broward and Palm Beach counties needlessly
go for weeks or even months without getting any HIV/AIDS drugs, defense
attorneys and advocates said. But jail health officials sharply denied the
charge. Because HIV drugs must be taken like clockwork to control the virus,
inmates who miss repeated doses face greater risks that the drugs will stop
working, raising the chance they could spread a hardier virus in and out of
jail, HIV specialists said. The alleged delays also led some inmates to
develop full-blown AIDS, attorneys said. Dr. Ron Shansky, who is on the board
of the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare, which accredits
lockups including Broward and Palm Beach, said jails should take only a few
days to put HIV-positive inmates on the drugs they were taking when they were
arrested. "Delaying the delivery of ongoing HIV medication is completely
unacceptable," Shansky said. "If this is occurring on a regular
basis, they need to fix that." The elected sheriffs who run jails in
both counties have hired Miami company Armor Correctional Health Services to
treat the 120,000 inmates incarcerated each year — 3 percent of whom have
HIV/AIDS. The firm collects $38 million a year from those contracts. Armor's
medical director insisted inmates get drugs immediately unless there's a good
reason: Some have special problems, refused treatment, will not cooperate or
must be retested because they previously stopped taking medicine. He accused
public defenders of hyping drug delays in order to get clients released from
jail, a charge the attorneys denied. "I'm really hurt by this,"
said Dr. John May, who oversees jail care in eight Florida counties where
Armor has contracts. "Our policy is to continue their medications
without interruption whenever possible, and we do that. Anyone can always do
better but I don't think there's a problem." Spokesmen for the Broward
and Palm Beach sheriffs said they have heard few if any complaints about jail
health care. They referred further questions to Armor. But inmate advocates
contend excessive drug delays in jails have been a persistent problem
nationally and locally, often when jails try to trim health costs. Modern
drugs can almost wipe out HIV from the body, but studies show the virus
begins to grow resistant to drugs if the person does not take 90 to 95
percent of doses on time, or no more than a few missed doses per month.
"For people on the cusp [of AIDS], a delay of more than a few days may
push them into illness," said Dr. Larry Bush, an HIV specialist in
Atlantis in central Palm Beach County. In Broward, public defenders said
least 15 HIV inmates lodged complaints this year about drug delays despite
requests to jail staff, and said more may be affected. Since July 1, judges
have released four who had waited as long as four months, criminal case
records showed. "People just fall through the cracks," said Shane
Gunderson, client services director for the public defender's office. In Palm
Beach County, attorneys and other advocates said they had heard few
complaints, but the director of a church-based program aiding newly released
inmates said she regularly sees inmates who waited weeks for HIV drugs. Sandra
White, director of United Deliverance Community Resource Center, said the
delays seemed to be for bona fide reasons. Kevin Sauve, 36, a Fort Lauderdale
college admissions officer, said he went more than three months in Broward
County jails without HIV drugs after his May 1 arrest for dealing pain pills.
The jail, as is policy, would not let him bring his medicine from home, and
he said jail doctors did not agree with the pills his physician prescribed,
ordering more tests. Jail records show he filed a dozen requests for
medications over the months. Eventually, Sauve said he developed fungus, ear
infections and fevers while progressing to AIDS. "They just wanted to
give me drugs I'm already resistant to. I can't take those," Sauve said,
who was released July 27 to be treated outside the jail. "Everybody
seemed very confused about what to do." Armor cannot discuss Sauve's
case or others because of confidentiality rules, May said. But he insisted
that as long as newly jailed inmates can name their drugs and the treatment
makes sense, they get pills on the spot. If they can't, the jail calls their
doctor or pharmacy to find out, he said. If the inmate has stopped taking
drugs, May said the jail must delay to do blood tests before resuming
medication. Public defenders cited problem cases: •Richard Hardwick, 52, of
Deerfield Beach, waited four months for drugs after being arrested March 26
on illegal drug and driving charges. He now has AIDS. •Kevin L. Davis, 33, of
Deerfield Beach, waited a month after being arrested June 7 for repeatedly
driving with a revoked license and expired tag. He now has AIDS. •Joann Marie
Christian, 41, of Pompano Beach, has been waiting for HIV medications since
her arrest on July 3 for a probation violation. The law does not dictate how
much health care jails must provide, only that they cannot intentionally
neglect a serious illness, said Dr. Ann Spaulding, a corrections health
expert at Emory University. George Castrotaro, a Legal Aid attorney in
Broward, said he has complained to Armor, the Broward County Health
Department and others about the delays and may file suit. Lisa Agate, the
Health Department's HIV/AIDS director, said she was shocked by the complaints
and plans to raise them Tuesday at a meeting of a Broward County jail health
committee. "If it's happening, it needs to be corrected," Agate
said.
November
15, 2005 Miami Herald
A year ago, Coconut Creek-based Armor Correctional Health Services was an
upstart in the business of providing healthcare for jail inmates. The company
had formidable political connections but no track record, no active contracts
and not a dollar in sales. But Armor, owned by Miami physician Dr. Jose
Armas, has bulked up fast. Today, with behind-the-scenes help from several
current and former Florida sheriffs, Armor has signed multiyear contracts
with Broward, Brevard and Hillsborough counties worth about $221 million over
five years. A fourth contract, with Martin County, is being finalized. County
sheriffs do their own hiring and set the rules that competing bidders must
follow. In Broward and Brevard, rules were changed in advance of bids in ways
that helped Armor qualify for contracts. And in Hillsborough, Armor's bid was
millions of dollars higher than three others. It got a boost from a late decision
to eliminate price as a consideration. Two sheriffs who bypassed Armor said
fellow sheriffs have called them and plugged the company. They identified
those sheriffs as Ken Jenne of Broward, Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach and J.R.
''Jack'' Parker of Brevard. Ex-Hillsborough Sheriff Cal Henderson told The
Herald that Armor hired him as a ''consultant'' shortly after he left office
in January. His duties, he said, have included lobbying sheriffs in at least
six counties -- Marion, Collier, Sarasota, Manatee, Leon and Lee -- where
healthcare contracts were pending or anticipated. Florida law generally
allows public officials to lobby agencies other than their own. But
behind-the-scenes lobbying by sheriffs raises ethical questions, a University
of Miami ethicist said. ''The use of surreptitious lobbying that is unknown
to the public and unregulated by the public seems to be both unwise and
arguably wrong,'' said Anthony Alfieri, director of UM's Center for Ethics
and Public Service. Three sheriff's offices changed bid specifications for
prison healthcare service contracts in ways that helped Armor win. o In
Broward, BSO opened the door for Armor during the bid process by dropping its
requirement that companies have experience providing healthcare to inmates.
Armor had no experience, and was just three months old, when Jenne awarded
the company its first $127 million contract in October 2004 to provide
healthcare services to Broward's 5,000 inmates during the next five years.
And Armor is owned by Armas, who, through his companies and associates, has
been a major contributor to Jenne's reelection campaign. o In Brevard, Armor
won a five-year, $19.9 million contract from Sheriff Parker in May, after
Parker's office slightly altered the wording in bid specifications about
corporate experience. The changes allowed fledgling Armor to qualify by
giving it credit for the experience of individual executives. o In
Hillsborough, Armor snagged a three-year, $65 million contract following a
decision late in the process to eliminate price as a consideration in picking
a winner. Three competitors submitted bids that were millions of dollars less
than Armor's. The county's detention chief acknowledged in an interview that
the decision was ''unusual,'' but it is not illegal. Two Florida sheriffs who
chose not to hire Armor, St. Lucie's Ken Mascara and Lee's Mike Scott, said
other sheriffs attempted to influence them to hire Armor.
March
22, 2005 Broward Daily Business Review
Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne privately encouraged the St. Lucie County
sheriff to award the county's jail health care contract to a new Miami
company that also bid for the Broward jail health care contract and was
headed by a major Jenne campaign contributor. Armor Correctional Health
Services Inc. had yet to perform work for anyone when Jenne pitched the
company to St. Lucie Sheriff Ken J. Mascara last year in a personal telephone
conversation. Armor CHS owner Dr. Jose Armas, an entrepreneurial Miami
internist - along with his companies, his partner, and his employees - had
pumped thousands of dollars into Jenne's re-election campaign. In an
interview, Mascara said Jenne recommended Armas' company to him. Mascara said
Jenne phoned him and praised Armor Correctional Health Services, then known
as Correctional Health Services, saying, " 'Listen, you have a bid
contract going on for inmate health services.' I said yes, and he said, 'We
just retained a company that we feel is going to do a good job.' He said he
knew the guy running it, and asked if I would entertain their bid."
Jenne acknowledged talking up the company to Mascara. "We were
talking," he said in an interview. "I brought it up. I don't know
if that's a conversation. I told him our people were very satisfied with
them." The two sheriffs said the phone conversation took place sometime
after Oct. 29, the date when the BSO awarded a $127 million, five-year
contract to Armor to provide health care to detainees at Broward's five jail
facilities. By that time, Armor CHS had been eliminated for more than a month
as a qualified bidder for the St. Lucie jail contract. But John deGroot,
executive assistant to BSO's inspector general, provided Broward prosecutors
with written notes of his Nov. 28 meeting with the St. Lucie County detention
director. According to the notes, that official, Maj. Patrick Tighe, told
deGroot that Jenne made the recommendation to Mascara in August - before the
BSO designated a winning proposal and before Armor submitted its bid in St.
Lucie. DeGroot's notes also said that Tighe told him that Aventura-based
lobbyist Ron Book, a Jenne political ally, "visited our purchasing guy
several times trying to talk him into going with [Armor]." DeGroot,
citing orders from a BSO superior, declined to comment. Book could not be
reached for comment. But a St. Lucie sheriff's spokesman confirmed that Book
lobbied for Armor in a conversation with the department's chief financial
officer. Armor CHS did not get the St. Lucie jail contract. A selection
committee that included Tighe promptly tossed out its bid when it was
submitted on Sept. 24 because Armor failed to provide audited financial
statements and failed to meet minimum experience requirements, according to
St. Lucie sheriff's spokesman Mark Weinberg. Jenne's support for Armor CHS
could prove problematic for the embattled sheriff, whose office has been
embroiled in a scandal over its alleged manipulation of crime statistics to
make the BSO look more effective at fighting crime than it really was.
Broward State Attorney Michael Satz's office is investigating that matter. So
far, two BSO deputies have been arrested and charged, and more are under
suspicion. Jenne is widely considered Broward's most powerful elected
official. The disclosure of his private lobbying for a company owned by a
major campaign contributor raises questions about the appropriate use of
political office and possible favors for political allies. If it turns out
that Jenne recommended Armor CHS to Sheriff Mascara while BSO was still
evaluating proposals, it would raise questions about the fairness and
impartiality of the bid process in Broward. Dr. Armas and his Coral Gables
attorney, Brent D. Klein, incorporated the Armor CHS on July 19, 2004. Three
days later, the Broward Sheriff's Office issued RFP No. 439002, soliciting
bidders for the job of providing health care to 5,000 prisoners housed at the
county's five detention facilities. The ink was hardly dry on the BSO's jail
health care request for proposal when the sheriff's office recalled it six
days later. On Aug. 10, BSO issued a new RFP that sought bids to provide the
same services. But as the Miami Herald reported, RFP No. 439003 included some
significant changes that opened the door for Armor CHS. For example, BSO's
requirement that bidders have experience "in an institutional or correctional
setting of equal magnitude and complexity" was broadened to allow for
experience in medical facilities only. No longer, then, were bidding
companies required to have experience delivering health care services to
inmates. The selection committee consisted of Broward detention chief Col.
James Wimberly, detention Lt. Col Rick Frey and John Curry, the sheriff's
executive director of administration. Wimberly said Jenne legal adviser
Kimberly A. Kisslan also participated. In an interview, Wimberly said Jenne
was not involved. Wimberly also said that he took the unusual step of
recalling the inmate health care RFP for alteration "simply because we
wanted to expand the pool of applicants." He said the changes were made
to recognize that a company's leadership could be more experienced than a
company itself. He said it was "an oversight" that those changes
weren't made before the initial bid went out. Armor CHS submitted its $127
million proposal to BSO on Sept. 16 along with three other bidders. Neither
Armor CHS nor Dr. Armas, the company's president and chairman, had any
experience providing health care to inmates. To remedy that, Armas sought out
instant experience by hiring managers who'd worked at a troubled industry
giant, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Prison Health Services. That included Armor
CHS's current chief executive, Doyle H. Moore, who founded Prison Health
Services. In its proposal to BSO, Armor also cited its affiliation with
Miami-based Medical Care Consortium Inc., Dr. Armas' outpatient health care
services firm. While all this was happening, Armas, his companies and
employees were contributing to Jenne's re-election campaign multiple maximum
contributions of $500 each. Between June 29 and Aug. 5, they gave at least
$9,500 - including $1,500 returned by the campaign as illegal, excessive
contributions. Armas has supported Jenne in earlier races, too. Armas
spokeswoman Dana L. Clay said Armas has backed Jenne politically since Jenne
was Senate Democratic leader in Tallahassee in the mid-1990s. But Jenne only
said he's known Armas "for a couple of years in a business
capacity." Armas also retained the sheriff's good friend and unofficial
lobbyist, William D. Rubin. State registration records show that Rubin and
his Fort Lauderdale firm, the Rubin Group, represent Armas' Sunrise-based
South Florida Acute Care LLC. Jenne said in an interview that Rubin sometimes
serves as an unpaid lobbyist for his office. A month later, despite lower
bids from two other companies including incumbent Wexford Health Services,
Armas' company got the nod from the BSO selection committee. "What made
CHS stand out was basically that they were looking to give us things Wexford
wasn't offering," said Wimberly. "We just had a comfort level with
them."
December
10, 2004 Sun-Sentinel
A new health management firm has taken over the care of the 5,200 inmates in
Broward County's jail system after a dispute between the Sheriff's Office and
the previous contractor over medical costs. Armor
Correctional Health Services began work last week under its five-year, $127
million contract even though it did not yet have a license to dispense
medicine. Armor replaced Wexford Health Sources, which first pushed for more
money and then suggested cutting services despite the opening of a new detention
center in the past year. The Sheriff's Office chose Armor over Wexford and
two other firms that bid on the contract even though the Armor had only
recently been incorporated. The company's chief executive officer is Doyle
Moore, who previously founded Prison Health Services -- a longtime player in
correctional health care in South Florida. Col. James Wimberly, who runs the
jail system for Jenne, said the Sheriff's Office decided to put the contract
out for bid after Wexford suggested a 12 percent increase in what it was
paid. In the bidding process, Wexford's proposal was $300,000 less than that
of Armor but would have cut eight positions from the jail system's medical
staff.
December
4, 2004 Miami Herald
Three days after Correctional Health Services was formed, the Broward
Sheriff's Office sought bids to provide medical care to 5,000 inmates at the
county Jail. Only companies with longstanding experience at large jails or
prisons need apply, officials wrote in a request for proposals. But a week
later, on July 28, BSO did an about-face on its requirements. The agency
announced it was tossing out its request for bids. And when a new request for
proposals was issued Aug. 10, one requirement had been dropped: bidders no
longer needed to have experience providing healthcare to inmates. The new
solicitation left the door open for Correctional Health to bid, and the newly
formed company was awarded a $127 million, five-year contract to manage
healthcare at the Broward County Jail. Correctional Health Services (CHS) was
not the lowest of the four bidders for the lucrative contract. Wexford Health
Source, the company that had provided care at the jail for the last three
years, submitted a bid that was $300,000 less, records show. The company's
first few days at the jail already have been rocky. State pharmacy officials
said they had not issued pharmacy licenses when CHS took over management of
the jail on Wednesday, and company employees could not dispense medications
until Friday, when they obtained a temporary license. Attempts to reach Doyle
H. Moore, CHS's chief executive officer, or Jose Armas, CHS president and
chairman, were unsuccessful Friday. Acccording to county Supervisor of
Elections records, businesses owned by Armas, a doctor, contributed $4,250 to
Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne's most recent campaign for reelection. In addition,
Armas contributed another $500 as an individual to Jenne's campaign. The
company's chief executive officer, Doyle Moore, had run into trouble in
Broward before, however. At the 1993 federal tax fraud trial of former Port
Everglades Commissioner Walter Browne, Moore -- the founder of a company
called Prison Health Services -- testified he funneled money to a Republican
power broker and hired lobbyists to sway then-Sheriff Nick Navarro when he
became concerned Prison Health was going to lose its contract to provide
medical care at the Broward jail. Moore testified with the guarantee his
testimony would not be used against him. His attorney at the time said
neither Moore nor the company did anything wrong. In 1985, Palm Beach County
jail inmate Mario Abraham died after languishing in his cell for five days
with a broken neck before Prison Health Services employees treated him. A
grand jury at the time called the company's care of the man ``grossly
inadequate and incompetent.''
February 16, 2002 AP
A nurse found 56-year-old David A.
Taylor unconscious, unresponsive and bleeding in his bed Friday morning, said
Jim Leljedal, a spokesman for the Broward Sheriff's Office. Though the
cause of death has not yet been determined, it raised concerns from inmate
medical care advocates about the quality of care at Broward's jail. Wexford Health Sources, the company the sheriff's office
contracted with in October to provide health care, has faced allegations of
mismanagement and shoddy care in prisons in several states, The Miami Herald
reported in Saturday editions. In
Florida, where Wexford provides services to 12 state prisons, the company was
faulted for poor medical care that may have contributed to the deaths of two
inmates at a Miami correctional facility, The Herald reported. Wexford also was criticized by mental health advocates and court
officials in Broward for failing to provide mentally ill inmates with their
medication upon release from the jail. "When you contract out to a
company, that company is just looking to provide services in the cheapest
way," said Eric Balaban, a lawyer with the ACLU's National Prison
Project, which represents prisoners in civil rights lawsuits.
Broward Transition
Center
Pompano Beach, Florida
GEO Group
April 29, 2013 palmbeachpost.com
Miami-based Americans for
Immigrant Justice has issued a report strongly criticizing the treatment of
non-criminal immigrants at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), which is
operated by and GEO Group of Boca Raton, under the direction of the the U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agency. “The BTC report features the cases of
numerous detainees with no criminal or minimal criminal history needlessly
subjected to abuse,” says the immigration advocacy group. According to the
report, one female detainee told a BTC deportation officer she was scared to
return to her homeland. “She should have been given an interview to determine
whether she could apply for asylum,” says the report. “Instead, she was
quickly deported.” A male detainee was diagnosed with a painful hernia but
ICE “declined to pay for the surgery, yet detained him for six months while
he suffered much pain,” according to the authors of the report. The report
also documents three cases of alleged sexual assault. “As Congress works to
reform an outdated immigration system, members would be wise to reform
abusive detention facilities, including the Broward Transitional Center,”
said Susana Barciela, spokesperson for AIJ. “Further, it makes no sense to
detain immigrants who pose no danger. Alternatives to detention are effective
and far cheaper.” Under the Obama administration, immigration authorities
have said they are focused on deporting dangerous criminal aliens, not those
with only immigration offenses, but immigration advocates have said many
non-criminal immigrants are still being detained and deported. “If ICE truly
focused on detaining and deporting dangerous criminals, it would save more
than a billion dollars annually,” Barciela said. “These savings would help
relieve the nation’s fiscal concerns.”
January 5, 2013 By
Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
DEERFIELD BEACH
Hundreds of men and women who have committed minor offenses, such as driving
without a license, or no apparent crime at all, are locked up for weeks and
months in a little-known central Broward County facility run by a private
company. They are immigrants, accused of entering the country without legal
authorization or staying longer than permitted. Their treatment — at the
hands of the federal government and the Boca Raton-based firm hired to keep
them at the 700-bed Broward Transitional Center — has become a growing
controversy since July, when a detainee went on hunger strike and activists
staged protests demanding a halt to the confinement and deportation of
foreigners with no serious criminal histories. In a daring move, two young
adults, both illegal immigrants brought by their families to the United
States as children, turned themselves in to gain access to the center and
expose what they claimed were human rights abuses and policy violations by
federal authorities. Once inside, they said they found people unjustly
arrested and subjected to lengthy and unnecessary confinement, and reported
incidents of substandard or callous medical care, including a woman taken for
ovarian surgery and returned the same day, still bleeding, to her cell, and a
man who urinated blood for days but wasn't taken to see a doctor. ICE denies
any mistreatment. In a recent interview with the Sun Sentinel, the agency's
Miami Field Office Director Marc J. Moore said conditions at the facility are
excellent and that the "staff here treats people with respect." But
the young activists' claims captured the attention of 26 members of Congress,
who wrote to the nation's chief immigration official demanding a review of
all detainees locked up at the Broward facility and an investigation into the
quality of medical care there. "Some of the reports coming out of the
center are horrifying," lawmakers, including South Florida Democrats Ted
Deutch, Frederica Wilson and Alcee Hastings, wrote U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Director John Morton. ICE has yet to reply to the letter,
written in September. Last week, Deutch sent a second letter, chastising ICE
for its "excessive delay" and demanding it respond immediately to
lawmakers' concerns. "It's certainly time for us to hear back, and it's
well past time that these serious issues be addressed," Deutch, of Boca
Raton, told the Sun Sentinel on Friday. If legislators continue to encounter
silence from ICE, Deutch said they will investigate what actions can be taken
to ensure that a review of the center is made and "these human rights
abuses are stopped."
August 25, 2012 Palm Beach Post
For Nicaraguan immigrant Serafin Solorzano, being jailed for overstaying his
visa was bad enough. Even worse: Solorzano said he was denied access to his
asthma inhaler for part of a two-week stay at an immigration detention center
in Deerfield Beach. Without access to his medicine, he felt as though he was
suffocating. Solorzano, now 54, recovered from the asthma attack. But the
experience two years ago led him to join the growing list of critics of GEO
Group, the Boca Raton-based prison operator that owns the 700-bed Broward
Transition Center where Solorzano was held. “This is something that has
violated my human rights,” Solorzano told reporters in May as he and other
critics protested outside the GEO Group’s annual meeting at The Breakers in
Palm Beach. Solorzano’s gripes have been echoed by inmates, by civil
libertarians and by state and federal regulators who have scrutinized GEO
Group’s operations. They argue that GEO Group pads its profits by cutting
worker wages, skimping on inmate health care and ignoring safety and
sanitation. Despite the complaints, GEO Group (NYSE: GEO) continues to grow,
thanks to rising prison populations and the federal government’s move to
privatize detention of immigrants. GEO Group is on track to book $1.7 billion
in revenues in 2012, its biggest year on record and a hundredfold increase
from 1994, the prison operator’s first year as a publicly traded company. GEO
Group launched as Wackenhut Corrections and was based in Coral Gables. After
a move to Palm Beach Gardens in the 1990s, GEO Group landed in Boca Raton.
Governments pay GEO Group to run nearly 80,000 beds in prisons and hospitals
worldwide. Among the institutions operated by GEO Group are South Bay
Correctional Facility, a 1,862-bed state prison in western Palm Beach County;
the 700-bed Broward Transition Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement facility; and the Treasure Coast Forensic Treatment Center, a
223-bed state hospital in Stuart. GEO Group’s revenue — which has risen every
year for nearly 20 years — and steady profits make it a financial success
story. It’s the second-largest operator of private prisons, trailing only
Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE: CXW) of Nashville. But investors clearly
prefer CCA. While GEO Group’s revenue is similar to CCA’s, CCA is twice as
profitable, and CCA’s market capitalization is twice GEO Group’s. A $10,000
investment five years ago in GEO Group would have dwindled to $8,667, while
the same amount invested in CCA would have grown to $13,237. Meanwhile, GEO
Group has been dogged for years by reports of sloppy — and sometimes gruesome
— practices. One recent black eye: In June, the federal Occupational Safety
and Health Administration proposed fines totaling $104,100 for violations at
a GEO Group prison in Meridian, Miss. Federal inspectors visited the prison
in December and found too few guards on duty and broken cell locks. OSHA said
GEO Group guards were stabbed, bitten, punched and kicked by inmates, and
that the company did little to protect them. In one of the prison’s housing
units, only three guards were on duty. GEO Group’s staffing plan called for
eight officers to be on guard. Understaffing meant guards were more likely to
be attacked by prisoners, OSHA said. What’s more, inmates tampered with cell
doors so that they could be opened by prisoners from the inside but not by
guards from the outside. “This employer knowingly put workers at risk of
injury or death by failing to implement well recognized measures that would
protect employees from physical assaults by inmates,” Clyde Payne, OSHA’s
director in Jackson, Miss., said in a statement. GEO Group has contested
OSHA’s findings. GEO Group has been on the receiving end of a laundry list of
regulatory actions and lawsuits. Among them: •In 2011, an Oklahoma jury
ordered GEO to pay $6.5 million to the family of Ronald Sites, an inmate who
was strangled to death by his cellmate in 2005. •In 2011, Florida Department
of Corrections investigators visited GEO Group’s prison in South Bay for a
drug sweep and couldn’t get in. No one was stationed at the front gate, and
no one responded when state employees pushed the alert button and shined
flashlights at the prison surveillance cameras. •Also last year, the Florida
Department of Children and Families said GEO Group’s neglect contributed to
the death of a South Florida State Hospital patient. The man was being
escorted by GEO Group employees to an appointment at Jackson Memorial
Hospital when he hurled himself from the eighth story of a parking garage,
the Miami Herald reported. A GEO Group employee should have stayed with the
man at the first-story hospital entrance while the driver retrieved the van,
DCF said. •In 2010, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued GEO
Group for allowing sexual harassment of female employees at two prisons in
Florence, Ariz. In one incident, a male GEO Group manager “grabbed and
pinched the breasts and crotch of a female correctional officer,” the EEOC
said. In another instance, a “female employee was forced onto a desk, where a
male GEO employee shoved apart her legs and kissed her,” the agency claimed.
•In 2009, a Texas appeals court upheld a $42.5 million verdict after a
prisoner at a GEO Group facility was beaten to death four days before his
release. • In 2007, Texas canceled an $8 million contract with GEO and closed
the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center. Inspectors found feces on floors and
walls, padlocked emergency exits and overuse of pepper spray on young
inmates. A GEO Group spokesman didn’t comment on the regulatory findings and
jury verdicts, but its defenders chalk up the litany of gripes to the nature
of its business. GEO Group operates in what might be the messiest niche in
American capitalism, an industry where shankings, riots and suicide attempts
are routine. “We’re not talking about members of Congress or Boy Scouts
here,” Robert Wasserman, an analyst at Dawson James in Boca Raton, said of
the stream of complaints. “I think their goal is to operate these facilities
as cleanly as they can.” Critics take a less charitable view of the company.
Bob Libal, executive director of Grassroots Leadership in Austin, Texas, said
he’s astounded that state and federal officials still do business with GEO
Group. “In Texas, GEO Group had an absolute string of horror stories that
resulted in having multiple contracts canceled,” Libal said. “They’re a very
troubled corporation that exemplifies many of the problems with the
for-profit prison industry. It’s mindboggling that companies like GEO
continue to win contracts.” Proponents of private prisons say for-profit
institutions operate more efficiently than public prisons. “Private prisons
are providing quality services—while remaining cost-efficient and providing
significant cost savings,” wrote Geoffrey Segal, a former adviser to
then-Gov. Jeb Bush’s Center for Efficient Government, in a 2005 report. But
some who have studied private prison finances say the savings are elusive.
Florida law says that private prison contracts must yield savings of 7
percent compared to what the state would have paid to operate the facility.
In a 2008 report, the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis &
Government Accountability looked at the state’s private prisons and concluded
that operators save money by taking on fewer “special needs” prisoners with
medical problems and mental health issues that make them expensive to house.
“As special needs inmates are more expensive to serve than other inmates, the
difference in the populations of public and private prisons results in the
state shouldering a greater proportion of the cost of housing these inmates,”
the report said. “As a result, the requirement that the private prisons
operate a 7 percent lower cost than state facilities is undermined.”
March 17, 2009 Sun-Sentinel
A doctor says they need medicine to stop the palpitations, shortness of
breath and the cries of drowning shipmates they hear in their nightmares. But
in a federal lawsuit that echoes the complaints of immigrants detained across
the country, two Brazilian migrants held at the Broward Transitional Center
say they're not getting their prescribed medication. "We meet with
detainees across Florida in jails and detention centers and the number-one
complaint is the lack of medical care," said Cheryl Little, executive
director of the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center. Across the country, 90 detainees
have died in custody in the past four years. One was the Rev. Joseph
Danticat, who died at the Krome Detention Center near Miami in 2004 when
officials took away prescribed medication for high blood pressure. In a
congressional hearing last week, the special adviser to the Secretary of
Homeland Security said the medical care provided to many of those who died
didn't appear to meet Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
standards.
March 5, 2009 AP
Two Brazilian migrants have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
saying they've been denied mental health care for post-traumatic stress
disorder in a South Florida detention facility since their boat ran aground
last fall. Jaime Miranda and Daniel Padilha were diagnosed with the disorder by
a private physician in December but have not been given prescribed
medications or treatments while being held at the Broward Transition Center
in Pompano Beach, according to lawsuits filed Wednesday in Miami federal
court. Their confinement without medical care has aggravated their mental
health problems, violates their Fifth Amendment rights and mirrors
persecution in Brazil that they sought to escape, the lawsuits state.
"It would be inappropriate for ICE to comment on matters pending
litigation," spokeswoman Nicole Navas said Thursday. Miranda and Padilha
were both aboard a rusty 40-foot boat that ran aground Oct. 31 near Virginia
Key, a small island east of downtown Miami. The boat had departed days before
from the Dominican Republic, where Miranda and Padilha say traffickers held
them for two months against their will, ordered them to work for the boat
driver and forced them aboard a vessel that wasn't seaworthy. Both men had
arrived in the Dominican Republic after fleeing mistreatment in Brazil; Padilha
is gay, and Miranda's father was murdered. At least six people died after the
boat hit a sandbar. Miranda and Padilha were among five Brazilians and 22
Dominicans detained by ICE. About 10 others were reported missing, but it was
unclear if they drowned or made it ashore and fled. The man who allegedly
piloted the boat faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of federal human
smuggling charges. Miranda, 27, and Padilha, 24, persistently relive the
accident and have nightmares in which the dead passengers ask them for food
and water, according to the lawsuits. A doctor hired by their families
diagnosed them and prescribed several medications to treat each man's
insomnia, depression, anxiety and psychotic episodes. However, an officer at
the center told Miranda and Padilha's attorney that the men had not been
given the drugs and would need to be moved to another facility to receive
treatment, the lawsuits state. Miranda and Padilha are seeking release or
transfer to a facility that can provide mental health treatment, in addition
to damages for pain and suffering. Each also seeks asylum to escape torture
and persecution in Brazil, where they say they would not have access to
psychological services if deported. Both men say they are eligible for a
special visa granted to victims of certain crimes who cooperate with
investigators because they provided U.S. law enforcement with names and
details about the trafficking operation that brought them from the Dominican
Republic to Florida. "The government has further victimized Miranda and
Padilha by keeping them in custody without medical treatment despite repeated
requests that they be released to obtain proper medical care and
treatment," their Boston-based attorney, Jeff Ross, said Thursday in an
e-mail. "The decision to keep Miranda and Padilha detained has been a
discretionary decision and they should have been released by the government
since they were cooperating witnesses in a federal case in Miami." The
lawsuit also names the center's warden and the company that manages its
operations, The GEO Group, as defendants. The GEO Group, which provides
detention management services at the Broward Transition Center under contract
with ICE, does not comment on litigation matters, company spokesman Pablo
Paez said Thursday in an e-mail.
Broward Work
Release Center
Broward County, Florida
Wackenhut Corrections
August 27, 2002 Miami Herald
U.S. immigration officials on Monday began the transfer of more than 50
female Haitian detainees, who have been living in the Miami-Dade County jail
since December, into the privately run, residential work-release facility in
Broward. Many from the group are seeking asylum, INS spokesman Rodney
Germain said. On Monday, at least 15 women were taken by car to the
Wackenhut Corp.'s work-release facility in Pompano Beach, Germain said.
INS and Wackenhut worked out a contract recently that gives the government
agency 72 beds in the facility. The transfer was welcome news to
attorney Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center, who has been fighting for the change. She says she will keep a
close eye on the Broward facility because she says several years ago a group
of women alleged they were being sexually abused by the staff. "I
was initially pleased about the move." she said. "But then it
came to my attention that there were allegations of sexual abuse at the
facility.
August
16, 2002 Sun Sentinel
After a battle of more than a year by immigration advocates, dozens of Hatian
women seeking political asylum will be transferred from a maximum security
jail in Miami-Dade County to a facility with a more residential atmosphere in
Broward County, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials said.
This week, officials from the Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which runs the
Broward County Work Release Center in Pompano Beach, told INS that 72 beds
would be opened for the women in the agency's custody. Rodney Germain,
an INS spokesman, said that would mean most of the women in their custody
would be moving to the new facility. The only ones who would not be
transferred, are those charged with felonies. "It's what everybody
has been asking for," Germain said. "It's a better
environment." "This is clearly a discriminatory policy
directed only at Hatians," Little said. "While the Broward
facility is a lot better, we're [still] calling for their immediate
release."
August
16, 2002 Miami Herald
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has agreed to move more than
two dozen female Hatian asylum seekers held in a Miami-Dade county jail to a
less-restrictive facility in Broward County. The federal agency said
Thursday that it would transfer non criminal female immigrant detainees,
including the Hatian women, after months of pressure from congressional leaders
and human rights watchdogs. The INS will send 62 women at the end of
August to a minimum-security residential center in Pompano Beach, said Rodney
Germain, an INS spokesman. The facility is operated by the Wackenhut
Corporation, which will contract 72 beds to the INS for its female
detainees. The Hatian women have been held in Miami-Dade's Turner
Guilford Knight correctional center since Dec. 3, when their ship, carrying a
total of 187 migrants, grounded off Elliot Key. The male migrants were
taken to Krome immigrant detention center in west Miami-Dade. The Bush
administration changed its detention policy on Hatian refugees in December to
discourage a feared mass exodus from the Caribbean nation. Immigration
attorneys sued the government in March, saying the new policy was racially
biased. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard ruling in favor of the
administration's decision in May. Human rights advocates said the
policy treats Hatians differently than asylum seekers from other countries,
who are generally freed until their asylum requests are granted or
denied. Earlier this month, the INS sent 21 of the Hatian migrants from
the Dec. 3 arrival back to Haiti.
April
18, 2001Sun Sentinel
A Broward Sheriff's detention deputy at the county's work-release center was
suspended and a Wackenhut employee from the same facility was arrested after
detectives said she went shopping with someone else's debit card. The
deputy gave the card to Gail Forrest, a job-verification specialist at the
work-release center in Pompano Beach, because she didn't want to get in
trouble. Forrest, 34, then drove to Linens and things in Lighthouse
Point where she bought a comforter for $190.79. She signed the receipt,
and left the store. She also tried buying $211 worth of merchandise at a Boca
Raton Wal-Mart. When the card was denied; she left the store. Forrest,
who a Wackenhut spokesperson said had worked at the center since February
2000, was charged with the fraudulent use of a credit card, possession of a
lost or stolen credit card and uttering a forged instrument.
Charlotte County
Jail
Punta Gorda, Florida
Prison Health Services
April
11, 2006 NBC2
A former Charlotte County inmate is demanding answers after two nurses at
the Charlotte County Jail took drugs out of a bio-hazard trash bin and
injected him with the drugs. William Parbus, a diabetic, was given a shot of
insulin that could have cost him his life. The nurses have since been fired.
Parbus is now out of jail. He was serving 15 days for driving with a
suspended license. He may be out of jail, but he's a prisoner to fear.
"I don't want to be with my wife. I kind of miss it already. Five months
to go," said Parbus. Doctors told him HIV or hepatitis may be lurking in
his system, but won't know for certain for six months. The concerns come
after Parbus, a diabetic, was injected with outdated insulin from a
bio-hazard trash bin while he was an inmate at the Charlotte County Jail.
"I was outraged. For what reason could this person do this to me? What
reason in the world? She's out of insulin, fine. I'm out of insulin,"
said Parbus. The two nurses worked for Prison Health Systems, an outside
contractor hired by the jail. They said the nurses responsible were
immediately fired. PHS officials and jail commanders alerted Parbus that his
health could be at risk. "It's not anything we want to tell anybody. We
had to be up front with it. Told him what happened and told him what we would
do to rectify the situation," said Lieutenant Daniel Kacynski, Jail
Support Commander. PHS told Parbus to send them his medical bills and they
might pay them. But Parbus says that's not enough. "I think there should
be an investigation. They just fired these ladies. Are they licensed nurses?
Are they going to get a job at a hospital down the road? Is this going to
happen again if they don't feel like going down the road for insulin?"
said Parbus. Parbus claims he won't give up until he gets some answers. Until
then, his thought will be on his health. Parbus says he is looking for an
attorney. He says he wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
PHS commented about potentially paying Parbus' medical bills through a
statement they released through jail supervisors. We tried to reach the two
nurses who were fired. Sheryl Staples declined to comment. Karen Helmick has
not returned our call.
April
5, 2006 Herald Tribune
Two nurses charged with the care of inmates in the county jail were fired
for giving an inmate expired medication taken from a biohazard disposal box.
Karen Helmick and Sheryl Staples were both registered nurses with Prison
Health Services Inc., the agency contracted to care for inmates' medical
needs. They were fired March 14. "Unfortunately, it happened," said
Linda Antuono, PHS health service administrator. "It was rectified
immediately." A PHS doctor checked on the inmate the day after the
incident, explained the risk factors to him and ordered testing for HIV and
hepatitis, according to the incident report Antuono filed with the Sheriff's
Office. According to the report, another nurse saw Helmick break open a
sharps container -- a box used to dispose of glass medicine vials and used
needles -- and remove a vial of expired drugs. Helmick gave Staples the
medicine to administer to the inmate. Staples told authorities that the
nurses had run out of the medication the inmate needed. The nurses should
have called an outside pharmacy to order backup medication, the report
states. "Sheryl stated to me that she did not want to cross Karen,"
Antuono wrote in the report. Karen Helmick said that she knew she was in a
supervisory position, which made her responsible for retrieving backup drugs
from the pharmacy, the report states. She told Antuono that "she just
did not feel like driving and getting it," according to the report.
January
5, 2005 Sarasota Herald Tribune
A cook at the county jail was arrested Monday after she admitted having
sex with an inmate in a kitchen closet, sheriff's detectives said. Victoria
Ann Lopo, 46, a private employee on contract with the Sheriff's Office, said
she had sex with 41-year-old Sylvester Bernard Camon two weeks ago. The
arrest is the latest in a string of misconduct investigations at the jail,
where several other employees have admitted to inappropriate relationships
with inmates.
November
22, 2004 AP
A Charlotte County Jail inmate and his nurse girlfriend on Monday denied
charges she smuggled drugs into the facility for him. Ruth E. Brodis, a nurse
at the jail, was arrested Thursday and charged with introducing contraband
into a correctional facility, a felony punishable by up to five years in
prison if convicted. Brodis was working for Prison Health Services, a
contractor which provides medical services to the county. But Brodis said she
suffers from fibromyalgia and the pills found by detectives were hers and not
intended for her fiancee, Tyler Schwartzkopf, who is currently in jail on a
second-degree felony charge of grand theft.
November
20, 2004 Herald Tribune
A private health care nurse at the county jail smuggled prescription drugs to
an inmate she planned to marry, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's
Office. The nurse, Ruth Ellen Brodis, was arrested Thursday at the jail when
she arrived for her shift, sheriff's Detective Martha Faul said. The Deep
Creek resident is charged with introduction of contraband, a felony. Brodis works for Prison Health Services, a Tennessee-based
company that provides health care to inmates in hundreds of jails, prisons
and juvenile facilities across the country.
Citrus
County Detention Center
Lecanto, Florida
CCA
June 16, 2008 ABC Action News
An Inverness attorney plans to sue the company the runs Citrus county's
jail, claiming employees are treating inmates like human toilets. Attorney
Greg Jones has called a news conference today to announce his suit against
"Corrections Corporation of America and their employees regarding the
urination and defecation in the food of a former inmate at the Citrus County
Detention Facility located in Lecanto, Florida." The jail is not run by
the Citrus County sheriff, but by a private company. The attorney did not
return phone calls to ABCActionNews.com requesting information on whether
this is an isolated incident or whether other inmates may be involved.
March
6, 2008 Bay News 9
A former guard is to blame after inmate James Coursey was allowed to walk
out of the Citrus County Detention Facility, according to corrections
officials. "Violation of policy and procedure," said Corrections
Corporation of America spokesperson Julia Swart. "She knew the policy;
she knew the procedure." Corrections Corporation of America is the
private company that runs the Citrus County Detention Facility. They fired
the guard because of mistakes the company said she made. According to CCA the
guard allowed Coursey outside into a garbage port, and then allowed Coursey
past the sally port gate to remove pallets. That's when Coursey made his move
down the road. Swart said policy only allows sentenced misdemeanor inmates
outside the fence. "Less risk with someone who is sentenced doing a
minimal amount of jail time," Swart said. But the mistake by one guard
cost the corrections company thousands. CCA has cut a check for $58,144.92 to
cover the costs of the escape. Among the highlights, nearly $48,000 to the
Citrus County Sheriff's Office for personnel and equipment costs and a little
over $100 for food from the Homosassa Auxillary. CCA is also going to pay for
the medical bills of Michael Mokszycki's, who was attacked by Coursey.
"He was like a wild man," Mokszycki said. "Those eyes were a
nightmare." As for Coursey, he's still awaiting trial in the Citrus
County Detention Facility. A new camera has been installed near the sally
port and the gates are in the middle of being retro-fitted so they can only
be opened from a control room. Coursey had been in jail on grand theft and
burglary charges.
January
14, 2008 St Petersburg Times
An escaped Citrus County prisoner attacked a homeowner with a hammer Sunday
morning and continued to elude a 100-member search team after nightfall.
James Coursey, 49, was being held on burglary and theft charges when he
escaped from the Citrus County Detention Facility about 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Throughout the weekend, Citrus County sheriff's deputies searched a 2-mile
wide area near Leisure Acres, a subdivision near the jail complex off of
County Road 491. They found no trace of Coursey. A homeowner identified only
as a Leisure Acres resident found Coursey in his shed at 10:40 a.m. Sunday.
Startled, Coursey grabbed a hammer and hit the man on the head before fleeing.
The man suffered minor wounds and was not hospitalized. Citrus County
sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Yates said Coursey fled southward on foot,
still armed with the hammer. More than 100 officers were called in to help
with the search. They included members of Citrus County sheriff's aviation
unit aboard helicopters, K-9 deputies, bloodhounds from the Florida
Department of Corrections and personnel from the Florida Highway Patrol and
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Citrus County Detention
Facility spokeswoman Julia Swart said Coursey, jailed on charges of grand
theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, was in the Trusty Program and
was assigned to work indoors and outdoors at the 760-bed facility. Yates said
that the search was pared back as darkness approached, but authorities would
continue looking throughout the night. "We want to find this guy and put
the community at ease," Yates said.
January
12, 2008 AP
Authorities searched Saturday for an inmate who escaped from a detention facility
in Citrus County. James Coursey, 49, fled the Citrus County Detention
Facility on foot Friday afternoon, sheriff's officials said. After the
escape, schools in the Lecanto area were locked down and deputies stopped
cars on roads to search for Coursey, with no success, officials said.
Deputies continued their search Saturday for Coursey, who was arrested in
February on a warrant for grand theft. While jailed, Coursey was charged with
unarmed burglary of unoccupied structures. By Saturday evening, the intensive
ground search had been scaled down. "We searched grid by grid and he was
not there," Citrus County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Heather Yates
said of the 2-mile radius around the prison. Some officers will continue
searching, but the focus will now be on talking to Coursey's family members
and following leads that come in to the sheriff's office, Yates said.
July
21, 2007 Citrus Chronicle
Maria Puzino didn’t expect country club conditions during a recent two-week
stay in the Citrus County Detention Facility. But the 46-year-old Inverness
woman didn’t expect the treatment she said she received. Puzino, jailed on
charges of violating probation, said corrections workers withheld her
anti-depressant medication, openly discussed her medical condition with
others and repeatedly harassed her. She said she spent four days on suicide
watch because she wasn’t given her medication. During one of those nights,
she said, a corrections officer gave her specific instructions as to the best
way to kill herself. Puzino detailed the allegations in a letter to the
Nashville, Tenn.-based headquarters of Corrections Corp. of America, the
company that operates the detention facility for Citrus County. CCA is
investigating the complaints, company spokeswoman Julia Swart said. “We take
these allegations seriously they are being thoroughly investigated,” Swart
said in a statement. “After the investigation is complete the findings will
be immediately communicated with our customer.” The “customer,” she said, is
the Citrus County government. Swart declined further comment. Charles
Poliseno, Citrus County’s director of public safety, said he met with CCA
officials Wednesday and concluded that nothing wrong occurred.
June
16, 2007 Ocala Star-Banner
Marion County Sheriff's Office brass say they can continue to staff and
operate the county jail more cheaply than a contracted private firm. At the
request of the County Commission, department officials recently checked with
nearby Hernando and Citrus counties. They both contract with a national firm,
Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, to run their jails. In a letter
to County Commission Chairman Stan McClain, sheriff's Maj. Paul Laxton said
that, at the rate CCA charges Citrus County, the cost to run the Marion jail
would go from about $25.2 million to $38.3 million. Laxton wrote that the
figure did not reflect the cost for off-site medical expenses for inmates.
The county commissions in Hernando and Citrus counties pay for that as an
additional cost, while the Marion Sheriff's Office includes it in the budget.
That cost was $1.356 million in 2005-06, Laxton wrote. "We are the
lowest cost-per-day jail in any of the counties I know of in Central
Florida," Sheriff Ed Dean said. McClain said there is not a push on the County
Commission to privatize the jail. He said commissioners asked for the cost
comparison during a recent planning discussion as they looked for ways to
trim the county budget as property tax reform loomed. "We had heard
other counties were privatizing, but we didn't know what their cost
was," he said. McClain said that, as far as he is concerned, the cost
comparison ended that discussion.
January
11, 2007 Citrus County Chronicle
A civil rights law firm will take over a federal lawsuit accusing guards
at the Citrus County Detention Facility of contaminating former inmates’ food
with human waste. Inverness attorneys Bill Grant and Bo Samargya had been
representing five former inmates in the lawsuit, filed March 10, 2006, in
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. However, Grant said
Wednesday he will hand the case over to a law firm that specializes in civil
rights lawsuits. He said the “depth” of the case has forced him to get
another firm involved. Grant did not name the law firm, which he said has offices
in Tampa and Orlando, and that he planned to hand the case over soon. “It’s a
document-intensive and time-intensive situation,” he said, adding his law
firm is handling a murder trial in Pennsylvania in March, another one in
February, a “major” civil trial in the summer and other cases. “It’s often so
busy here that to do that one right, we’d have to shut down and do nothing
but that case for a month.” The nine-count lawsuit accuses corrections
officers at the county jail in Lecanto of urinating and defecating into the
food and drink of inmates. Former inmates Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young,
Gregory Platt, Larry Robbins and Matthew Pavlisin were named as plaintiffs in
the initial lawsuit. The inmates accuse former guards of violating their
civil rights, including accusations of torture and cruel punishment. In 2004,
all were housed at one point in the jail’s segregation unit, a wing that
houses inmates considered to be a safety risk. Corrections Corporation of
America, the private Tennessee-based company that operates the jail, is also
named in the lawsuit. It’s accused of negligent hiring and supervision, with
Grant previously saying the corporation didn’t properly investigate the
accusations. Two guards and a supervisor were fired before the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement and Citrus County Sheriff’s Office started an
investigation March 21. Before the investigation began, former guard Kevin
Hessler admitted to urinating in an inmate’s juice jug, according to
documents. The FDLE investigation is still ongoing with interviews of
witnesses taking place, spokeswoman Trena Reddick said earlier this week.
December
30, 2006 St Petersburg Times
How did a jail trusty manage to slip away from a work detail this week,
elude a manhunt and get all the way to the east coast? He called his
girlfriend. She drove over and picked him up. They headed out of town. That’s
what Santana Schiedenhelm told investigators after they got caught Thursday.
Her boyfriend wasn’t talking. The escape method, which authorities reported
Friday, was one of the last mysteries left about this case. Jose Felix
Malagon-Cervantes, 25, faces a charge of escaping while in transport or
working on roads, a second-degree felony. An inmate at the Citrus County
jail, Malagon-Cervantes worked as a trusty at the Kensington Fire Station
just off State Road 44 and west of Inverness. Trusties are nonviolent,
misdemeanor offenders who are permitted to work outside the jail, earning as
many as 10 days off a sentence each month. Corrections Corporation of America,
a private company that runs the jail, decides which inmates are considered
trustworthy enough to work outside its gates.
December
29, 2006 St Petersburg Times
Authorities captured the escaped Citrus County inmate at 5 p.m. Thursday,
more than 100 miles from the Kensington Fire Station where he walked off a
work detail the day before. Jose Felix Malagon-Cervantes, 25, faces a charge
of escaping while in transport or working on roads, a second-degree felony.
He was found in Holly Hill, north of Daytona Beach. Also arrested was his
20-year-old girlfriend, Santana Schiedenhelm, who was charged on an unrelated
count of filing false information to law enforcement.
December
28, 2006 St Petersburg Times
A Citrus County inmate trusted to work outside the barbed wire walls of
the jail remained on the lam Wednesday night after he walked off a job at a
fire station earlier in the day. Authorities launched an aggressive manhunt
for Jose Felix Malagon-Cervantes, 25, in the nearby Withlacoochee State
Forest using helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and canine units but called it
off at 6 p.m. as darkness fell. The search will not resume today because the
inmate is not considered dangerous, said sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney.
He will likely face an escape charge if he turns up. Malagon-Cervantes was
labeled a trusty, a designation awarded to nonviolent offenders who are
permitted to work outside the jail. Trusties can earn up to 10 days off a
sentence each month. Malagon-Cervantes was arrested in August for violating his
drug offender probation. His arrest record includes charges of drug
possession and larceny, according to the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement. He was last seen working at the Kensington Fire Station in
central Citrus County when he told his supervisor, a fire-rescue maintenance
official, that he wasn't feeling well. The official, who is trained in inmate
supervision, allowed him to lay down in one of the service vehicles, said
Patty Jefferson, assistant fire chief. When the unnamed official went to
check on him "a short time later," Malagon-Cervantes was gone,
Jefferson said.
July
23, 2006 St Petersburg Times
He's been the warden of the Citrus County Detention Facility for five
years, and now Carlos Melendez is getting a promotion. Corrections Corporation
of America, the private company that runs the jail, is promoting Melendez to
a managing director position on the business management team. It's not clear
where he'll work once the promotion goes through, but it won't be in Citrus
County. Officials say it's unknown when a replacement will be found. Until
then, Melendez remains in charge of the jail. The process for finding
Melendez's replacement will begin with CCA, officials said. According to
Charles Poliseno, the director of the county's public safety department,
after the company picks a candidate, local officials - possibly Poliseno or
Assistant County Administrator Tom Dick - will interview that person and
present a recommendation to the County Commission. Commissioners will make
the final call, Poliseno said. CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the company is
gathering and evaluating candidates. "We generally don't want to put a
strict time line on this because we want to ensure we're making the best
decisions possible," Owen said. Melendez has presided over the jail
since March 2001. Earlier this year, inmates said guards had been putting
human waste in their food, and several CCA employees were fired. Melendez
previously has said that the inmates never complained of health problems and
that the only evidence came from one of the terminated guard's statements.
April
16, 2006 St Petersburg Times
In 2003, county commissioners voted unanimously for an $11-million
expansion of the Hernando County Jail. But before they cast their votes,
Commissioner Robert Schenck had one question about the cost: "I was
wondering if before we moved ahead you could do a cost analysis of what it
would cost for (Corrections Corporation of America) to build that and then
subsequently lease it back to the county and what it would cost us on our
bond payments with interest and see how close we are with the numbers,"
Schenck inquired. The county's purchasing director, Jim Gantt, said that
wasn't an option. CCA doesn't pay for expansions; it only pays to build new
facilities, he explained. And besides, having CCA finance the expansion would
be more expensive because private companies cannot borrow as cheaply as
government, Gantt said. Citrus County had different ideas. Last fall, the
Citrus County Commission voted to let CCA pay for the entire expansion of its
jail. The county will not pay a cent as long as it continues its day-to-day
operational contract with CCA for the next 20 years. "We found that it
actually saves us from having to go out and borrow the money and have to construct
the facility ourselves," Citrus Commissioner Vicki Phillips said. Fellow
Commissioner Joyce Valentino said the benefit was obvious: "We don't
have to use the taxpayers' tax dollars." How could neighboring counties
get such different deals? According to Gantt, CCA never offered to pay for
Hernando's expansion. CCA spokesman Steven Owen could not explain why, except
to say that CCA doesn't take a "cookie cutter approach" to writing
contracts. "Why we didn't offer that instead of this really isn't
relevant," he said. The last time Hernando's contract came up for
renewal, at an April 11, 2000, commission meeting, Commissioner Bobbi Mills
said she preferred to renegotiate rather than rebid, as did Commissioner Pat
Novy. They both said that significant research had been done to convince them
that there was no reason to put the contract out to bid - that they could
tell how CCA stacked up to its competitors without bidding. Commissioner
Chris Kingsley also voted in favor of renegotiation rather than rebidding. "I
can't remember the exact reason why," Kingsley said recently. "I
would agree that on most circumstances, you would go out for bid just like we
did for waste hauling. I guess maybe we assumed at the time that the
competitors couldn't have beaten the services we had." Only three
commissioners voted on the contract extension. Commissioners Nancy Robinson
and Paul Sullivan were asked by the county attorney to recuse themselves
because Robinson's daughter and Sullivan's wife were working at the Hernando
jail. More than half of the officers at the Hernando jail are uncertified,
working on "temporary employment authorization" status, which
allows them to serve as guards while they go to school for the state
certification. Hernando warden Don Stewart, who took over in February, said
he planned to increase the number of certified officers at the jail. He said
the high percentage of uncertified officers was a result of the hiring binge
needed to keep up with the jail's recent expansion. However, records show
that as far back as March 2000, 41 percent of the jail's guards were
uncertified. Stewart said that he was proud of his staff and that the
distinction between certified and uncertified officers wasn't important.
"Are we in violation of any state statutes?" he asked. But a recent
inquiry by the State Attorney's Office found that the large number of
uncertified officers was "without question a contributing factor to the
problems experienced by the (Hernando) jail." Retired Hernando Sheriff
Thomas Mylander, who ran the jail before CCA took it over in the late 1980s,
also criticized the heavy reliance on uncertified officers. "That's
totally unacceptable," he said. "The county is paying for a service
the individuals said they could run correctly for that amount. . . . I've
never heard of any place that had half their employees uncertified."
April
4, 2006 Citrus County Chronicle
A recent lawsuit filed by four former Citrus County Correctional Facility
inmates alleging prisoner abuse has placed Corrections Corporation of America
(CCA), which operates the facility, in the public spotlight. The lawsuit
contends that at least two corrections officers urinated and defecated in
inmates food and drink several times in late 2004. While CCA has acknowledged
that one corrections officer admitted to spiking inmate juice with human
urine on two occasions, it rebukes the claim of systemic torture and abuse by
the plaintiffs lawyers as pure fabrication and without merit. Whether the
claim of systemic torture and abuse being investigated by the FBI and Florida
Department of Law Enforcement proves to have merit or not, the mere admission
that bodily waste was placed in the juice of inmates resurrects nagging
questions about contracting out jail oversight to a for-profit company. The
privatization of corrections wrongly entrusts that responsibility to the
financial expectations of investors. With government ultimately responsible
for both the inmates and the publics welfare, corrections operations must be
publicly open and accountable. While privatized government services are
subject to Florida's open-records laws, there's a greater tendency for
private companies to distance themselves from public accountability. In the
short term, county government needs to provide more aggressive oversight of CCA.
Accordingly, it may want to consider the example of Hernando County, which
last week appointed a former law enforcement officer to monitor CCA's
operation of its correctional facility full time. In the long term, county
government should seriously weigh its core responsibility for corrections
against any promised privatization savings. For when it comes to the
corrections bottom line, privatization is socially and ethically
unacceptable.
March
24, 2006 St Petersburg Times
County Commissioner Vicki Phillips said she has "lost trust" in
County Administrator Richard Wesch over his handling of the allegations of
abuse at the Citrus County jail. "When you lose trust in your
administrator and you lose the confidence in the administrator that he's
providing you with all the complete information that you need on issues, I
can't do my job and serve the people of Citrus County," she said in an
interview Thursday afternoon. "So something has to change."
Phillips' remarks came after she sent a memo to Wesch asking who in county
government had been notified of the firing of two corrections officers and a
supervisor at the facility after allegations surfaced that guards had
urinated in inmates' drinks. Phillips said county commissioners were not
notified of the allegations until a federal lawsuit was filed by two local
lawyers on behalf of four men who say they suffered medical problems because
of the contamination. Two other commissioners, Joyce Valentino and Chairman
Gary Bartell, have also expressed concern at Wesch's handling of the matter.
Wesch did not return a message left on his cell phone Thursday afternoon. In
the March 10 lawsuit, Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins and Greg
Platt alleged that at least two corrections officers urinated and defecated in
their food and drink several times in late 2004. Three former employees at
the Citrus jail - corrections officers Kevin Hessler and Alexander Diaz, as
well as a supervisor, Charles Mulligan - were fired in connection with the
drink accusations. On March 20, Wesch responded to Phillips' questions in a
memo. He told her that the private corrections company that runs the jail,
the Corrections Corporation of America, had notified the county's contract
monitor of the allegations. No further action was taken by the county, Wesch
wrote, because "there was no reason for us to suspect that this was more
than an alleged, unsubstantiated isolated report." That's not a good
enough answer, Phillips said. In the memo, Wesch did not say whether he knew
about the allegations. Phillips wants to know if he knew. She wants to know
if he told any of the other commissioners and, if not, why.
March
23, 2006 St Petersburg Times
The president and chief executive of the private company that runs the
Citrus County jail has accused a local law firm of using media coverage to
push for a larger lawsuit settlement. In a March 16 letter to County
Administrator Richard Wesch, Corrections Corporation of America CEO John D.
Ferguson said it was "not appropriate" to defend itself through
news conferences and media statements. He accused Inverness lawyers Bill
Grant and Bo Samargya of using the news media to pressure the company,
calling the lawyers' actions "overt efforts to influence a larger
settlement outcome or award through media coverage." Grant called the
statement "asinine." "(CCA's) all over the place," he
said. "I just like sitting around watching them squirm. I can't believe
it." The news of the latest barb between CCA and the lawyers came on the
day Grant announced a fifth plaintiff in a federal suit against the company.
Matthew Pavlisin, who was a teen when he was held at the facility on charges
of armed burglary and theft, was abused at the jail, Grant said. March 10,
Grant and Samargya filed a federal suit against CCA, claiming that four
inmates had been forced to drink liquid contaminated with human urine and eat
food that contained fecal matter. Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins
and Greg Platt claim that at least two corrections officers urinated and
defecated in their food and drink several times at the jail in 2004. Grant
plans to file an amended complaint, naming Pavlisin and others, in coming
weeks. "(CCA) can cast whatever aspersions they want," Grant said.
"The outcome of this is going to be decided in a federal courthouse."
Grant will also file a wrongful termination suit on behalf of Charles
Mulligan, a supervisor at the facility fired in connection with the drink
accusations, he said. Two former employees at the Citrus jail, correctional
officers Kevin Hessler and Alexander Diaz, were also fired because of the
accusations. Since the lawsuit was filed, both sides have talked with news
reporters about the allegations. Grant says the company knew about the
contamination and failed to do anything, including providing medical testing,
for the inmates. CCA representatives have questioned Grant's motives,
suggesting he's demanding large amounts of money from the company. In the
letter to Wesch, CCA also called the claims of torture and abuse "pure
fabrication." Grant said he doesn't buy it. "I guess p---ing and
p---ing in someone's food is not abuse or torture. ... We've been saying the
same thing over time. We're not the ones scrambling about like a cockroach
when the light comes on," he said.
March
22, 2006 St Petersburg Times
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will lead an investigation into
allegations of wrongdoing at the Citrus County jail. Sheriff's spokeswoman
Gail Tierney said the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation will also assist as needed. The decision to start an
investigation came after officials from the Sheriff's Office, the FDLE, the
FBI and the State Attorney's Office discussed allegations of inmate abuse
Tuesday afternoon. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy asked for the FDLE's assistance
"to avoid any conflict of interest," Tierney said, because the
Sheriff's Office has such close ties with the jail. Once the investigation is
completed, Tierney said, authorities will submit findings to the State
Attorney's Office for review. "We will absolutely be cooperating fully
with that investigation," said Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections
Corporation of America, the private contractor that runs the jail. He
declined to comment further on the allegations or the investigation. Earlier
this month four inmates filed a federal lawsuit against CCA. Javon Walker,
Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins and Greg Platt alleged that at least two
corrections officers urinated and defecated in their food and drink several
times in late 2004. Three former jail employees - corrections officers Kevin
Hessler and Alexander Diaz as well as a supervisor, Charles Mulligan - were
fired in connection with the drink accusations. In a meeting with reporters
last week, a company spokesman said that if any incident occurred, it was not
indicative of a larger problem at the facility. Attorney Bill Grant, who is
representing the inmates, said Tuesday that he was excited to learn of the
FDLE investigation. "The taxpayers of Citrus County are finally going to
find out what happened at their local county jail," he said. "CCA's
been doing nothing but doublespeak. Well, the doublespeak is over."
March
21, 2006 St Petersburg Times
County commissioners said they weren't notified when allegations of
inmate abuse at the Citrus County jail surfaced in 2004. Now they want to
know why. "I definitely would have liked to have known about it, only
because I'm responsible back to the citizens," County Commission
Chairman Gary Bartell said. "When the issue did come up, I would have
liked to have known there was an ongoing investigation." Bartell was not
the only commissioner concerned about why the board wasn't notified of the
allegations. In a memo Wednesday to County Administrator Richard Wesch,
Commissioner Vicki Phillips requested answers to the who, how and when of the
situation. "If the county was notified in December 2004, why was this
information not relayed to me and the other commissioners?" Phillips
said. "Or was it relayed to other commissioners?" The commissioners'
concerns came more than a week after four inmates filed a federal lawsuit
against Corrections Corporation of America, a private contractor that runs
the county jail. Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins and Greg Platt
alleged that at least two corrections officers urinated and defecated in
their food and drink several times in late 2004. Three former employees at
the Citrus jail - corrections officers Kevin Hessler and Alexander Diaz as
well as a supervisor, Charles Mulligan - were fired in connection with the
drink accusations. A company spokesman met with reporters and county
officials last week, saying that if any incident occurred, it was not
indicative of a larger problem at the facility. Representatives from the FBI,
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the State Attorney's Office and
the Citrus County Sheriff's Office were set to meet this afternoon at the
sheriff's headquarters in Inverness, said sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney.
Tierney said the officials will meet to determine whether to investigate and
which agency would handle it. Corrections Corporation of America has said
that it told the county about the allegations. On Monday, spokesman Steve
Owen said the company told public safety director Charles Poliseno about the
accusations. Poliseno didn't return a message left at his office, but county
spokeswoman Jessica Lambert confirmed that Poliseno was notified of the
alleged incident in December 2004. "He was notified an incident had
occurred, an investigation was taking place and personnel action would be
taken," she said. The county is searching for documents from that time
to see how and when that notification took place. Poliseno remembered
speaking with someone from the jail about the allegations, Lambert said, but
he wasn't sure if he ever had anything in writing. Typically, if a public
safety director has information for the commissioners, it first goes through
the county administrator, Lambert said. The county administrator did not
return a message left at his office, but an office representative said Wesch
planned to release a memo on the subject today. Whatever happened in 2004,
Bartell said he wished that he would have known about the accusations before
the lawsuit was filed. When accusations of problems at the Hernando County
Jail - which is also run by Corrections Corporation of America - came to
light recently, Bartell sent a memo to Wesch, trying to ensure that the
Citrus jail didn't have any problems. The memo was passed on to the company,
Bartell said. "CCA wrote a letter back assuring there were no problems
out here at the Citrus County facility," he said. Bartell said he was
later told that the commissioners weren't notified because county staffers
thought the problem was resolved. "I really don't know all the
circumstances yet, but it's very obvious that it wasn't over," Bartell
said. "I know they're strictly allegations, but it's obvious that
there's a problem that spread wider than just those guards and the inmates
... the proper way to have handled it was to have notified us."
March
14, 2006 Bay News 9
The controversy surrounds if the commission was aware of the abuse at the
facility. The operators of the CCA detention facility accused of abuse and
torture are promising to fight the charges, even as the list of victims grows
and the county demands answers. For the first time, the Citrus County
Commission has learned about a federal civil lawsuit as attorney Bill Grant
shared information with Bay News 9 and our partner, the Citrus County
Chronicle. "Over a year ago we came to learn that several inmates were
being abused and tortured by being forced to consume bodily waste of
another," Grant told the commission Tuesday. "They couldn't go and
say 'No, I want something else to eat' or 'No, I want something else to
drink.' They were housed in a segregation unit, isolated by the very men and
women that tortured them." The question being posed is: were Citrus
County commissioners aware? Grant said he has evidence pointing to a possible
coverup, that when three guards linked to the alleged abuse were fired in
December of 2004, the county wasn't told why they were being fired. "We
are making a formal request of the commission to investigate CCA (Corrections
Corporation of America), either by staff or by independent investigation, and
to conduct a hearing into this matter," Grant said. A spokesperson for
the county commission said they were notified by CCA that guards were being
fired. But they are unsure if a reason was given. Grant talked about the
expanding suit. During a press conference that followed the commission
meeting, Grant said the suit is growing. "We will be adding multiple
plaintiffs or multiple victims to our lawsuit, who are boys under the age of
18," he said. Grant said the problems at the Citrus County Detention
Facility are ongoing. The county commission agreed during its meeting to
investigate the matter further.
March
11, 2006 Citrus Chronicle
Four former inmates of the Citrus County Detention facility in Lecanto
are suing the private company that runs the facility and two former corrections
officers, saying their food was tampered with. In a nine-count federal
lawsuit filed Friday afternoon, the inmates say they were forced to eat food
that contained bodily waste from at least two guards at the jail. The lawsuit
claims the inmates' civil rights were violated, including accusations of
torture, by being forced to eat the tainted food. "They couldn't go and
say, 'I want something else to eat, I want something else to drink.' They
couldn't go use the telephone, they can't scream for help," said Bill
Grant, the attorney who filed the lawsuit. "Because their assailants
were the same ones charged for their protection, and they violated that in
the most obscene and disgusting way." The complaint was electronically
filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in
Tampa. At their Inverness office, Grant and his partner, Bo Samargya, said
there will likely be more victims named in the case, and they are seeking
punitive damages. "They had been getting very sick," Grant said of
inmates eating the food. The lawsuit accuses former corrections officers
Kevin Hessler and Alexander Diaz of urinating and defecating in food and
drink given to Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins and Greg Platt, all
former inmates housed in the jail's segregation unit. The unit — separate
from other inmates — is for those considered a safety risk to themselves or
staff. The lawsuit says the incidents occurred on several occasions between
Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2004. The complaint accuses the former guards of cruel
punishment, torture and battery. Corrections Corporation of America, the
jail's operator, is also named in the lawsuit and is charged with negligent
hiring. The lawsuit says CCA was aware of the accusations but allowed the
guards to continue working in the segregation unit. The lawsuit centers on a
Feb. 16, 2005, telephone hearing between a former jail employee and the
Office of Employment Appeals in Tallahassee. Charles Mulligan, a former
supervisor at the facility, was fired Dec 3, 2004, for a "violation of
company policies and procedures," according to a termination notice. At
the hearing, Carlos Melendez, the jail's warden, said Mulligan was fired
after a subordinate told him he put human waste in an inmate's juice jug, and
that Mulligan didn't report it. Melendez testified Mulligan and the
subordinate, who he identified as Hessler, were fired. He also said he
learned Diaz acknowledged doing the same thing, though he denied it when
confronted by Melendez. Grant, who was at the hearing representing Mulligan,
asked if Melendez notified law enforcement or asked to have the incidents
investigated. "No we have not," Melendez replied, according to a
hearing transcript. Meanwhile, Grant is asking for an investigation into the
jail, and points at other incidents in surrounding counties at CCA-operated
jails, including suicides. Samargya said charges should be filed in this
case. "These are crimes," he said. "If the inmate would have
done something like this to the (Corrections Officer), he would have been
arrested. A report would have been made." Several agencies, including
the FBI, U.S. Attorney and State Attorney's office, were notified, Grant
said. He believes the inmates deserve "a battery of tests," because
they could have been exposed to disease. Grant said many had complained their
food had a bad taste and odor, and they suffered vomiting, stomach cramps and
nausea. The lawsuit says the inmates suffered "injury, pain and
emotional distress." Grant also said at least one inmate has been
"fairly sick" since. He said he and Samargya will not agree to any
settlement in the case, and want the lawsuit to be heard by a jury. Along
with using Mulligan as a witness in the case, Grant also expects other guards
to be named later in the lawsuit, some who, he says, still work at the jail.
"Let's start an investigation, and let's get these people out, that are
doing this, out of jail," he said. "Or put them back in it, only
this time, in orange."
September
20, 2005 Citrus Times
Citrus County commissioners this week were too quick to jump on the
"build it and we'll fill it" bandwagon at the county jail. The
board agreed to double the size of the jail in Lecanto and passed on the
chance to explore several relevant issues. Their focus on Tuesday seemed to
be only on the bottom-line question of who will pay for the construction.
With the company that operates the jail under county contract, Corrections
Corporation of America, agreeing to pay for the renovations and expansion,
the commissioners quickly moved on. The agency reported in June that Citrus
County experienced a 5.6 percent drop in its overall crime rate and 7.5
percent reduction in the violent crime rate in 2004. This mirrored a
statewide trend that has seen serious crime in Florida fall for 13 consecutive
years. The crime rate in Florida, in fact, is at its lowest in 34 years.
However, the commissioners should have asked for some explanation for why
Citrus needs to double the size of its jail if crime is falling. Part of that
answer may be in the arrangement that the county has with CCA. Citrus
taxpayers give CCA $52.64 to house an inmate for one day, a figure that will
rise under the newly approved 10-year contract to $54.74. The extra space in
the jail is used to house federal prisoners for the U.S. Marshals Service at
a higher rate. Having extra room for these expensive inmates translates into
more money for the for-profit company. While it is true that CCA will pick up
the costs of the $18.5-million jail expansion and renovation, there will be
indirect costs to the local taxpayers beyond the additional $2 a day they
will pay to house each inmate. Traffic to the facility will increase, for
example, leading to more strain on already congested roadways. Judicial and
law enforcement costs will rise as well. The most troubling oversight,
however, was the lack of any discussion about alternatives to incarceration.
October
29, 2004 St Petersburg Times
A former Citrus County jail inmate has filed suit against the Corrections
Corporation of America - the private company that runs the jail - and a
jail-contracted doctor, claiming the doctor and company were negligent in
caring for him. Martin T. Cahill, 42, names Dr. C. Billiston Clarke and the
Corrections Corporation of America, known as CCA, as defendants in a medical
malpractice suit, according to court documents. Cahill alleges that Clarke, a
doctor who works under contract with CCA, didn't give Cahill proper care when
Cahill suffered severe heart problems. While in jail from Oct. 10, 2002, to
March 4, 2003, Cahill suffered several medical problems, including cardiac
failure that required emergency medical treatment, according to the suit.
Cahill was admitted to the emergency room at Citrus Memorial Hospital on
March 4, 2003. He was hooked to a ventilator. The next day he was formally
released from jail. Cahill then was transported to an Ocala hospital, where
he rang up a medical bill of $152,973. This is not the first suit filed in
regard to Cahill's health problems while in jail. On June 27, 2003, Munroe
Regional Medical Center in Ocala filed suit against Citrus County and CCA
regarding Cahill's medical bills. The suit alleged the county deliberately
released Cahill from jail so it could avoid paying for Cahill's medical
expenses. Under state law, the county government is required to pay medical
expenses for inmates if the inmate, the inmate's family or an insurance
provider cannot afford to pay. The Tampa law firm handling the suit for the
county said the hospital failed to show Cahill was an inmate when he was admitted
to the hospital. CCA said no agreement existed between CCA and the hospital
to pay Cahill's bills. That suit has not been resolved.
December
15, 2003 St Petersburg Times
Claudette Mills understands. There are laws and regulations, all
well-intentioned, that are designed to keep a person's health information
private. But that understanding didn't provide much comfort this past
weekend, when she and her family were worried about her mother. Miss
Mills, 30, of Hernando, received a telephone call Saturday afternoon from an
inmate at the Citrus County jail. The caller, who was the cellmate of Miss
Mills' mother, had disturbing news: Your mother has fallen ill. Linda
Butts, 53, apparently was having health problems related to her kidneys and
liver; she had experienced such troubles in the past. Butts is serving an
11-month sentence for violating the requirements of a probation term she was
serving for a drunken driving case. Miss Mills said she called the jail
and didn't get much information, only that her mother was receiving medical
attention on the premises. Then she received another call Sunday
evening from her mother's cellmate. This time the news was even worse: Your
mother is being taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital. Miss Mills said she
called the jail, which confirmed that her mother was being taken to the
hospital. It didn't provide any other information. Miss Mills went to
the hospital, but the guard assigned to her mother's room wouldn't allow a
visit. On Monday, jail officials allowed a one-hour visit. And on
Wednesday, after her condition improved, Butts was taken back to the
jail. "All weekend we went through hell ... wondering what was
wrong with her," Miss Mills said during a telephone interview Thursday.
Worrying along with her was her fiance, Richie Smith, and her two sons, ages
7 and 9. Julia Swart is a spokeswoman for Corrections Corporation of
America, the private company that operates the jail on the county's behalf.
She said jail policy is to contact an inmate's relative in such cases only if
the medical problem is life-threatening, or if such contact is requested by
medical professionals or the hospital.
August
29, 2003 St Petersburg Times
The story was supposed to go like this: James Utsey, charged in the December
2000 fatal shooting of his mother, was to be tried in a Hernando County
courtroom beginning Aug. 18. The trial was expected to last a week. If
a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, prosecutors were seeking the
death penalty. If not, he could have been a free man. Things didn't go
quite that smoothly. Plans snagged somewhere along Utsey's transfer
from the Citrus County jail to the jail in Hernando County. His
prescribed psychotropic medication didn't make the journey, meaning he didn't
take the pills for about four days. The trial was postponed. Circuit
Judge Ric A. Howard was mad. Now, presumably to make amends for the
delay, the private company that runs the county's jail has agreed to cover
the county's tab for the remainder of Utsey's stay at the facility. In
a brief memo dated Aug. 20, jail warden Carlos Melendez informed Public
Safety director Charles Poliseno that Corrections Corporation of America will
cover the county's bill for Utsey from Aug. 19 until whenever the trial
begins.
August
18, 2003 St Petersburg Times
Citrus County has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by an
Ocala hospital regarding the medical bill of a former jail inmate. The
suit alleges that the county deliberately released the inmate, Martin Cahill,
from jail to avoid paying for the services he would receive at Munroe
Regional Medical Center. In March, Cahill was in the Citrus County jail
awaiting disposition of a criminal case. He faced charges of making false 911
calls, resisting arrest and threatening police officers and
firefighters. Court records show a judge released Cahill from custody
on March 5 at the request of the State Attorney's Office and his attorney,
Roy Stevenson, an assistant public defender. That was one day after he was
taken from the jail to Citrus Memorial Hospital, but one day before he would
be taken from Citrus Memorial to Munroe for more extensive care.
Cahill's bill at Munroe: $152,973. State law says county government
must pay for inmates' medical care if, as is usually the case, the inmate
cannot afford to do so. But Patrick Burson, a Tampa attorney representing the
county in this case, argued in an Aug. 4 motion that Munroe Regional has
failed to show that Cahill was an inmate when he was admitted March 6.
Munroe "does not have standing to pursue unpaid medical bills incurred
by Martin Cahill," wrote Burson, an attorney with the law firm Fowler,
White, Boggs and Banker. Corrections Corporation of America, the
private company that operates the jail, is also being sued by Munroe Regional
and filed its own motion to dismiss on July 24. That motion argues that no
agreement existed between CCA and the hospital to pay Cahill's medical bills.
August
4, 2003 St Petersburg Times
An inmate close to death is released just before he racks up an expensive
hospital bill. The hospital sues for payment. Hundreds of inmates come
in and out of the Citrus County jail each year. Some are awaiting trial.
Others are serving sentences. Every now and then an inmate will become
so seriously ill that he requires medical care beyond what the jail staff can
provide. The law says county government must pay for the care if, as is
usually the case, the inmate cannot afford to do so. This practice is at
the heart of a lawsuit that an Ocala hospital filed against Citrus County
this summer. The county says it isn't liable for a $150,000 plus
medical bill that Martin Cahill accrued because Cahill was released from
custody one day before entering the Ocala hospital. That hospital,
Munroe Regional Medical Center, says Citrus swiftly arranged for Cahill's
release to avoid being stuck with the big bill. The case, which remains
pending in Marion County Circuit Court, already is shedding light on an
otherwise little-noticed part of county government. Corrections
Corporation of America, the private company that operates the jail on the
county's behalf, provides basic medical care for inmates. For example, the
jail clinic dispenses medications for diabetes, high blood pressure,
arthritis and other chronic illnesses. Inmates are taken out of the
jail for major surgeries. The bills go to the county unless the inmate has
assets or insurance to cover the care. Cahill's bill is the largest the
county has faced for inmate medical expenses, according to county records.
The county typically budgets $25,000 per year to cover medical care that
inmates require outside the jail, and it has access to $206,000 in a reserve
account to make up for expenses beyond the $25,000. Most of the bills
have been less than $25,000, one of the reasons why the county has elected
not to purchase insurance to cover inmate medical expenses. County
officials estimate it would cost $1.12-million to insure jail inmates.
"We've paid less than $25,000 in the past several years for inmate
medical expense," said Cathy Taylor, the county's budget director.
"To take out an excess of $1-million insurance policy wouldn't seem
prudent." The county says the hospital must look elsewhere for
payment on Cahill's bill because Cahill wasn't an inmate at the time he
entered Munroe. Court records show law officers arrested Cahill in
October on charges of making false 911 calls, resisting arrest and
threatening police officers and firefighters. With the criminal case
still pending, Cahill remained at the jail until March 4, when he was sent to
Citrus Memorial Hospital for treatment of a serious heart condition.
Citrus Memorial officials determined they couldn't treat him, so he was sent
to Munroe on March 6. At issue in the lawsuit is what happened on the
middle day, March 5. That afternoon, a judge released Cahill on his own
recognizance. Cahill's lawyer and a prosecutor agreed to the
arrangement. Cahill went on to spend a little more than three weeks at
Munroe and rack up a $152,973 medical bill. Assistant County Attorney
Michele Slingerland said she was informed about Cahill's case by Public
Safety Director Charles Poliseno. Poliseno, who oversees the contract between
the county and CCA, calls Slingerland when legal issues arise with
inmates. Slingerland notified Cahill's lawyer, who then formally asked
the judge to release Cahill from custody. Munroe has accused the County
Attorney's Office of purposefully pressuring the Public Defender's Office to
arrange Cahill's release to avoid paying the bill. It says the chain of
events serves as evidence of a deliberate - and illegal - effort by the
county to dodge its responsibility. Slingerland said she had different
motivation. "The guy was supposed to die," said Slingerland.
"That's why I felt the need to tell his attorney. I thought he should
know before his client died." She has maintained that she called
Roy Stevenson, Cahill's attorney, as a courtesy. Even if Cahill was
dying, the county was legally obligated to guard him, Slingerland said. And
the security comes at a price: The county has to pay a CCA security guard
$13.50 per hour and $20.50 per hour if overtime is required, according to the
county's contract with CCA.
July 9, 2003 St Petersburg Times
An attorney representing an Ocala hospital has accused Citrus County of
borderline fraud for its refusal to pay the medical bills of a former jail
inmate who was too poor to pay them himself. Martin T. Cahill, a
41-year-old Beverly Hills man, racked up $152,973 in hospital bills after he
was transported to Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala from Citrus
Memorial Hospital on March 6. Two days earlier, he had been admitted to
Citrus Memorial after falling gravely ill with a heart condition while in the
Citrus County Jail. Citrus Memorial officials determined they weren't
capable of treating him and sent him to Munroe Regional, where he remained
for three weeks. But as of March 5, the day before he was sent to
Munroe Regional, Cahill was no longer an inmate at the Citrus jail, having
been released from custody that afternoon, court records show. The
events of that day are the crux of a lawsuit filed by Munroe Regional against
Citrus County and Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that
operates the jail. Munroe Regional attorney Robert Seymour has accused
the county attorney's office of pressuring the public defender's office to
get Cahill released from jail the day after he was admitted to Citrus
Memorial. He alleges the county arranged Cahill's release to avoid being
stuck with his bills. "This is an obvious attempt to skirt the
county's legal duty to provide Mr. Cahill with medical treatment, and borders
on fraudulent action," Seymour wrote in a May 20 letter to the county
and Corrections Corporation of America. Cahill was arrested in October
on charges of making excessive 911 calls and threatening police officers and
firefighters after they responded to a car accident. Cahill's car was
on fire, and authorities said he threatened to kill any firefighters or
police officers who attempted to put out the fire. He also threatened to kill
himself and his mother. Seymour goes on to detail an unusual scenario during
which Cahill went from being an inmate held without bail to a man released on
his own recognizance. He cites a March 5 telephone message left by
assistant county attorney Michele Slingerland for Roy Stevenson, a public
defender who was appointed to represent Cahill after his arrest in
October. Slingerland, according to Seymour's letter, told a
receptionist at the public defender's office that Cahill had been
hospitalized and "asked that they attempt to get Mr. Cahill released on
his own recognizance." On Monday, Slingerland vigorously denied
making that request of Stevenson, an attorney she has known since her days as
a prosecutor in State Attorney Brad King's office. She said she had called
Stevenson as a courtesy, informing him that his client had been hospitalized
the night before. Cahill had been taken to Citrus Memorial's emergency
room, where doctors hooked him to a ventilator and predicted he would live
only another week. Stevenson brought up the idea of having Cahill
released in a followup phone conversation, Slingerland said. She said she
warned him that the county wouldn't be responsible for Cahill's bills if he
was no longer an inmate. Florida law requires counties to pay for the
hospital care of an inmate if the inmate, family members or an insurance
provider cannot pay the bills.
July 7, 2003
Martin
Cahill racked up a $152,973 hospital bill, and it seems nobody wants to pick
up the tab. In October, the 41-year-old Cahill was arrested on charges
of making false 911 calls, resisting arrest and threatening police officers
and firefighters, court records showed. The public servants were trying
to put out a fire that had engulfed Cahill's car, but Cahill threatened to
shoot them. He later threatened to kill himself. The Beverly Hills man
was being held at the Citrus County jail March 4, awaiting disposition of
those charges, when he became seriously ill. According to a court record,
Cahill was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a
heart condition. Citrus Memorial determined it wasn't equipped to treat
Cahill, and so on March 6, he was transferred to Munroe Regional Medical
Center in Marion County, where he stayed for a little more than three
weeks. What happened on the intervening day has given rise to a lawsuit
against the county and the private company that runs the jail. The county was
served with the suit earlier this week. Munroe Regional submitted a
$152,973 hospital bill to Corrections Corporation of America, the private
company that operates the jail on the county's behalf. According to the
hospital, CCA replied it wasn't responsible for the charges because Cahill
was no longer an inmate: He was formally discharged from the jail at 5:40
p.m. March 5. Munroe filed suit June 27 against the company and Citrus
County. Munroe Regional alleges Citrus County and CCA have a legal duty
to pay for Cahill's treatment because at the time Cahill was "an
indigent person being held prisoner," according to the suit.
Munroe Regional is requesting a judge to order payment of the hospital bill,
plus attorney's fees. Munroe is being represented by the Savage, Krim,
Simons, Jones & Babiarz law firm of Ocala. Robert Seymour, an attorney
with the firm, said Thursday night: "The lawsuit speaks for
itself." The suit will be presented as an informational item at
Tuesday's County Commission meeting, County Attorney Robert Battista said
Thursday. The county has until July 22 to reply to the suit. (St.
Petersburg Times)
May
15, 2003 St Petersburg Times
County officials are formalizing their interest in housing more immigrant
detainees at the county jail by sending a letter to the federal government
this week. A deal could possibly be worked out during the next few
months. The agency is offering the county a $9.3-million construction
loan to build a 256-bed annex to the jail. The county would pay back the loan
by charging the federal government a daily rate for each bed a detainee
occupies. The jail has been home to immigrant detainees since 1995,
when it began accepting refugees from the Krome Detention Center near Miami.
More recently, these detainees have come from a detention facility in
Bradenton. What is new is the proposed financial arrangement with the
federal government, which would allow the county to use federal dollars to
expand one of its own facilities. Once the loan is paid off, the annex would
become the county's property, providing much-needed space for the county's
growing inmate population. The county would continue to generate
revenue from the detainees' presence. Already, the county earns $6 each day
per inmate, while Corrections Corporation of America pockets a daily fee of
$41 per inmate from the federal government.
April
30, 2003 St Petersburg Times
A Citrus County jail officer, acting on bad counsel from a training officer
at the jail, lost the state certification he needed to be employed as a law
enforcement officers, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement
official. The training officer has been replaced by
August
22, 2002 St Petersburg Times
The Sheriff's Office and jail authorities are interviewing people to find out
what happened to Antonio Lewis Franklin. The man who dies suddenly at
the Citrus County jail Tuesday had his first recorded run-in with the law at
age 17, around the time he dropped out of Citrus High School. An
autopsy was being performed Wednesday to determine a cause of death for
Franklin, who was rushed to Citrus Memorial Hospital Tuesday after an inmate
reported him unconscious. The 31-year-old Inverness resident was
pronounced dead at 4:10 p.m. Jail warden Carlos Melendez said he is also
conducting an internal investigation action to determine whether his staff
followed proper procedures. Melendez said Franklin, like all inmates,
was examined by the jail's nurse after he was admitted. The nurse
checked his heart rate and blood pressure and found nothing abnormal, he
said.
August
21, 2002 St Petersburg Times
Fourteen hours after Antonio Franklin was booked into the Citrus County jail
on drug charges, the 31 year-old inmate suddenly became ill and died.
Jail warden Carlos Melendez said an inmate alerted guards that Franklin had
lost consciousness about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Franklin was admitted to
the jail about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of crack cocaine
and marijuana. Like all new inmates, he was given a preliminary physical
upon arrival, Melendez said. No medical problems were detected, and he
had no known history of health troubles. It was not Franklin's first
visit to the jail, which is run for the county by a private company,
Corrections Corporation of America.
April
11, 2002 St Petersburg Times
Two inmates are protesting a policy
change at the Citrus County jail that eliminates the time officials shave off
sentences as a reward for good behavior. The
inmates filed separate petitions in circuit court asserting the new policy
violates their constitutional right to due process and contradicts Florida
law. The County Commission voted in May to reduce the amount of time an
inmate can earn from 15 days a month to 10 days a month off the end of the
sentence.
In addition to putting the county in
line with state sentencing mandates, officials hoped the new policy would
lead to an increase in labor available for jobs such as roadside litter
removal.
Under the previous system, inmates could
have five days a month subtracted from sentences for good behavior. They
could also earn 10 days off for volunteering to work. As of June 1, the "good behavior" time was eliminated
and inmates were limited to 0.4 days off for every day they worked, which
adds up to about 10 days a month. The
county budgeted about $ 176,000 a year to cover the increased time inmates
would be spending in jail. Citrus pays Corrections Corporation of America,
the private company that operates the jail, $ 42 per day per inmate.
November
28, 2001 St Petersburg Times
Inmates will continue to labor outside the jail despite two escapes from work
details in a week, a county official said Tuesday. But the jail will
take steps to prevent more escapes by ordering new, highly visible striped
uniforms for inmate work crews and beefing up training for county employees
who supervise inmates, said Charles Poliseno, the county's director of public
safety. "Considering these were the first escapes in many, many
years, to only have two incidents, it's not significant enough to eliminate a
program that we derive a lot of benefit from," Poliseno said. The
back-to-back escapes, he said, "appear to be two isolated
incidents." Poliseno, however, convened an emergency meeting with county
and jail officials Monday afternoon after the escape of Joseph John Messina,
36, who ran away from a group of inmates picking up litter in Central Ridge
Park in Holder. Messina had been captured by Marion County sheriff's
officials about 11 a.m. Monday. Messina's attempt at freedom came only
a week after Robert Charles Gordon had walked off a work detail at the Fire
Services Center.
September
9, 2001 St Petersburg Times
Starting this month, inmates at the Citrus County jail will have to open
their wallets if they want to visit a doctor. According to a new rule
passed by the County Commission, inmates who can afford it must pony up a
co-payment of up to $10 for a trip to the infirmary as of Sept. 20.
May
30, 2001 St Petersburg Times
Starting Friday, Citrus County inmates will have to pick up a shovel or push
a mop to shave time off their sentences. Earlier this month, the Citrus
County Commission voted to shrink the amount of gain time, or time off, an
inmate can earn from 15 days a month to 10. Under the current system,
inmates get five days a month subtracted from their sentences for good
behavior. They could also earn 10 days off for volunteering to
work. As of June 1, the good behavior time is gone. Inmates are
limited to 0.4 days off for every day they work, which adds up to about 10
days a month. Having the inmates stay incarcerated longer is expected
to cost the county about $176,000 a year more, an expense that has already
been budgeted.
March
24, 2001 St Petersburg Times
The private company that runs the Citrus County Detention Facility fired
Warden David Eads on Wednesday, sending away the jail's fourth warden in less
than six years. CCA gave no specific reasons to the county or the Citrus
Times for firing Eads, citing only a desire to change the management. Sheriff
Jeff Dawsy was not available for comment Friday, but he has expressed concern
in the past about the turnover at the jail. In a letter written last May when
Eads became warden, Dawsy called the turnover rate "excessive" and
"unacceptable." "Not only does it create an unstable
environment for staff and inmates alike, it also results in undue changes in
management styles. Standard operating procedures are subject to change, not
to mention security methodologies. In short, there is at least the potential
for endangering the public's safety unnecessarily."
Collier County Jail
Naples, Florida
Prison Health Services
November 13, 2010 Naples Daily News
A 24-year-old woman who lost her baby while she was an inmate at the
Collier County jail has sued the sheriff and the jail’s medical provider,
alleging they violated her civil rights by denying her necessary medical
treatment. Joan Small, a former Bonita Springs woman now known as Joan
Graeber, is suing Tennessee-based Prison Health Services and Collier County
Sheriff Kevin Rambosk after suffering pregnancy complications that led to her
baby’s death. Prison Health Services is the target of pending lawsuits in
Collier and Lee counties — and nationally — involving denial of medical care
in jails. Publicity over baby Elena’s death in February 2009 ended in other
pregnant inmates with complications getting released in the weeks afterward.
The lawsuit was filed this month in Collier Circuit Court by Naples attorneys
Sharon Hanlon and Ted Zelman. It’s been assigned to Judge Cynthia Pivacek.
Hanlon declined comment.
February
4, 2010 Naples Daily News
Joan Laurel Graeber still cries when she thinks about the baby she and
her fiancé, Elias Guzman, lost while she was an inmate in the Collier County
Jail last year. The 23-year-old former Bonita Springs woman visits Elena
Laurel Guzman’s grave often and works from home because socializing is still
hard for her while she’s grieving. Today, it will have been a year since they
lost Elena, and the couple, who have since moved to New Jersey, plan to get
married soon. They’re also expecting another child, Julieta Isabella. Because
of the problems Graeber had with Elena’s dead fetus remaining inside her for
so long in the jail, her doctor is monitoring her closely and their baby may
be delivered by C-section early, possibly this week. “Doctors have said she
was in there too long and an infection had started to develop,” said
Graeber’s attorney, Sharon Hanlon of Naples. Graeber said doctors don’t want
to wait the full 40 weeks. “They’re just really worried and don’t want the
same thing to happen again,” Graeber said. “But she’s very healthy. Because
of Elena, I’ve had to go through so many tests.” Graeber, who was jailed
under her married name, Joan Laurel Small, has since divorced Ken Enright
Small, whom she blames for landing her in jail when she was 22 and pregnant.
She’d never been in trouble with the law. “I wanted that name gone,” Graeber
said, adding she filed for divorce and pushed doctors to remove “Small” from
her medical records. “It’s his fault I was in this predicament.” In September
2007, Graeber landed in jail when her estranged husband was stopped for a
traffic violation as he drove her to the bus station. She was leaving him to
return to New Jersey. Small, who has a criminal record involving drugs and
domestic violence, asked her to hold $30 of crack in her purse, according to
arrest reports and Graeber, who said she told deputies it was his. But it was
too late. She was jailed. Because she had no record, she qualified for
pretrial release and in July 2008, she was sentenced to probation and an
adjudication of guilt was withheld. Because she relied on friends for
transportation, she was late returning from a class and her probation was
violated when she returned late one night, after curfew, and her probation
officer was waiting. On Dec. 22, 2008, eight weeks before her baby was due,
she was thrown in jail. About a month later, she was sentenced to six months
in jail with credit for 127 days. While behind bars, she experienced
pregnancy complications. Graeber told jail medical staff she had RH negative
blood and needed a RhoGAM shot to protect the baby, but she was denied the
recommended shot for weeks. Then she experienced a discharge and asked to go
to the emergency room. Graeber was told it was normal, to monitor it. It
continued for 1˝ weeks and she kept medical staff apprised. She also
questioned why her baby appeared to be so small, but was told nothing was
wrong. On Feb. 3, 2008, she was scheduled to go to the health department,
just yards away from the jail, to have the shot and an ultrasound. She
planned to schedule delivery for Feb. 19, her release date. But the doctor
told her the baby was dead: The skull had collapsed because all Graeber’s
amniotic fluid had leaked out. Still, jail officials refused to release her
and scheduled removal of the baby for three days later. Knowing a dead fetus
could lead to infection or death, Graeber’s public defender, Amy
Shirvanipour, fought for her release the next day. Circuit Judge Fred Hardt
signed the order at 11:57 a.m. Feb. 4, ending her sentence and granting
immediate release due to her “grave condition.” But jail officials didn’t
release her until 3:10 p.m. and refused to let Shirvanipour drive her to the
hospital, where she’d scheduled a room. A deputy drove her. “I can’t believe
they forced me to go with them,” Graeber said. She and Guzman hired Hanlon
before they moved to New Jersey. The American Civil Liberties Union, which
heard about her plight and others’ detailed by the Daily News, demanded
records from the county jail to review its medical policies and others
statewide. Other mothers told the Daily News similar stories and one
described having to deliver her baby inside the jail as guards watched and
joked. Two other pregnant mothers were released by judges after their
attorneys detailed complications. “I anticipate filing a lawsuit against both
parties in the near future,” Hanlon said of the sheriff’s office and
Tennessee-based Prison Health Services, which provides medical care. Jail and
sheriff’s officials and PHS have defended their care, but declined comment.
March
1, 2009 Naples News
After an inmate lost her baby and two other pregnant inmates were
released due to complications, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida
is asking the Collier County jail to disclose how many inmates reported
miscarriages or stillborn babies — and to detail its policies for pregnancies
in jail. The request, filed under the state public records law, followed
several reports in the Daily News about pregnant women’s complaints about the
jail’s medical provider, Prison Health Services, including an inmate whose
dead fetus was left inside her, inmates shackled to hospital beds, and one
who said her cries that she was in labor were ignored so long that her baby
was delivered inside the jail. Defense attorneys quoted in the Daily News
articles were contacted by Maria Kayanan, ACLU of Florida’s legal director.
“The ACLU of Florida is committed to ensuring pregnant women who are
incarcerated get the health care they need and that their constitutional
rights are not violated,” Brandon Hensler, spokesman for the ACLU of Florida,
said of its check on jails and prisons in Florida. The ACLU request, sent to
Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk last week, also asks for the number of
inmates who gave birth full-term and prematurely; grievances filed by inmates
involving pregnancy and birth-related complaints about treatment or lack of
treatment; how grievances were handled; how many inmates sought prenatal
care; and its policies and procedures for testing pregnant inmates for
gestational diabetes and sexually-transmitted diseases. In addition, the ACLU
sought information that included the jail’s policies and procedures involving
the care of pregnant inmates; policies involving shackling inmates during
delivery; diet and nutritional guidelines, including prenatal vitamins;
whether educational information is provided; and information on providers who
treat pregnant inmates. Jail officials and a spokeswoman for Tennessee-based
Prison Health Services have defended their medical care. Hensler said the
ACLU has been gathering information from various sources throughout the state
since December 2008 about prenatal care provided to pregnant inmates in jails
and prisons, but added that it was too early to determine what the results
will show.
February
14, 2009 Naples News
Joan Laurel Small and her boyfriend, Elias Guzman, flip through a
remembrance book showing photos of the baby girl they lost a week earlier
while Small was an inmate at the Collier County jail. There’s a photo of baby
Elena Laurel Guzman tucked in a blanket. Another page shows her small
handprints and footprints. And then there are sayings to allay grief: “This
child was wanted. This child was real. This child is loved.” “The minute they
showed her to me, I couldn’t stop crying,” Small said as she sat in a Naples
hotel Tuesday, a day after her release from The Birth Place at North Naples
Hospital. “She was so small and fragile. I held her hand. We kept her in the
room with us all day.” They’re still in shock. The couple question why Prison
Health Services, which provides medical services at the jail, ignored Small’s
complaints that she was leaking fluid for nearly two weeks, ending in her
baby dying. On Feb. 3, a doctor told her an ultrasound showed there was no
amniotic fluid and the baby’s skull had collapsed. The 22-year-old Bonita
Springs woman’s miscarriage is bringing to light other medical complaints
against the Tennessee-based company contracted by the jail, a firm targeted
in lawsuits nationwide that have ended in millions of dollars in settlements.
The death of baby Elena also led to the release this past week of a
27-year-old woman who is eight weeks pregnant and developed gestational
diabetes in jail. Her term was converted to house arrest on Wednesday. “I
want them to make changes,” Small said of hiring lawyers to file a lawsuit.
“I don’t want this to happen to other mothers.” This week, Small and Guzman,
her 2-year-old son Michael, and her parents, Jennifer and Michael Graeber,
will attend memorial services in New Jersey for the baby, who was cremated by
Fuller Funeral Home. Meanwhile, Small’s attorneys, Sharon Hanlon and Ted
Zelman of Naples, are gathering evidence for a negligence and wrongful death
lawsuit. An autopsy conducted by Dr. Marta Coburn, Collier County’s chief
medical examiner, showed the baby, delivered at 9 1/2 months, was perfectly
formed, but seriously underweight at 1 pound, 11 ounces. Coburn said she
believed the baby had been dead “a little while” and sent the baby’s heart to
a cardiac specialist for analysis. Coburn told Small it was “possible” the
baby could have been saved. Small said the emergency room doctor, and her
obstetrician, Dr. Sanford Estes, believed she could have been saved if she’d
been taken to an emergency room as soon as she complained of a heavy
discharge about two weeks earlier. A forensic medical expert interviewed by
the Daily News, Dr. Gary Helmbrecht of Virginia, a member of the The American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, called it an “appalling” case of
neglect. He also said the baby probably could have been saved if Small was
was taken to a hospital immediately after she began leaking amniotic fluid.
February
5, 2009 Naples News
It was a girl. Doctors removed the dead fetus from Joan Laurel Small on
Thursday, a day after her release from the Collier County jail. The
22-year-old mother cradled baby “Elena Laurel.” Nurses cut a lock of the
baby’s hair for a keepsake. “They cleaned her up and allowed her to hold
her,” said Small’s mother, Jennifer Graeber of New Jersey. “The hospital is
making her a little remembrance book. They’re putting in a lock of the baby’s
hair.” Graeber said when her daughter arrived at The Birth Place at NCH North
Naples Hospital, her blood-pressure had risen and she had a fever. “That’s
the beginning signs of septic shock,” Graeber said of leaving a dead fetus
inside a mother. Because the baby had been left in her womb more than a day,
she said, Small could not deliver the baby, but had to undergo a C-section.
Small, a Bonita Springs woman who is recovering at the hospital, could not be
reached for comment. Her boyfriend and the baby’s father, Elias Guzman, 24,
also could not be reached Thursday. Graeber said her daughter is very depressed
and probably will cremate the baby after an autopsy is conducted. Small, who
was housed in the jail’s medical unit, learned her baby was dead Tuesday
morning as she underwent an ultrasound to determine the baby’s sex and to
schedule delivery after her Feb. 19 release from jail. Small, whose 40-week
due date was Feb. 21, has said she’d complained about a heavy discharge,
which continued for 1 1/2 weeks, but was told it was normal and to monitor
it. She told the Daily News the doctor who conducted the ultrasound Tuesday
morning told her all her amniotic fluid had leaked out, the baby’s skull
collapsed and it had no heartbeat. A day later, after she remained in jail
with the dead fetus inside her, Small’s public defender, Amy Shirvanipour,
spoke to Assistant State Attorney Rob Denny, who agreed to a stipulation to
modify her sentence to time-served and immediate release. They went to
Circuit Judge Fred Hardt, who immediately signed the stipulation. Three hours
later, Shirvanipour was still waiting to take her to a hospital and then
learned a deputy would take her. She was released at 3:10 p.m. and
Shirvanipour met her at the hospital. When told of Small’s account, a
nationally known medical expert said the death could have been avoided if
Small had been taken to a hospital immediately after complaining of the
discharge. Dr. Gary Helmbrecht, a member of the The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, called it a case of medical neglect and said
the symptoms indicated a pre-term rupture of membranes that required
immediate hospitalization. Small said she’d also requested a RhoGAM shot,
which protects her baby from her RH negative blood, but wasn’t given one
until Tuesday. The shot is recommended between 28 and 30 weeks and she was
jailed on her 30th week. She’d been held since Dec. 22 after she violated
probation by returning home after her nightly 10 p.m. curfew. Small said
she’d been attending a parenting class in Naples and couldn’t get a ride
home; she has no car. Records show the probation violation involved a 2007
drug charge; an adjudication of guilt was withheld. It’s her only criminal
conviction and records show it occurred when she was caught with drugs in the
car of her former husband, Ken Enright Small, during a traffic stop; his record
includes drug convictions. Graeber, who said her daughter plans to sue, has
contacted local attorneys about the case. “I feel they were negligent in not
taking her to the emergency room when she asked for help and was leaking
amniotic fluid,” Graeber said, adding that she hoped a lawsuit would improve
care at the jail and help her daughter move on. Chief Scott Salley, who
oversees the jail, said Tennessee-based Prison Health Services, which
operates the medical unit, was reviewing what occurred, but said initial
reviews show medical and administrative policies were followed.
February
4, 2009 Naples Daily News
Joan Laurel Small looked forward to becoming a mother again. The
22-year-old Bonita Springs woman and her boyfriend, Elias Guzman, 24, had
even picked out names: Elena Laurel or Jeremiah Nathaniel. But instead of
going into labor, she landed in jail on a probation violation eight weeks
before her Feb. 21 due date. While in the Collier County jail, Small said she
began to experience complications — leaking amniotic fluid for 1 1/2 weeks.
And instead of finding out the baby’s sex during an ultrasound Tuesday, a
doctor told her the baby had died. One expert, after being told of Small’s
account, said the fetal death could have been avoided. “This is neglect,”
said Dr. Gary Helmbrecht of Virginia, a member of The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists who testifies as a fetal medical expert.
“When they had the complaint of fluid leaking, she should have been brought
to a hospital.” “I see this over and over again. How jails treat women,
everybody,” said Helmbrecht, chairman of the American Society of Addictive
Medicine’s Committee on Incarceration. “This is out of line, without regard
for an innocent life. I am shocked and appalled. It’s inexcusable.” More than
24 hours later, Still remained in the jail — a dead fetus inside her. Collier
County Sheriff’s officials would not explain why they didn’t take her to a
hospital to deliver the fetus until 3:10 p.m. Wednesday — after her public
defender sought her release. “We are prohibited from answering that
question,” said Capt. Mike Hedberg, the Sheriff Office’s legal counsel. “We
would run afoul of HIPAA.” Hedberg was referring to the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act, which prohibits release of medical
information without a signed waiver from a patient. Chief Scott Salley, who
oversees the jail, said Tennessee-based Prison Health Services, which
operates the medical unit, is reviewing Small’s case. “Medically and
administratively, everything was followed by policy,” Salley said, adding
that logs show she was provided with “adequate” health care. “There was
nothing out of the ordinary about her ailment.” Helmbrecht, calling it a
full-term baby, disputed that, saying a dead baby in the third trimester
could seriously harm Small. “This baby should have been delivered,” he said.
“They’ve got enough liability on their hands. They already have a dead baby.
They could have a dead mother.” Small’s public defender, Amy Shirvanipour,
worked Wednesday morning to get her released. “I couldn’t sleep last night,”
Shirvanipour said. “I told my husband I was heartbroken. I woke up this
morning and knew I had to do something.”
September
14, 2006 Naples News
An East Naples woman suffering from what her attorneys describe as a
severely painful condition in her hip has filed a lawsuit asking a federal
judge to force the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to allow her to leave jail
for surgery and rehabilitation. Patricia Ann Farrell, 41, of 4760 Pine St.,
is serving a five-month jail sentence for second-offense drunken driving.
Farrell has osteoarthritis in her hip, a painful, degenerative condition
caused by broken-down cartilage that results in the bones of the joint
rubbing together. Farrell had scheduled a hip-replacement surgery for Aug. 23
and had received permission from jail officials before she began serving her
sentence, her Naples attorney, Michael McDonnell, said. But Deputy Joseph
Bastys, one of the officials who’s in charge of jail operations, refused to
allow her to have the surgery. “Defendant Bastys, in response to an inquiry
by plaintiff’s defense counsel’s office, advised that (Farrell) would not be
allowed to attend the surgery after all because the procedure she was
scheduled to undergo was elec- tive,” according to the lawsuit, filed Sept. 5
in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers. Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristin
Adams said Wednesday she couldn’t comment on the case because it’s pending
litigation. McDonnell said the surgery isn’t elective. He pointed to an
affidavit from Farrell’s doctor, Howard J. Kapp, that says the surgery is
necessary and would relieve her pain. She needs several days for the surgery
and recovery and about three weeks in a rehabilitation hospital afterward,
McDonnell said. She has been receiving only Tylenol, not her prescription
pain medicine, while in the jail, according to the lawsuit, which also names
Sheriff Don Hunter and Prison Health Services Inc., a private company that
administers health care to inmates.
Correctional
Privatization Commission
Tallahassee, Florida
February 11, 2010 Palm Beach Post
Federal and state officials announced this afternoon the arrest of
corrections officers and others on drug and bribery charges. A total of 22
were charged, including 18 corrections officers. Sixteen face federal charges
including conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Six face
state charges, including bribery of a public official and introduction of
contraband into a correctional facility. The arrests culminate a two-year
investigation between local and federal authorities between April 2007 and
February 2009. A SWAT team from the FBI made arrests at Glades Correctional
Institution and at South Bay Correctional Facility today. Today's
announcement was only the latest black eye for the nation's third-largest
prison system. Most recently, a former corrections officer at South Bay
Correctional Facility, run by the GEO Group, was sentenced to a year in jail
following her conviction for introducing contraband and conspiring to
introduce contraband into the facility. In that case, an inspector at the
South Bay facility acknowledged that there is an ongoing problem with
contraband, including drugs, cellphones and MP3 players. Attorneys for former
officer Michelle Terrien said an inmate who had taken her hostage over money
she allegedly never delivered to him had testified about extensive gambling
inside the prison and inmates who walked around with large sums of money in
secret pockets sewn into their uniforms. In 2007, the former head of the
corrections department, James Crosby Jr., was sentenced to seven years in
federal prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a kickback
scheme. Crosby and his protege in the corrections department pleaded guilty
to accepting $130,000 from a prison food contractor. In 2006, Alan Duffee,
head of the state's now-defunct Corrections Privatization Commission, pleaded
guilty to embezzling more than $200,000 from a maintenance fund set up for
privately run institutions. He was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.
Duffee had replaced former privatization commission head Clayton Mark Hodges,
who resigned in 2002 amid a state ethics probe in which he ultimately was
fined $10,000. That investigation concluded he was profiting from business
relationships with prison contractors outside his role as privatization
director. Formed in 1993, the Correctional Privatization Commission awarded
an initial contract to the GEO group to operate South Bay Correctional
Facility in western Palm Beach County. That contract since has been renewed
by the state's Division of Management Services, which took over handling
prison contracts in 2004.
December
11, 2007 News-Press
A company that runs three prisons for the state has agreed to pay more than
$1.5 million — about 42 cents on the disputed dollar — to settle a
long-running controversy over staffing levels and equipment purchases.
Department of Management Services Secretary Linda South said she was
satisfied that the settlement with Corrections Corp. of America avoids a
costly court fight that might not net the state all of the $3.6 million the
agency sought. But a lobbyist for the Police Benevolent Association, which
has long been critical of privately run prisons, said the state let the prison
company off too lightly. CCA spokesman Steven Owen in Nashville said the
company was glad to get the case settled. "I certainly would have
preferred to have captured all those things we knew the state was entitled
to, from our perspective," said South. "But CCA had its own
perspective and this is the agreement we came to. The fact is, you weigh the
cost of litigation against the risk of success in these things." A 2005
audit report by the DMS inspector general, conducted shortly after the old
Corrections Privatization Commission was abolished and DMS took over contract
admission, said the state overpaid nearly $13 million to two companies — CCA
and GEO Group of Boca Raton — that have contracts for private prisons across
Florida. Auditors alleged that the state paid for non-existent employees and
that companies overfilled for maintenance and operations expenses. GEO agreed
to pay $402,501 late last year and to cover half of the legal fees to defend
against challenges by local governments that disputed the tax-exempt status
of corporate-run prison facilities. The agreement with CCA provides for the
company to pay the state $660,000 for maintenance work that was not
performed, $430,000 for service and program payments that were already under
contract, $207,722 for failing to deduct staff vacancies from billings to the
state and $138,803 in legal fees. There was also another $120,000 to
reimburse the state for waivers of staffing levels in nursing and teaching
positions in the prisons, which were allowed by the Corrections Privatization
Commission but not permitted by DMS. "They were given informal waiver
for staffing of nursing and teachers," said South. "This goes back
to the old CPC. It was not formalized or memorialized in contract and we
disagreed with it, so they had to return money paid for staffing in those two
areas." CCA operates prisons under state contract in Gadsden County, Bay
County and Lake City. Ken Kopczynski is a long-time lobbyist for the PBA,
which represents officers in state-run prisons, and he has followed
privatization issues closely in the Legislature for many years. He said DMS
let GEO off too lightly last year and didn't do much better with CCA.
"It's nice that DMS got better than 10 cents on the dollar this time but
almost half is better then nothing," said Kopczynski. "It's a shame
that CCA and GEO are so entrenched with state government that they can get
away with this." He recalled that the DMS audit in 2005 showed $12.7
million in overpayments to prison companies. "If you or I had gone to
the bank and the teller gave us $12.7 million by mistake, you would expect to
pay all of this back," he said. "Now, if you're a well connected
private prison company and the state overpays you $12.7 million, you only
have to pay back less then $2 million total between CCA and GEO — not a bad
return for your investment in lobbyists, no?" Owen, CCA's director of
marketing and communication, said it was "a good faith settlement"
for both sides. "We're glad to get the matter resolved," said Owen.
"We look forward to a continued successful partnership with DMS."
June
26, 2007 Tallahassee Democrat
Investigators said Monday there was no criminal wrongdoing in $12.7
million worth of ''questionable or excessive costs'' paid to two companies
that run privatized prisons. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report
said members of the old Correctional Privatization Commission, along with top
staff aides, may have had some meal tabs picked up by officials of The GEO
Group Inc. and Corrections Corporation of America. But it said the inspector
general of the Department of Management Services did not allege that the
now-defunct commission went easy on the two companies in exchange for any
favors. Ken Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Police Benevolent Association,
said the FDLE report ''is not surprising.'' He said the PBA, an avid critic
of privatization, thinks contract administration has been lax but not
criminal. Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the FDLE investigation Jan. 31, four
weeks after he took office. When DMS took over contract administration for
five privatized prisons in 2004, when the Correctional Privatization
Commission was abolished, Inspector General Steve Rumph did an investigation
that indicated the commission had failed to enforce some contract provisions.
His report in mid-2005 said the state paid $4.4 million for vacant staff
positions and waived staffing patterns that resulted in $290,000 in added
costs to the state. It also said GEO was paid $3.4 million in excessive
''competitive area differential'' payments for staff in high-cost regions and
that CCA was overpaid for maintenance and repair at Gadsden Correctional
Facility. Amounts and justification for several items were disputed by the
companies. DMS did not claim that all of the $12.7 million was overpaid, but
that the figure represented costs which ''could have been avoided'' with
proper contract supervision by the defunct commission. DMS last year demanded
repayment of $357,520 from GEO and settled for $290,952, but the state is
still negotiating a $3.6 million overpayment dispute with CCA.
February
2, 2007 AP
Private prisons operating under lease-purchase agreements with the state
will remain exempt from paying millions of dollars in local property taxes
after the Florida Supreme Court reversed course Thursday and let stand an
appellate decision. The justices earlier had agreed to consider an appeal by
Bay County, but wrote in a unanimous, three-sentence opinion that they had
changed their minds “because the circumstances of this case are fact-specific.”
“What does that mean?” Bay County Property Appraiser Rick Barnett asked after
consulting with his lawyer. “We can’t figure that out.” One thing it will
mean is that Bay County cannot collect $2.27 million in taxes dating back to
1996. Officials had sought the money from Corrections Corporation of America,
based in Nashville-Tenn., which runs the Bay County Correctional Facility
under a contract with the state. The case was being closely watched by
officials in other jurisdictions with private state prisons. CCA also
operates correctional facilities in Lake City and Quincy. Another company,
GEO Group of Boca Raton, runs the Moore Haven and Southbay correctional
facilities and has a contract for a new one at Graceville. “Why would they
not have to pay and all the other private corporations do?” Barnett asked. A
three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal unanimously answered
that question last year by ruling lease-purchase prison property is exempt
from taxes because “the state is the equitable owner.” The appellate judges,
though, agreed to certify the issue to the Supreme Court as a question of
great public importance, but the justices now have declined to accept the
case. Barnett and Bay County Tax Collector Peggy Brannon had sued the
Department of Management Services, which inherited private prison contracts
from the now-defunct Correctional Privatization Commission. “The Department
is encouraged by the Supreme Court’s apparent action,” Department Secretary
Linda South said in a statement. “We have always maintained that state’s
prison properties, like all other state property, are immune from ad valorem
taxation.” In a related case, the Supreme Court in November reinstated a suit
by the department seeking to overturn the auctioning of the Lake City
Correctional Facility for failure to pay property taxes in Columbia County. A
trial judge had upheld the tax deed sale because the state missed a filing
deadline, but the Supreme Court reversed. The justices ruled the state is
exempt from a law that requires “taxpayers” to challenge assessments within
60 days after they are certified. A couple and their two daughters had paid
$132,313 for a tax deed to the multi-million-dollar prison.
January
31, 2007 AP
Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on
Wednesday to conduct a preliminary investigation into more than $4.5 million
in alleged overpayments to two companies that operate private prisons for the
state. The contracts with GEO Group of Boca Raton and Nashville,Tenn.-based Corrections
Corporation of America were signed by the now-defunct Correctional
Privatization Commission. Crist sent a letter to FDLE Commissioner Gerald M.
Bailey directing him to "conduct a preliminary investigation to
determine whether any criminal violations have occurred." The Department
of Management Services, which inherited the contracts, recently reached a
$402,501 settlement with GEO but is still negotiating with CCA. Management
Services Secretary Linda South, in a statement Friday, blamed the excessive
payments on concessions the commission had included in the contracts. The
commission was abolished by the Legislature in 2004. Florida Chief Financial
Officer Alex Sink said Wednesday that she asked her staff what went wrong and
received the same answer. "The contract was so poorly written and so
poorly conceived that we were only able to verify $400,000 in overpayments
even though we know there were huge abuses through the auditing
procedures," Sink said. "We had virtually no legal standing to go
back and get back from the taxpayers the dollars that we deserved."
Audits concluded the state paid for vacant jobs and other questionable
expenses. Telephone messages left at the offices of the two companies after
hours Wednesday were not immediately returned. GEO runs the Moore Haven and
Southbay correctional facilities and has a contract to run a new one at
Graceville. CCA operates correctional facilities in Lake City, Panama City
and Quincy. State Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who is not related to the governor,
last week urged FDLE to investigate the relationship between the commission
and contractors.
January
27, 2007 Tallahassee Democrat
The first definition of "oversight" involves supervision, as in
the oversight of a contract by a state agency; the second involves a careless
mistake or omission, as in, "Sorry for my oversight. I'll straighten it
out right away." The problem with a settlement between the state and a
private prison contractor that was one of two firms that were overpaid $4.5
million is that it's not at all clear which kind of oversight was in play.
But if it's the first, the Department of Management Services' agreement with
a Boca Raton company called GEO Group was highly questionable and very
possibly a lousy deal for Florida taxpayers. DMS' agreement with the company
calls for the collection by the state of $402,501 to settle previous claims.
That comes to about 10 cents on your dollar that the state decided was a
sensible arrangement - although the state is still negotiating with a second contractor,
Corrections Corporation of America, which also received overpayments. It's no
wonder that Sen. Victor Crist, R-Temple Terrace, was taken aback this week,
saying the settlement "almost seems criminal." He asked the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. That's a reasonable request. If
there's more here than meets the eye, taxpayers would love to know. If the
rest of the story smells just as fishy, taxpayers should know that, too.
There's little question that politics and past mismanagement are helping to
cloud the picture. The original contract was handled by the now-defunct
Correctional Privatization Commission, an agency created to oversee prisons
in the state that are run by private companies. That board was legislated out
of existence in 2004 and the commission's oversight responsibilities
transferred to DMS. Given the performance of the Correctional Privatization
Commission, that was a smart move. But the news about the DMS agreement with
GEO now raises real questions about that agency's ability to effectively
manage contracts with private prison companies. "It was not an honest
mistake," Ken Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Police Benevolent
Association who's been tracking private prison contracts for more than 10
years, said of GEO. "I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to know
that if a bank teller gives you $100 more than you are legally liable to
receive, you need to give the money back." The politically influential
PBA, which represents state corrections officers, has been the most
consistent opponent of prison privatization. It maintained for years that the
defunct commission had inappropriately cozy ties to the industry it was
supposed to regulate - a charge that Mr. Crist, the Senate justice
appropriations chairman, echoed last week. Mr. Kopczynski said he asked FDLE
to investigate last year, but without success. But an investitgation is still
appropriate - before any more bad deals are cut on taxpayers' behalf.
January
26, 2007 St Petersburg Times
Alarmed by millions of dollars in overpayments the state made to a
private prison contractor, a state senator called for a criminal
investigation Thursday. The payments have been known since 2005, but a
settlement was reported this week in which the contractor will pay a fraction
of what it received. Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, said he read a story about
the settlement, and "it just didn't rest well with me." Crist asked
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look at the contract between GEO
Group of Boca Raton and the state Correctional Privatization Commission,
which was disbanded in 2004 amid allegations of mismanagement and cronyism. A
spokeswoman for the FDLE declined to say whether the agency would
investigate. A 2005 state audit revealed that over an eight-year period GEO
Group and Corrections Corporation of America, another private contractor,
were overpaid $4.5-million. The Correctional Privatization Commission also
gave GEO $5-million in cost-of-living salary adjustments that, auditors said,
were not fully passed on to employees. At the Quincy facility, Corrections
Corp., of Nashville, got $2.9-million more for facility maintenance than it
spent. This month, GEO agreed to pay $402,501 under a deal reached with the
Department of Management Services, which took over oversight of the
contracts. Crist called the payback "unacceptable," but said his
main focus was on what seems a too cozy relationship between the former
Correctional Privatization Commission and the contractors. A GEO spokesman
did not return a call Thursday. Corrections Corp. has not reached a deal with
the state.
January
25, 2007 Tallahassee Democrat
The head of a Senate budget committee today called for a criminal
investigation of overpayments to two companies running private prisons for
the state. Sen. Victor Crist, R-Temple Terrace, said he is not satisfied with
a $402,501 settlement negotiated by the Department of Management Services
this month with GEO Group, a Boca Raton-based company that runs prisons for
the state in South Bay and Moore Haven. The state is still negotiating
reimbursement of overpayments with Corrections Corp. of America, the
Nashville company that runs prisons at Quincy, Lake City and Panama City.
"This almost seems criminal," Crist told his Senate Justice
Appropriations Committee. He said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
should investigate how the overpayments occurred. After DMS assumed oversight
from the old Correctional Privatization Commission, the department's
inspector general did an audit that questioned some $13 million in payments
to the two private prison operators. The audit said the companies were
overpaid $4.5 million for unfilled positions. Crist said he was not blaming
DMS because the overpayments occurred under the defunct commission, but that
"we'd like an extra set of eyes to take a closer look at" the
settlement with GEO and past payments to both companies. "If it was an
honest mistake and $4.5 million was overpaid, they ought to write a check and
clear it up," he said after the meeting of his committee. "They
(CCA and GEO) took more than $4 million for positions that didn't exist and
it just sticks in my craw that we would be getting $400,000 for it." The
settlement includes $111,000 for partial reimbursement of legal fees incurred
by the state in court challenges to the property-tax exemption of the
state-owned, privately operated prisons. Those fees were unrelated to the
overpayment. Roz Ingram, director of specialized services for DMS, said
almost $5 million in overpayments occurred under "competitive area differential"
provisions carried forward from the old contracts between the CPC and the
companies. She said the differentials were killed by DMS when renegotiating
contracts. "We used this a as a tool to go in and try to revamp the
system and we've put a lot of different things in place," Ingram said of
the audit. Ken Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Police Benevolent Association,
cheered Crist's action. The PBA, which represents correctional officers in
state prisons, has been a vocal critic of privatization. "God bless 'em.
It's about time," said Kopczynski.
January
24, 2007 Tallahassee Democrat
The state has reached a $402,000 agreement with one of the two companies that
run private prisons in Florida. Department of Management Services Secretary
Linda South said Tuesday night she was satisfied with the settlement with The
GEO Group Inc., which operates prisons in South Bay and Moore Haven. GEO also
has a contract for the Graceville prison opening in September. South said DMS
is negotiating terms with Corrections Corporation of America, the company
that runs three other privatized prisons. She declined to discuss those
talks. After the Correctional Privatization Commission was abolished and
oversight of the five private prisons was shifted to DMS in 2004, the DMS
inspector general did an audit that cited numerous discrepancies. The GEO
Group settlement involved $357,520.94 in overpayments. Under the agreement,
signed by previous DMS Secretary Tom Lewis, GEO agreed to pay $290,952.43.
The company separately agreed to pay $111,549.27 of the state's legal fees in
a court fight over disputed property-tax bills for the prison facilities. The
agreement said DMS has paid $446,197.08 defending the sovereign immunity of
the state-owned prisons. Ken Kopczynski, a lobbyist for the Florida Police
Benevolent Association, said the state "let them off easy." The
PBA, which represents correctional officers in state-run institutions, has
been highly critical of privatization. South said "this is good news for
DMS" and that the audits ended "some really critical lack of
internal controls" under the defunct Correctional Privatization
Commission. She added, "The $400,000 is a lot higher than zero."
January
24, 2007 St Petersburg Times
A private prison contractor that was one of two companies the state overpaid
by nearly $13-million has agreed to pay back a small amount. The GEO Group of
Boca Raton will pay $402,501 under a deal settled this month by the state
Department of Management Services. The company also will cover half of the legal
fees to defend local governments' challenges to its tax-exempt status. A
state audit in 2005 found that over an eight-year period, Florida overpaid
GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America, based in Nashville,
$4.5-million for unfilled jobs. The now-defunct Correctional Privatization
Commission, which was supposed to oversee the private prisons, also
authorized $5-million in cost-of-living salary adjustments at GEO's South Bay
Correctional facility. At a facility in Quincy, Corrections Corporation got
$2.9-million more for facility maintenance than it spent. The state is still
working on a settlement with Corrections Corporation. A GEO spokesman was not
working Tuesday and a woman who answered the phone said no one else was
available. DMS Secretary Linda H. South, asked about the large disparity in
what GEO Group was overpaid and what it will pay back, said if the agency had
not done its "due diligence there would be no money to recover."
July
8, 2006 The Ledger
While former Department of Corrections Secretary James V. Crosby may be
the biggest casualty yet of an outsourcing effort gone awry within the
agency, his isn't the first problem DOC has faced with privatization. Since
2000, there has been nearly constant controversy over contracts the agency
has entered into, ranging from problems with food services to an abrupt end
of a contract to split and distribute prescription drugs to inmates. And the
head of a now-defunct agency that oversaw the operation of private prisons
was sent to federal prison earlier this year. Crosby and former DOC Region I
Director Allen Clark admitted this week to federal charges of taking illegal
kickbacks from a company performing subcontracted work for Keefe Commissary
Network, the company that won a no-bid contract in 2003 from Crosby to sell
items to inmates and their families. Current DOC Secretary James McDonough
has re-bid the Keefe contract, and barred the subcontractor --
Gainesville-based American Institutional Services -- from any future DOC
work. Previously, McDonough ended contracts that outsourced the distribution
and splitting of prescription drugs for inmates after lawmakers howled at
audits that showed TYA Pharmaceuticals lacked oversight and accounting of the
process. Democrats have long harped on the perils of privatization. Sen. Rod
Smith, D-Alachua, a gubernatorial candidate, said outsourcing of construction
makes sense, "but operationally, I believed then and now more than ever,
we need to be in control." If elected, Smith said, "we're going to
look hard at reversing this trend of privatization. Public employees
absolutely can do everything that private employees can do as long as we tell
them what we expect, hold them accountable and show them that we'll back them
up." Earlier this year, the former head of the now-defunct Correctional
Privatization Commission pleaded guilty to charges of stealing more than
$200,000. An audit last year showed the state overpaid private prison
operators nearly $13 million for, among other things, jobs that were
unfilled. The decision to allow Aramark to provide meals to prisoners in 2001
led to state fines and concern among DOC officers that the low-quality meals
left inmates surly and more prone to problems. The executive director of the state's
largest correctional officers union, the Florida Police Benevolent
Association, said the charges against Crosby might tighten the privatization
efforts. "I think it's the concern the Legislature has had, and
rightfully so," said David Murrell. "It's been loosey-goosey."
May
1, 2006 AP
Two private companies are being sued for several million dollars for
overbilling and filing false bills at some of the state's prisons they
operate under provisions of the Florida False Claims Act. Attorney Gregg
Goldfarb of Miami is seeking $5 million in recovery in addition to triple
damages and civil penalties from the Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections
Corporation of America and the publicly traded Boca Raton-based GEO Group on
behalf of plaintiff Ken Kopczynski. GEO representative Pablo Paez said he had
yet read the lawsuit and could not comment on it. Telephone messages left
with representatives of the Corrections Corporation of America were not
immediately returned. The plaintiffs could receive up to 30 percent of any
award under provisions of the state's false claims provisions. The suit,
originally filed in August, was unsealed Friday by Leon County Circuit Court
Judge Thomas E. Bateman III. The state earlier declined to intervene in the
suit by Kopczynski, a private citizen, who filed it pursuant to the statute
that allows citizens who believe the state has been falsely billed to help
recover the money. "It's common that when we do decline, we do monitor
the case and leave it open for the possibility of intervening in the
future," said Bob Sparks, spokesman in the attorney general's office,
said Monday. "We're presented with several opportunities with cases like
this, but we can't physically intervene in all of them." An audit last
year by the Department of Management Services said the defunct Correctional
Privatization Commission allowed the two for-profit companies to overbill the
state by nearly $13 million for what the audit described as
"questionable and excessive" costs. The Legislature voted two years
ago to abolish the commission and let DMS oversee the private contracts.
April
21, 2006 Tallahassee Democrat
With a prosecutor calling him a bigger crook than some inmates in the
privatized prisons he used to oversee, Alan Duffee got nearly three years in
federal prison Thursday and was ordered to repay more than $224,000 he
admitted siphoning out of state funds. Duffee, who became a lobbyist after
the Correctional Privatization Commission was abolished last year, apologized
and offered U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle no excuses for repeatedly
dipping into a prison maintenance and repair fund. Hinkle imposed the maximum
prison term provided by federal sentencing guidelines - 33 months - but
agreed to recommend that Duffee be sent to a Pensacola-area prison when he
reports to custody on June 20. "The only thing I can do is apologize to
this court, to the state of Florida, my family and friends. I own up 100
percent for my actions," said Duffee, who grew up in the Marianna area.
"My Sunday school teacher used to say, 'When you're wrong, just say
you're wrong.' That's what I want to do and I'm ready to accept any
punishment that this court decides to impose on me." Duffee struck a
plea deal in February, admitting to three of the six counts in a federal
indictment that charged him with making himself sole signatory on a secret
bank account in Tallahassee and moving $224,972.92 in checks and wire
transfers from a Jacksonville account of the CPC. The commission was
abolished by the Legislature and supervision of the state's five
corporate-run prisons was moved to the Department of Management Services last
year. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Inspector Alexandra Gaskins, who
analyzed bank statements and other records in the case, said Duffee spent
some $22,805.48 on house and car expenses; $5,477.28 on furnishings;
$11,789.63 on clothes and personal effects and $16,105.29 on recreation and
other personal expenses. The government said assets worth $42,672.38 have
either been recovered or are in the process of forfeiture and transfer to the
state. In addition to three years of probation after prison, Hinkle ordered
Duffee to make full restitution but did not impose any criminal fines. The
court assessed $300 in fees - $100 for each count of mail fraud, wire fraud
and engaging in illegal financial transactions. "This is the guy in
charge of privatized prisons and he's stealing more money than I'd expect 90
percent of the people in those privatized prisons stole. It boggles the
imagination," said federal prosecutor Tom Kirwin. "One thing the
court should take into account is the deterrent effect of a sentence. Here we
have a public official, hired to do a job, and he turns around and steals the
public's money." Tallahassee attorney Ben Phipps told the judge "restitution
and probation is more appropriate," adding that "I'd be specially
concerned about putting a professional prison administrator in the prison
system." Hinkle sentencing guidelines called for 27 to 33 months for an
offender like Duffee. He said he went to the top end because Duffee used his
official position and "this offense was committed over a significant
period of time with a number of actions. It was not done on the spur of the
moment" or under great stress. Defense attorney Stephen Dobson futilely
pleaded for probation. "At some point, he has to turn over a new
leaf," he said. "I think Alan Duffee has turned over a new
leaf." Sue Herring, a former finance director of the commission, praised
Hinkle after the hour-long sentencing hearing. "I was fired in January
of 2003 and the embezzlement started in May," she said. "I'm glad
he went with the high end of the guidelines. I think this was well
deserved."
February
14, 2006 St Petersburg Times
A former Florida prison official has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly
$225,000 in state money nearly three years after he used the cash to help buy
houses for him and his girlfriend. Alan Brown Duffee, the former executive
director of a defunct board that oversaw Florida's private prison contracts,
admitted Thursday in Tallahassee to one count each of mail fraud, wire fraud
and money laundering. Duffee, 40, faces up to 20 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. He is to be sentenced in April. Neither Duffee nor his
attorney, Stephen Dobson, could be reached Monday. A plea agreement filed in
U.S. District Court in Tallahassee shows Duffee admitted that he moved money
in 2003 from a bank account for the Florida Correctional Privatization
Commission to another bank account to which only he had access. About
$124,000 from the first two transfers - $50,000 on May 6 and $100,000 on May
29 - helped with the closing costs on homes for him and for his girlfriend,
court documents show. It's unclear what became of another $74,972 he
transferred in September and October of 2003. The money came from the
commission's building maintenance reimbursement fund. At the time of Duffee's
indictment in September, federal officials seized his home, car and bank
accounts. Duffee strove as recently as a year ago to play among Tallahassee's
top lobbyist ranks. Shortly after leaving the commission in 2004, he
purchased a multicity lobbying firm, the Windsor Group, and had a contract to
buy Clyde's and Costello's, a bar one block from the state Capitol that has
long been a favorite of political insiders. Duffee eventually defaulted on
both deals. Duffee served three years as executive director of the
privatization commission. The governor-appointed panel oversaw the state's
five privately run prisons until May 2004, when the Legislature voted to
abolish the commission amid complaints from vendors about favoritism and a
St. Petersburg Times report that Duffee had hired a former state prison
official as a consultant in violation of state law. --Joni James can be
reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com
February
11, 2006 Tallahassee Democrat
The former director of Florida's defunct prison-privatization board has
pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, his attorney said Friday. Alan B.
Duffee, who became a lobbyist after the Legislature abolished the Correctional
Privatization Commission, negotiated a plea to have half of the six counts
against him dismissed. He faces sentencing April 20 on the other three - mail
fraud, wire fraud and engaging in illegal financial transactions. "Mr.
Duffee accepts responsibility for what he did and regrets if he harmed anyone
in the process," attorney Stephen Dobson said. "He has begun to
make restitution, and the government has recovered more than $25,000."
Duffee was indicted last September after an investigation by the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement and federal authorities. The case involved a
major-maintenance fund the state required GEO Group and Corrections Corp. of
America to maintain for repair or replacement of equipment costing more than
$5,000 at the prisons. The indictment said Duffee set up a bank account at
People's First Bank of Tallahassee in the Correctional Privatization
Commission's name, without knowledge of the commissioners, and made himself
sole signatory on it. Investigators alleged that Duffee moved $224,972.92 in
checks and wire transfers from a Jacksonville bank, where the
maintenance-and-repair fund was held, to the Tallahassee account he
controlled. The plea agreement said Duffee could face a maximum of 20 years
in prison and $250,000 in fines on each of the fraud counts and 10 years on
the illegal-transactions charge, but Dobson said federal sentencing
guidelines call for a far less-severe penalty. The government agreed not to
recommend a sentence to Chief Judge Robert Hinkle in April. Duffee left the
privatization commission in 2004 after the Legislature voted to abolish the
panel and turn administration of Florida's privately run prisons over to the
Department of Management Services. He declined comment on his plea Friday.
December
8, 2005 News Herald
A police union wants to know whether state officials and a private company
gave themselves financial wiggle room in their plan to build and operate a
prison in Graceville. The Florida Police Benevolent Association, which
represents cops and corrections officers statewide, is challenging a state
estimate that GEO Group Inc. - accused earlier this week of Sunshine Law
violations - will save taxpayers $10 million on the 1,500-bed facility. Ken
Kopczynski, a PBA lobbyist, has asked for financial plans and information
about the "cost savings summary," a one-page worksheet prepared by
state officials that shows GEO Group's total estimate at about $74 million.
The summary indicates that GEO Group would pay $45.32 per day, per inmate
over the three-year contract for a total of $74,438,100. In contrast, the
state would pay a $51.41 per diem at a total cost of $84,440,925. The
difference is about 12 percent. According to state law, private facilities
must operate at 7 percent less than what the state would pay. PBA's beef,
Kopczynski said, is that the long-term cost of the facility is hidden in
construction bonds. The question, he said, boils down to this: How much less
could the state build and operate the prison for? Kopczynski said the state does
not usually build prisons with bond financing, and that if legislators paid
cash for the project it would likely save "tons of money."
"(GEO Group) hasn't gotten the financing so we don't know what the
interest rate is going to be," Kopczynski said Wednesday. "So how
can you make a comparison? They give you this simplistic little one-sheet
flier with the figures on it, but that doesn't make sense. How can you
determine what the true cost is going to be without looking at the financial
plan." GEO Group beat out another private prison company, Corrections
Corporation of America, and was awarded the contract in September. The
Florida Department of Management Services, which this year began overseeing
the state's private prisons, on Wednesday defended the contract and GEO
Group, saying that the bonds will be tax exempt because the underlying
financial obligation belongs to the state. DMS spokeswoman Colleen Englert
also said that GEO Group is assuming all construction risks related to the
project, which quickly will provide much-needed bed space that saves the
state money. The prison will employ 287 workers, Englert said, providing a
boost to the Jackson County economy when it opens in mid-2007. "They bid
a price for the construction and operation," Englert said, "and
they are contractually obligated to meet that price." GEO Group and CCA
operate facilities around the country, and each was named in a report earlier
this year that said the now-defunct government agency that oversaw the
private prisons routinely put the vendor's interest ahead of the taxpayer.
The state evaluation said the Correctional Privatization Commission, which
was disbanded when DMS began overseeing private prisons, allowed the
companies to overbill the state by about $13 million. The report also said
that the commission allowed the companies to bill for vacant positions, avoid
minimal requirements for nurses and teachers, and used inmate welfare funds
to be used for chaplain and library services. The report indicated that
Florida was the only state where privately operated prisons are not
administered by the department of corrections. When asked if DMS took the
audit into account when it awarded GEO Group the Graceville contract, Englert
said the evaluation was a management review - not a review of the companies.
"Based on the documentation reviewed," Englert later wrote in an
e-mail, "we did not find an indication of any improper conduct by
GEO." Said Kopczynski: "They're in a race to the bottom. They say,
'We're going to do this on the cheap,' but you get what you pay for. Privates
can't do it better and they definitely are not going to do it cheaper.
They've created a race to the bottom." Last week, a watchdog group sued
GEO Group in a Palm Beach County court, alleging that the company violated
the Sunshine Law and had refused to turn over records. On Wednesday, a GEO
Group spokesman said the company was going to work with Prison Legal News,
the organization that requested public documents related to contracts,
lawsuits and settlements. "We were in the process of responding to their
request and we were surprised by the lawsuit," said GEO Group spokesman
Pablo Paez. "Our general counsel's office has received the lawsuit and
will be working with the plaintiffs to satisfy their request."
September
9, 2005 Tallahassee Democrat
The former head of the agency that governed Florida's private prisons has
denied skimming nearly $225,000 in state money, but his legal troubles
escalated Thursday as a former colleague planned to sue him for $750,000 over
the purchase of a Tallahassee lobbying firm. Alan Duffee, now president and
CEO of The Windsor Group, pleaded not guilty to a six-count federal
indictment charging him with fraud and money laundering. He is accused of
siphoning money from a Jacksonville bank account intended for repairs and
equipment at five state prisons operated by private companies. "The only
thing I can say is that he has maintained his innocence of these
charges," attorney Stephen Dobson said after Duffee appeared in court and
was freed without bond. Duffee was executive director of the Correctional
Privatization Commission from May 2002 until June of last year, when the
Legislature abolished it. He was then hired as a lobbyist by The Windsor
Group. After founder Barney Bishop left to become president of a more
powerful lobbying group, Associated Industries of Florida, Duffee bought the
company from him. Bishop said he's suing Duffee for failing to pay about
$750,000 in the deal. The suit is expected to be filed today in Leon County
Circuit Court. Last month, Bishop said, Duffee paid him $6,150 with a check
that bounced. He intends to file a complaint with State Attorney Willie
Meggs' bad-check division for that money.
September
9, 2005 St Petersburg Times
A former Florida prison official charged with stealing $225,000 from a state
account pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court and said he had been
falsely accused. Alan B. Duffee, the former executive director of a
governor-appointed board that oversaw the state's private prison contracts,
was released on his own recognizance. Duffee's trial was set for Nov. 17
before Robert Hinkle, chief judge for Northern Florida's U.S. District Court.
September
8, 2005 Tallahassee Democrat
The former manager of the defunct agency that oversaw Florida's five private
prisons has been indicted on fraud and money-laundering charges involving
nearly $225,000 in state funds. Prominent lobbyist Alan Duffee declined
comment on the six-count indictment announced Wednesday by U.S. Attorney
Gregory Miller and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy
Tunnell. Duffee said he could not discuss the situation before meeting with
his attorney, Stephen Dobson. Dobson said Wednesday night he would have to
study the six-count indictment before commenting. Duffee, president of The
Windsor Group lobbying firm, was executive director of the Correctional
Privatization Commission from May of 2002 until June of last year, when the
Legislature voted to abolish the five-member panel and put the Department of
Management Services in charge of administering its contracts. In a blistering
audit unrelated to Duffee, the DMS inspector general last month issued a
report saying the state had overpaid two prison-management companies, GEO
Group and Corrections Corp. of America, by nearly $13 million - including
salaries of guards that didn't exist. The indictment alleged that Duffee set
up a bank account at People's First Bank of Tallahassee in the Correctional
Privatization Commission's name - without knowledge of the five commissioners
- and made himself the sole signatory on the account. It said he directed the
Wachovia Bank in Jacksonville to move $224,972.92 in checks and wire
transfers from the repair-and-maintenance fund to the People's First account.
September
8, 2005 St Petersburg Times
A federal grand jury has charged the former chief of Florida's private prison
oversight board with stealing nearly $225,000 from state coffers for personal
use. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, charges Alan Brown Duffee, 39, with
three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and two counts of money
laundering. If convicted, the former state employee could face up to 20 years
in prison and a fine of $250,000. Now the head of a Tallahassee lobbying
firm, Duffee could not be reached for comment. He had not been arrested as of
Wednesday evening. The eight-page federal indictment alleges that three times
in 2003, Duffee redirected money from the Florida Correctional Privatization
Commission's building maintenance reimbursement fund to a new commission
account at a separate bank. Only Duffee had access to the new account,
according to the indictment, which states that he had no authority to open
it. There was a $100,000 transfer in May 2003; $20,000 in September 2003; and
nearly $55,000 in October 2003. Duffee "then converted the . . . funds
to his personal use . . . wholly unrelated to the business of the CPC,"
the indictment alleges. As part of the indictment, the grand jury authorized
seizure of Duffee's home in northeast Tallahassee, which Leon County records
show he purchased for $113,500 in 2003; a 2003 Ford Focus and up to
$224,972.92 in cash - the amount Duffee is accused of stealing. In July, an
audit by the Department of Management Services, which now oversees the prison
contracts, found the commission had overpaid $13-million over eight years.
July
28, 2005 St Petersburg Times
I would be right curious to know how many crooks are doing time in Florida's
prisons for cases that involve almost $13-million of somebody else's money. Such statistics are not kept. But I am
bettin' there aren't too many $13-million cases sitting in the joint. Dope
heads, stickup artists, burglars, a dime a dozen, sure. Guys who jacked a
convenience store.
On the other hand, the two private companies that run five of Florida's
prisons were wrongfully paid an extra $13-million of taxpayer money to which
they were not entitled, according to a new audit. Compared to your typical convenience-store
job, this is a much bigger haul: The state paid $4.5-million in salaries for
vacant positions. The state paid for
$2.85-million worth of maintenance that wasn't done. The state paid salary adjustments that
didn't get to employees. No, wait, that one gets better. The state also paid
$1.57-million in extra overhead to cover the "burden" of accepting
such payments! Now, I keep using the
words "the state," which is true, since this was done in your and
my name by the Legislature. But the
specific outfit was a five-member state board called the Correctional
Privatization Commission. This board was created in 1993. It comes across in
the audit looking like a bunch of clowns.
Gooood audit. It is strong, clear, specific. Nice print job, too. Much
credit goes to the Inspector General's Office in the state Department of Management
Services, which works for the governor. I am glad to know Jeb has those
folks. On the other hand, it is easy
to fire the cannon now, because after all, we are dancing on a dead man's
grave. The Legislature has since abolished the privatization board, and
reassigned its duties. None of the old
guys stuck around to take the blame. The new state folks handling private
prisons are smart enough not to kick this skunk. They began their reply to
each of the audit's 15 recommendations with the same words: "We concur." Although it would be nice if Corrections
Corp. of America and the GEO Group gave back part or all of these
overpayments, it is not their job to be the state's accountants. Contract
enforcement is a give-and-take art, not a science; it takes two to do the
dance. So assuming a lack of
fraudulent intent on the companies' part (for I am a sweet and generous
fellow), let us also cheerfully assume they turned in the bills and cashed
the checks to which they believed in good faith they were entitled. If they
didn't, well then, cue Attorney General Charlie Crist and a grand jury. Otherwise the principal fault is the
state's. The audit describes a culture within the privatization commission
that was skewed toward the interest of the companies, not the taxpayers. The
audit says the commission "consistently made questionable contract
concessions to the vendors."
Let's go even further. The fault, once again, lies with the state's
philosophy. Our Legislature time and again over the past decade chose to rush
public business into private hands, and declined to attach enough strings to
the money. The Legislature's attitude
toward even the most basic cash controls has been, in essence: "If it is
a Republican idea involving privatization, then we don't need no stinking
auditors." But in the private prison game, where a few big vendors ply
politicians with campaign cash and lobbyists, the need was all the
greater. Finally, this year, the
Legislature voted for belated protections concerning all kinds of privatization
- only to have them vetoed by the governor. Bush has led the charge for
privatization, although he happens not to like private prisons. I grew up under Democratic governments with
Democratic scandals that often involved some bogus program that benefited
their buddies. The one thing I expect from my Republican friends is for them
to do better with my money, not just to take their turn at bat. A footnote: Privatization rolls on. This
past spring, the Legislature voted to add new beds at three of the five
privately run prisons, requiring a two-year contract extension. Meanwhile,
the state is in negotiations to build a sixth.
July 27, 2005 Tallahassee Democrat
On Florida's fiscal radar, the $12.7 million that a state audit found was
overpaid to two private prison companies is barely a blip. Against Florida's
$64.7 billion budget, 0.02 percent seems like chump change. But if you take that approach, you're the
chump. Those 12,700,000 dollars could have helped pay for such services as
community health care, universal prekindergarten or environmental
protection. Instead, a Department of
Management Services internal review says the money went for guards who didn't
exist, and enabled Corrections Corp. of America and GEO Group to misuse funds
that are obligated to the welfare of inmates (chaplain and library services,
for example), and to avoid minimal training requirements for several groups
of prison employees. They even helped pay expenses of the agency policing
their contracts. To paraphrase an old
television commercial, it's not nice to fool Florida's taxpayers. Who's to blame? While it is important to note that neither
company has had a chance to formally respond to the audit, it is just as
important to insist that they be held accountable. That should include full
repayment of any overbillings, plus penalties. State Attorney Willie Meggs should
certainly file charges, if it is determined that any crimes were
committed. It would be shortsighted,
however, to hold those companies solely responsible. State government is also
to blame for this scandal. In the
1990s - before Jeb Bush won his first term as governor - lawmakers and Gov.
Lawton Chiles' administration agreed that privately run companies could
operate correctional facilities cheaper than the state. Five Florida prisons
are privately run, and a sixth is planned.
Private prisons were already up and running when Mr. Bush took office
in 1999, but his enthusiastic support for privatization was like an injection
of adrenaline directly into the heart of government. Still, privatization per se is not the
problem. In certain cases, it makes sense.
Rather, the problems are, one, the assumption that a privatized
service almost always will be cheaper and better; and, two, the failure to
adequately monitor the public's money in the hands of private vendors. Let the buyer beware To be sure, the example revealed by the DMS
review may be a worst-case scenario. The companies in question are
politically well-connected, fueling suspicions that whom you know is more
important than what you know and how you perform. Moreover, even some who aren't
philosophically opposed to privatization have qualms about privatized
prisons. Those skeptics - count us among them - view the incarceration of
criminals as a fundamentally public operation in which the bottom line should
be the public interest, not shareholders' profits. In fairness, Mr. Bush and lawmakers last
year finally figured out that there was a real problem. The 2004 Legislature
abolished the commission created to oversee private prisons, which itself had
a long record of problems. But while
the DMS audit is specific to the prison contracts, it also shines a light on
the broader challenges. Private firms exist primarily to make money, and
state government shouldn't simply outsource services without making sure that
taxpayers are getting what they're paying for. Mr. Bush this year vetoed legislative
attempts to exert more oversight, saying he would keep working on the problem.
If the DMS audit serves up additional ammunition for tighter oversight, it
will have provided an even greater service than it intended.
July
27, 2005 St Petersburg Times
TALLAHASSEE - A harsh new state audit discloses that Florida overpaid nearly
$13-million to two private prison vendors in the past eight years. Among the findings were that the state paid
for unfilled jobs and a vendor received money for facility maintenance that
was never spent. Nonetheless, the two
companies that run the state's five private prisons remain on the job. The disclosures come a year after state
lawmakers disbanded a controversial citizen board that had overseen the
state's private prisons. The audit
paints a mutually beneficial relationship between the defunct Correctional
Privatization Commission and the two vendors that have run the private
prisons for a decade: Corrections Corp. of American of Nashville and The GEO
Group of Boca Raton. "The CPC
failed to adequately safeguard the state's interest. . . . The CPC
consistently made questionable contract concessions to vendors,"
according to the audit, released Tuesday by the inspector general of the
Department of Management Services.
Among the audit's findings, based on records dating from 1997: The state paid vendors $4.5-million for
jobs that were vacant, in part because it failed to require vendors to report
the vacancies. The commission
authorized $5-million in cost-of-living salary adjustments at GEO's South Bay
Correctional facility. Auditors say the money wasn't fully passed on to
employees as required. At Gadsden
Correctional facility in Quincy, Corrections Corp. received $2.9-million more
for facility maintenance than it spent.
The commission, without clear legislative authority, staved off any
impact from $263,489 in budget cuts in November 2001 by requiring vendors to
return the same amount of money from a recent hike in their
compensation. DMS Secretary Tom Lewis
said his general counsel is investigating whether the state can recoup any of
the overpaid money. "I was surprised we would have a commission that
would be that lax in their oversight role," said Lewis. His predecessor,
Bill Simon, ordered the audit last fall after assuming responsibility for the
prison contracts. "To the Legislature's credit, they realized that and
did away with them," Lewis said.
Attempts to reach former members of the commission, disbanded by the
Legislature last year, were unsuccessful Tuesday. Spokesmen for both companies declined to
comment specifically on the audit, saying staff were still reviewing it. "There may be details and fine print
in the audit that we take issue with, but the intent of the audit, we
certainly embrace," said Steve Owen, spokesman for Corrections Corp.,
paid about $43-million annually by the state to run three north Florida
prisons. GEO Group spokesman Pablo
Paez said, "We will work with our client and respond to any questions it
may raise." GEO collects about $36-million annually to operate two south
Florida facilities. Democrats and private
prison critics seized on the findings as evidence of privatization gone awry.
"We would hope this would prompt some kind of action," said Ken
Kopczynski, lobbyist for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the union
that represents public prison guards. "We should be talking criminal
charges." But dramatic
ramifications to the findings appeared unlikely. Lawmakers have been
reluctant to tamper with the system despite recurring questions about whether
the state's private prisons meet the 7 percent cost savings required in law. This spring, lawmakers voted to build
additional beds at three of the facilities with the current vendors,
requiring a two-year extension on those contracts. Expanding private prisons
is cheaper in the short term than building public ones because vendors
shoulder the financing, supporters say.
DMS also renewed the contracts on the two other prison facilities for
a year. Lewis said there wasn't time, after he became secretary in March, to
launch a full rebidding process for those two contracts. He said he is
committed to rebidding those contracts before they expire in June 2006. Corrections Corp. and GEO have been
successful since at least 2002 in thwarting efforts to rebid their contracts.
That year, the Correctional Privatization Commission, whose members were
appointed by the governor, launched a plan to rebid the contracts. But its efforts became mired in controversy
after the commission's director illegally hired a former Department of
Corrections secretary as a consultant. Lawmakers voted to disband the group
and give oversight to DMS. Gov. Jeb Bush concurred. DMS is in negotiations to build a sixth
private prison at Graceville with 220 beds. It appears either GEO and
Corrections Corp. will win that contract, as well. GEO announced two weeks
ago it planned to buy a third possible competitor in the bid process.
July
27, 2005 St Petersburg Times
For more than a decade, the Florida Legislature has fronted for the private
prison industry with a credulous faith that it was saving money. For seven
years, Gov. Jeb Bush had played along despite his well-founded belief that
corrections is too serious a responsibility to be farmed out. Just this
spring, the Legislature passed and he signed a budget providing for more than
1,000 new privatized beds. But Florida
now knows where too much of the money went, thanks to a devastating audit of
Florida's defunct oversight agency, the Correctional Privatization
Commission. The audit, conducted by the inspector general for the Department
of Management Services, found that the commission approved or tolerated
nearly $13-million in excess payments to two private prison companies. Worse,
the commission was so indifferent to its primary duty that the state still
cannot answer "the basic question of whether private prisons are
operating at less cost than public prisons, as required by law." More than 10 years after the Legislature
decided that private prisons should and would cost some 7 percent less than
state-run facilities, no one can say whether it's true. The commission was worse than a toothless
watchdog. It was a lapdog for the private companies. "Our review,"
remarked Inspector General Steve Rumph, "showed numerous instances where
vendors' interests were considered over the state's interests." Among
other things, the commission obligingly paid for vacant staff positions and
grossly mishandled regional wage differentials. It also inflated payments to
cover money the companies kicked back to the commission for its own operating
costs, which for complicated reasons could have hurt the state employees who
now administer the contracts. Common
sense dictates that the Department of Corrections, which houses most of the
state's prisoners, should oversee those contracts until they either prove
their worth or are terminated - in either case, as soon as possible. But some
well-lobbied legislators still hold a grudge against the prison system for
resisting privatization at the outset, which is why Management Services got a
job it didn't want. That was analogous to telling the Education Department to
build roads, but at least someone is finally asking the right questions. A sixth contract, approved a year ago,
remains to be awarded. It's down to two bidders, the same two companies
tarred by Rumph's audit, because one of them just bought the only other competitor.
The governor needs to put a stop to this.
July
26, 2005 Tallahassee Democrat
Two companies running Florida prisons for profit were allowed to overbill the
state nearly $13 million and even rebated some money to cover salaries and
expenses for the agency policing their contracts, according to a new state
audit. The blistering internal review
by the Department of Management Services - which now oversees private
prisons, but doesn't want to - said the defunct Correctional Privatization
Commission put profits for the politically well-connected companies ahead of
the public interest. It cited as examples that the commission paid
Corrections Corp. of America and GEO Group for guards who didn't exist at the
five privately operated prisons and let the companies avoid minimal
requirements for nurses, vocational trainers and teachers. Operators also dipped into inmate-welfare
funds, which are collected from commissions on telephone calls and sales at
the prison canteen, to cover some expenses like chaplain and library services
the companies were contractually obligated to provide, the audit said.
Inmate-welfare funds are supposed to be used to provide recreational programs
for inmates and help with readjustment to the outside world. Spokesmen for both Corrections Corp. and
GEO pledged to work with the state to resolve issues in the audit. Vendors' interests first. The major and repeated theme throughout the
audit was the commission had not performed its duty, and it cost the state
millions. "The commission
consistently failed to safeguard the state's interests in its role as the
steward of privately operated correctional facilities," Steve Rumph, the
department's inspector general, wrote in his 52-page audit. "Our review
showed numerous instances where vendors' interests were considered over the
state's interests." Because the
commission covered many "questionable and excessive costs," Rumph
said there is no way of knowing whether the private prisons operate 7 percent
more cheaply than state prisons - as the law requires. "Available records and contract
documentation showed that the CPC consistently made questionable contract
concessions to the vendors," Rumph wrote. "Consequently, the state
incurred about $12.7 million in additional costs." Alan Duffee, the last
director of the eight-member commission staff, said, "I agree with 100
percent of what's in here" as he reviewed the audit Monday. Duffee said
it illustrates weaknesses in privatization as companies holding contracts use
lobbyists to fend off competition and set specifications favorable to their
bottom lines. "It's a classic
case of the tail wagging the dog," Duffee said. "This is the
problem you run into with privatization - when you put government up against
private, for-profit groups, private-for-profit is going to win every
time." Duffee, who was director
from mid-2002 to the commission's dissolution last summer, said the
discrepancies mostly occurred before his tenure - and he laid some of the
blame on legislators. He said
lawmakers regularly directed the commission to extend contracts, rather than
taking new bids. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed new members in 2002 who wanted to
re-bid the contracts when they expired this year, Duffee said, but the
Legislature voted in 2004 to abolish the commission effective July 1 of this
year. Steve Owen, director of marketing for Corrections Corp. in Nashville,
said "we're going to have to research and look at the numbers" but
said the commission made monthly deductions for vacancies that exceeded levels
allowed by the contract. Owen said "the spirit of the report" was
that better oversight was needed on the state's part. "A number of
issues already have been, or are going to be, addressed," said Owen.
"That's certainly going to happen with the support of CCA. We'll be
working closely and cooperating fully with the state." Pablo Paez,
director of corporate relations for GEO Group in Boca Raton, said the company
had just received Rumph's audit on Monday "and we have not had time to
analyze it. "We're in the process
of reviewing it and will work with our client, the Department of Management
Services, in responding to any questions they have," said Paez. "I
don't have any comment beyond that."
Oversight controversial. The
Department of Management recently extended all five prison contracts but
plans to seek competitive bids on all of them when the extensions run out.
Spokesman John Kuczwanski said Monday the agency wanted to bid competitively
all contracts this year, but language in the state budget requires extensions
with the current companies because of new construction at some
institutions. The five private prisons
are a $106.4 million-a-year business in Florida. A sixth institution will be
added soon in Jackson County. DMS evaluators this month recommended awarding
the Graceville contract to GEO - the security giant formerly known as
Wackenhut - but department Secretary Tom Lewis has not yet decided on a
"vendor." Rumph's report
comes at a time the Legislature is growing leery of privatization, a mainstay
of Bush's efforts to shrink government and boost productivity. Bush recently
vetoed a bill that would have given lawmakers a stronger role in oversight of
state contracting. Police Benevolent
Association lobbyist Ken Kopczynski said the DMS audit "illustrates what
we've been saying all along." The union, which represents correctional
officers in state prisons, has long maintained that companies don't operate 7
percent cheaper than state prisons and have benefited from lax oversight,
accounting ploys, tax breaks and shifting of inmate medical costs and
big-ticket maintenance to the state.
"It shows the lack of oversight, the coziness between the vendors
and the contract administrators," Kopczynski said. "I certainly
hope the state will take action to get their $12.7 million back." In a
special legislative session in November 2001, the Legislature wiped out
$263,489 then remaining in the commission's $500,652 fiscal budget, Rumph
said. He said the agency promptly "increased each vendor's contracted
per-diem rate by the amount needed to cover commission operating costs."
He said the companies "in turn remitted the per-diem increase back to
the CPC's Grants and Donations Trust Fund. "These funds were then used
to pay CPC staff salaries and expenses. This action caused per-diem rates to
be artificially inflated."
Corrections Corp. operates three prisons - one for youthful offenders
in Lake City, one for men in Bay County and one for women near Quincy. GEO
has two prisons for men, at South Bay and Moore Haven Per-inmate, per-day operating costs ranged
from $51.09 per inmate at South Bay to $78.88 at the youth prison in Lake
City during the audit period, but those were recently lowered slightly by
DMS. Rumph's audit said the per-diem
rates were based on required numbers of guards, as well as nurses, teachers
and office workers at each prison. But he said the commission didn't require
vendors to report vacancies - and, even when they did, it didn't reduce
payments. "This resulted in
vendors at the five facilities receiving payments of about $4.5 million to
which they were not entitled," the audit said. It said another $290,000
was overpaid for non-correctional positions - teachers, medical and office
staff - that were vacant for varying periods between July 1, 2001, and last
Dec. 31. Rumph wrote that GEO Group
received about $3.4 million in "questionable payments" between Jan.
1, 1999 and the end of last year for "competitive area
differential" salaries. The audit said that amount of the premium
payments "included $1.86 million in overpayment errors which, when
discovered, the CPC made no effort to recover." Rumph also said contractors at the five
prisons dipped into inmate welfare trust funds for $987,617 to cover some
operating costs and salaries that the companies should have provided under
their state contracts. The inmate welfare funds come from telephone and
vending commissions, he said. At the
Gadsden prison, the audit said, salaries of a chaplain and administrative
clerk, librarian and library aide and education counselor are paid out of the
inmate welfare fund. "Clearly,
these positions are part of the contract requirements to provide education,
vocational, chaplaincy and other specified programs and services," said
the audit. Lewis and his predecessor,
Secretary Bill Simon, took corrective action. Rumph said the Bureau of
Corrections Privatization was ordered on March 25 get monthly reports on
vacancies in program areas of the private prisons, dating back to last
July. Rumph's audit renewed the
recommendation that the Corrections Department run private prisons. Kuczwanski said the department plans to use
its new experience in negotiating future contracts and taking bids from
competing companies. The department concurred in Rumph's recommendation that
oversight out to be transferred to the state prison system.
October 7, 2004 St Petersburg Times
Florida's private prisons commission broke state law last year when it hired
a former state corrections secretary as a consultant and paid him $81,500,
the governor's inspector general found. But it was unclear Wednesday if there
would be any repercussions. The law includes no enforcement mechanism or
penalty and does not fall under the state Ethics Commission. The Florida
Department of Law Enforcement reviewed the matter last month and found no
evidence of criminal wrongdoing. But Gov. Jeb Bush, who ordered the
investigation in April after an inquiry from the St. Petersburg Times, said
his attorneys are reviewing legal options. "I don't know what recourse
we have, but it is troubling," Bush said Wednesday. "Based on what
I was told was done, it stinks. It doesn't pass the smell test." At
issue is a February 2003 decision by Alan Duffee, former executive director
of the Correctional Privatization Commission, to hire former corrections
chief Michael W. Moore to oversee rebidding of two of the state's five
private prison contracts. Duffee hired Moore without a public search a month
after Moore quit his corrections post. Moore then hired his former chief of
staff at the Department of Corrections and a department attorney to help him.
State law generally does not prohibit agencies from hiring former state
employees as consultants. But the Legislature, hoping to discourage conflicts
of interests between public and private prisons, prohibited the commission
from hiring anyone who had worked in the previous two years for either the
state corrections or juvenile justice departments. In 2000, the inspector
general ruled that former commission employee Ronald T. Jones violated state
law when he accepted a job with a private prison vendor within two years of
leaving his commission job. Former commission Executive Director Clayton Mark
Hodges was also found to have violated state ethics law by failing to report
the receipt of an honorarium from another private prison that was angling to
win a Florida prison contract. "This law should have been fixed a long
time ago," said Ken Kopczynski, a frequent critic of the state's private
prisons and spokesman for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which
represents corrections officers at state-run prisons. "There are major
holes in the law you could drive a truck through."
September
6, 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Police Benevolent Association has opened a novel new skirmish in
its long-running battle against prison privatization. The union representing state correctional
officers has asked Attorney General Charlie Crist and Derry Harper, the
governor's chief inspector general, to investigate about $500,000 spent from
a maintenance fund that covers big-ticket repairs at the private prisons. The
PBA alleges that someone forged the initials of Alan Duffee, former executive
director of the Correctional Privatization Commission, on memos requesting
the bulk of the money. Duffee told Department
of Corrections accountants to impound more than $390,000 because of the CFO
inquiry. But late last month, the PBA said, it found that more than $206,000
had been paid out shortly before CPC's duties were switched to the Department
of Management Services. In a letter to
Harper, Kopczynski said the CPC requested more than $325,000 in payments to
vendors on April 26, "the very day the OFI released its report."
PBA wanted to know why the requests were initialed by Duffee. "Mr. Duffee explained to us that he
had no idea what we were talking about and said he would come over to the PBA
office to review the documents the next morning," Kopczynski wrote to
Harper. Duffee signed an affidavit saying he'd never seen or initialed the
memos. "The PBA believes the
documents releasing over $325,000 in state funds were forgeries and is
formally asking for an investigation by you into this issue," Kopczynski
wrote to Harper. Duffee said somebody apparently
initialed the memos for him.
May
26, 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
Prodded by Gov. Jeb Bush to avoid giving the Department of Management
Services a legal headache, the Correctional Privatization Commission decided
Tuesday to hold one more vote on contracts for three privately run
prisons. The Legislature decided to abolish the commission next year
but to move its duties to DMS on July 1 of this year. With the contracts
expiring June 30 and the commission deadlocking Monday on whether to extend
them, DMS would have had no authority to negotiate new ones. "The
governor's office is pretty adamant about it and has been calling
commissioners," said Alan Duffee, the commission's executive
director. "So we're going to have another meeting." The
commission was split 2-2 on extending the contracts Monday. Next week, it
looks like a done deal. One opponent plans to boycott the meeting, and
another commissioner, who missed Monday's session, is leaning toward a 90-day
extension. "This is nothing but greed and politics winning out
over what's best for the taxpayers," said Commissioner Sam Block of Vero
Beach. "DMS hasn't got a clue about operating prisons, but the
vendors wanted the commission's demise just as soon as we said we were going
to rebid the contracts."
May
25, 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
Like a grumpy Cinderella making an exit, the state agency that oversees
private prisons decided Monday to dump "a real mess" on the
Department of Management Services at the stroke of midnight June 30.
The Correctional Privatization Commission is on its way to being abolished
after the Legislature voted to transfer its duties to DMS. As part of its
final meeting Monday, the commission had to decide what to do about three
contracts it has with private companies to run prisons in Gadsden County, Bay
County and Moore Haven. The commission could have extended the contracts but
deadlocked - leaving DMS with deals that lapse June 30 and no right to
negotiate new ones.
May
24, 2004 St Petersburg Times
REVOLVING DOOR: What happens to Florida's top private prison bureaucrat when
he resigns amid controversy? He looks to peddle his knowledge
elsewhere. Alan Duffee, whose resignation as executive director of the
Correctional Privatization Commission became public last week, will join the
Windsor Group, a Tallahassee lobbying firm, after he leaves the state
payroll Friday. Windsor's clients include EMO Architects, a company the
commission hired during Duffee's reign to design two prison expansions.
Duffee and Windsor president Barney Bishop III said Duffee will not represent
EMO. Duffee also said he has no plans to represent private prison vendors
before the state Department of Management Services, which assumes oversight
of the state's private prisons July 1. That doesn't mean Duffee won't
hawk his experience elsewhere. "We're anticipating he'll help us create
a national consulting service for private prisons," Bishop said.
May
5, 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
Left with nothing to do and $859,000 with which not to do it, the head of the
Correctional Privatization Commission has asked Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the
tiny agency's budget rather than letting it have a
one-year reprieve. In the session that ended Friday, legislators
voted to take away the commission's authority as of July 1 but not to abolish
it or its funding until June 30, 2005. The veto request was made by Carol
Atkinson, chair of the commission that oversees the state's five
privately run prisons. "We just felt it was a waste of taxpayers'
dollars for the commission to be around another year without any
responsibilities," executive director Allan Duffee said
Tuesday. He said commissioners expect the governor will use his
line-item veto to ax their $859,000 in operating money when he signs the
$58 billion state budget. For years, the commission has been caught
between private contractors, which are supposed to operate 7-percent cheaper
than state-run prisons, and the Florida Police Benevolent Association, a
politically powerful union representing correctional officers. The PBA, like
other government employee unions, opposes privatization; companies that run
prisons for profit don't like competing with each other or being told by the
commission to upgrade nutrition and education programs or staffing levels.
May
1, 2004 St Petersburg Times
Three years ago, Carlos Lacasa, the Republican chairman of what was then
called the House Fiscal Responsibility Council, criticized the lack of
financial accountability for private prisons in Florida. Lacasa
also offered a generalized warning about privatization: "If you try
to fire a company, they will come in with an army of lobbyists and try to
extend the deadlines and change the laws. It's a nightmare." Welcome to
the future. The Correctional Privatization Commission, created to oversee
some $90-million in private contracts for five state prisons, is being delivered
the legislative equivalent of a lethal injection. It is being disbanded
primarily because it dared to question the two companies, Corrections
Corporation of America and the GEO Group, that are paid to run the prisons.
The commission's attempt to explore whether other companies could do the job
cheaper was met with legal challenges and a full-scale lobbyist
assault. Just ask the commissioners themselves, all of whom were
appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush. "I tell you in no uncertain terms,
CCA is ruining all this," commissioner Bob Ryals, a Tallahassee
Realtor, told Times reporter Joni James. "They've got their high-powered
lobbyists, and I'm just so angry that I can hardly talk about it."
But the lesson here is a clear one: Those who cross the prison businesses
will pay a heavy price.
December
6, 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Commission on Ethics unanimously approved Thursday an agreement
ending its case against C. Mark Hodges, the former executive director of the
CPC. Hodges, who now works for a private prison consultant in
Nashville, admitted to violating several state ethic laws when he was working
for the privatization commission, including using state resources for his own
consulting company. Hodges, who didn't speak at the meeting and has
said he simply wanted to end the year-long case, also agreed to pay a $10,000
fine.
November
14, 2002 Tampa Tribune
The former director of the state agency overseeing Florida's privately
operated prisons has acknowledged violating ethics laws and agreed to pay a
$10,000 fine. C. Mark Hodges, who resigned this year from the state
CPC, was accused of six ethics violations, including use of state-owned
equipment for his private consulting business and failing to disclose
speaking fees paid to him by companies seeking to do business with his
agency. Hodges is now working for Homeland Security Inc., a Nashville,
Tenn.-based company founded by the former chief executive of a company
operating two state prisons and a state juvenile detention facility in Florida.
He has argued that ethics complaints were nothing more than a union smear
campaign designed to derail Florida's experiment with privatized, nonunion
prisons. The ethic complaints were filed by the FLPBA, the labor union
representing correctional officers in Florida's state-operated prisons.
"Another chapter has closed on the CPC," said Ken Kopczynski, a
political affairs assistant with the FLPBA. Either way, state lawmakers
and Gov. Jeb Bush have intervened. This year the Legislature required
the companies operating all five of Florida's privately run state prisons to
begin delivering the minimum 7 percent savings in operational costs they
initially promised of their contracts would be revoked. State auditors
have questioned several of the contracts awarded private prison
operators. Also this year, Bush appointed a new board of directors to
oversee the commission. Hodges submitted his resignation during the new
board's first meeting. Bush said during his re-election campaign that
he has no desire to increase the number of privately operated prisons during
his second term.
October
19, 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
The head of the state Corrections Privatization Commission is planning to
issue a deadline to the Gadsen Correctional Facility to fix reported problems
involving the hiring of correctional officers. Alan Duffee, executive
director of the CPC, said he plans to meet with representatives from the CCA,
which owns the private women's prison in Quincy, and officials with the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Tuesday to discuss the issues.
Problems with personnel practices were undercovered in March after an annual
review by the FDLE's Criminal Justice Standards and Training
Commission. The reviews found that the prison violated state laws by failing
to register 61 correctional officers with the commission. In some
cases, officers were on the job more than a year without being
registered. But during a subsequent review earlier this month, the FDLE
found that 35 correctional officers were not registered. The FDLE also
found that five correctional officers had arrest records that should
have been reported to the commission. Duffee said he considered the
violations "very severe." Duffee said he would ask that the
prison correct the problems within a certain amount of time or face losing
its contract with the state.
May
12, 2002 News Journal
Krys Fluker, News-Journal editorial writer, lists some of the privatization
projects tested, being considered or underway: Private Prisons Price Tag:
More than $90 million a year. The pitch: Lawmakers believed private
corporations could run prisons more cheaply and efficiently. Background: Five
of Florida's prisons are run by private companies, an initiative that started
in 1993. Privatization has yet to show any real cost savings for the
state -- and plenty of headaches. The Correctional Privatization
Commission has been rocked by scandals and, most recently, criminal charges
against its executive director Mark Hodges, who is accused of violating ethics
laws. Meanwhile, and private prisons have been criticized for
lower-than-average pay and poor oversight. The state currently faces
several lawsuits from inmates being held at the South Bay Correctional
Facility, designated for sex offenders and operated by Wackenhut Corp.,
charging abuse. Private corrections companies poured more than $190,000
into Florida campaigns during the 2000 election cycle.
April
29, 2002 The Ledger
A few years ago, state Rep. Carlos
LaCasa, R-Miami, chairman of the House Budget Committee, was gung ho about
turning over to private companies many of the jobs that the state has on its
own payroll.
And why not? Everyone seemed convinced
that government should be "run like a business," and that private
businesses could do the jobs cheaper and more effectively. It's not always the case, state officials are quickly learning. "We've become more cautious, there's no question about
it," LaCasa told The Tampa Tribune recently. "We're taking a closer look at these things, but that's also
because we've done a few projects and now have something to look
at." At the start of this year, the Florida Commission on Ethics
reported it had found probable cause that C. Mark Hodges, executive director
of the Florida Correctional Privatization Commission, which oversees five
privately run prisons in the state, had violated several ethics laws over the
past six years. He used his official position in connection with his private
consulting business, the commission said. Hodges denied wrongdoing, but resigned
from the job.
April
13, 2002 Tampa Tribune
The director of the state agency
overseeing Florida's privately operated prisons is calling it quits. C. Mark Hodges resigned Thursday amid ongoing ethics complaints
and eroding legislative confidence in the Correctional Privatization
Commission. He will remain in the $95,358-a-year job through late May while
the agency's new board of directors searches for a replacement. ``I've been doing this almost 10 years, and it's been a major
battle,'' Hodges said Friday, adding he has no immediate career plans. ``I've
fought the good battle for the taxpayers of this state, but it's time for
someone else to pick up the baton.'' During
his tenure, Hodges and the commission have been aggressively targeted by the Florida
Police Benevolent Association, a labor union representing prison guards in
state- operated facilities. The union says Hodges is too cozy with the
industry he's in charge of overseeing and has failed to deliver the savings
lawmakers were promised when they created the commission in 1993. ``His resignation closes a dark chapter in the history of the
troubled commission,'' said Ken Kopczynski, a union analyst who has filed
many of the ethics complaints. Earlier
this year, the state Ethics Commission charged Hodges with seven violations
of ethics codes, including use of his public position to benefit his private
consulting business. The case against Hodges, which could lead to thousands
of dollars in fines, will continue despite his resignation, according to the
Ethics Commission.
The commission oversees Florida's four
privately operated prisons, plus a privately operated juvenile detention
facility.
Last year, legislative analysts
concluded some of the privately operated prisons were costing taxpayers more
than state- run prisons and criticized the commission for lax contract
enforcement.
Lawmakers are poised to consider
legislation when they return to Tallahassee that would require any private
prison failing to deliver at least 7 percent savings be reorganized.
Facilities that continue failing to deliver the minimum level of savings
would be turned over to the state Department of Corrections.
February
15, 2002 The Ledger
A guiding principle of the Jeb Bush
administration is that privatization is the wave of the future, that the
private sector can do pretty much anything government can do more efficiently
and with better results. The great experiment in privatizing jails and
prisons has been pretty much of a bust. In other words, privatization to
date remains more of an attractive theory than proven fact.
February 13, 2002 The Vindicator
A Florida official faces ethics charges
in that state, in part, on allegations that he improperly sold a public
document to the city of Youngstown for $7,500. City contracts and invoices show the official also sold
Youngstown a draft of the document -- a private prison monitoring manual --
for another $7,500.
That puts the questionable total at
$15,000 paid to consultant C. Mark Hodges. He also is executive director of
Florida's Correctional Privatization Commission. Hodges and city Law Director Robert Bush Jr., however, disagree
with Florida ethics investigators. Hodges did more work for the money spent
than just provide the documents, he and Bush said. The document,
unedited, would have cost $10.20 -- 15 cents a page in copying fees.
Besides the manual, the Florida Commission on Ethics recently found probable
cause that Hodges violated other laws the past six years. A few of the
ethics charges stem from Hodges' work in Youngstown in 1998. Bush said
the city expected a unique manual for Youngstown. He didn't know the manual
mostly was copied from Florida's document, he said. Hodges never indicated that
the manual was based on a public record, Bush said.
January
30, 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Police Benevolent
Association asked State Attorney Willie Meggs on Tuesday to file criminal
charges against the head of a state agency that oversees privately operated
prisons, saying he attempted to dupe investigators with falsified documents. The Florida Commission on Ethics last week found probable cause
that C. Mark Hodges, executive director of the Florida Correctional
Privatization Commission, had violated several ethics laws over the past six
years by blending his official position with his private consulting business.
The commission released its official report Tuesday. Investigators said Hodges provided them with letters he said
showed he had notified Commission Chairman Joel Freeman before starting the
jobs and that no one had objected. But the
investigators noted that all of the letters, printed on commission
letterhead, had the 850 area code, despite some of them being dated before
the 850 area code went into effect in June 1997. Ken Kopczynski, a PBA lobbyist, said they've asked Meggs to
charge Hodges with perjury, forgery, obstruction of justice and racketeering,
saying he attempted to fool the ethics commission. Kopczynski, whose group opposes privately operated prisons, is
also the one who filed the ethics complaints against Hodges two years ago. "I think it just proves our point,” Kopczynski said.
"We've been saying for a number of years that the (privatization
commission) has been out of control. This shows the lengths to which they'll
go to hide what they're doing." Hodges,
who said he has stopped doing consulting work, originally told investigators
that he couldn't explain the area codes. But Tuesday he said he lost the
original letters and wanted to show investigators what they looked
like. "It's not creating letters after the fact, it's recreating
letters that I had lost," he said. "I'm just surprised that this
has been made into such a big deal."
November
3, 2001 Tampa Tribune
A state inspector is investigating whether computers from the Correctional
Privatization Commission were used to visit pornographic Web sites.
Inspectors for the Department of Management Services seized out-of-use
computers from the commission's storerooms Thursday. The Florida Police
Benevolent Association gave the agency a tip about the alleged porno
use. The association was looking for evidence prison privatization
commission Executive Director C. Mark Hodges was using the computers for
private consulting work.
July
24, 2001Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Correctional Privatization Commission, an appointed board that
oversees five privately operated jails and prisons around the state, can't
adequately account for more than $57,000 in computers and other
equipment. The audit, covering the commission's operations between July
1999 and March of this year, found several other instances where the
commission wasn't following state policy in regard to computers, use of
cellphones and calling cards, travel expenses or hiring of private
attorneys. Auditors said the main problem was a lack of written
guidelines and a process to ensure employees were complying with the rules.
January
06, 2001 St Petersburg Times
A public agency set up to monitor the state's five privately run prisons (the
Correctional Privatization Commission) isn't doing the job and should be
abolished, according to the Florida Corrections Commission. The prisons house
about 4,000 inmates in South Bay, Lake City, Panama City, Moore Haven and
Gadsden County. State law requires an on-site monitor at each, but since
1998, that position has been vacant for months at a time at three facilities,
according to the commission's 2000 annual report. As a result, the facilities
have submitted incomplete reports or none at all. C. Mark Hodges, the
privatization commission's executive director, said the critics are more
concerned with reports than results. The corrections commission is "out
of touch" he said, with Republican-led efforts to make government more
efficient. Hodges pointed to Gadsden Correctional facility, operated by
Corrections Corporation of America, which houses 896 female inmates near
Tallahassee. He said the prison lacked an on-site monitor at various times
because the privatization commission wasn't satisfied with monitors it had
hired, and was searching for more satisfactory replacements. (St. Petersburg
Times)
July
19, 2000 Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Police Benevolent Association filed an ethics complaint against
C. Mark Hodges, the Executive Director of the CPC. The PBA claims
that Hodges has been running his private consulting business out of his state
office.
October
22, 1999 Miami Herald
Dr. Charles Thomas, a now- retired professor of criminology at the University
of Florida, is hit with the largest civil fine by the Florida Commission on
Ethics for his close relationship with the for-profit private prison industry
while working for the State of Florida. Thomas was a state employee who
served as a consultant to a study commission on prison privatization and also
directed a privatization research project at UF. At the same time, he served
as a director of CCA Prison Realty Trust and owned stock in CCA, Wackenhut
and Correctional Services Corp. All four firms did business with the
state.
Correctional
Services Corporation
Sarasota, Florida
August 26, 2010 The Broward Bulldog
Testimony began this week in the politically charged, insider stock trading
trial of Fort Lauderdale heart doctor and top Republican fundraiser Dr.
Zachariah P. Zachariah. Zachariah, who has raised millions of dollars for the
GOP, has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of using
nonpublic information to make nearly $1 million in illegal profits trading
stock in two Florida companies in 2005. The federal civil trial in West Palm
Beach is expected to last about a week. Some big names are expected to
testify, either in person or by deposition. They include South Florida
corporate titans Philip Frost, the billionaire chairman of the board of Teva
Pharmaceuticals, and George Zoley, CEO and chairman of The GEO Group of Boca
Raton. Fourth District Court of Appeals Judge Melanie May and former Florida
Attorney General Bob Butterworth could also appear. Each gave character
witness depositions for Zachariah in May that have not been made public. The
government is asking the court to exclude their testimony, but there has been
no ruling. If the judge finds Zachariah committed fraud she could order him to
pay back the money he made with interest, impose a large civil penalty and
bar him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company.
Both sides outlined their case Tuesday in opening arguments before U.S.
Magistrate Linnea R. Johnson -- who will decide the case. SEC trial attorney
Christopher Martin portrayed Zachariah as a consummate political and
corporate insider with no qualms trading on valuable inside information he
learned as a corporate board member and through other means. "It's
really hard to imagine anyone less fit to serve'' on a company's board, said
Martin, who characterized Zachariah as a "prominent South Florida
political fundraiser and powerbroker.''
December
24, 2009 Miami-Herald
The former chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine and another Fort
Lauderdale physician have agreed to pay substantial sums to settle federal
civil charges of insider stock trading. Dr. Mammen P. Zachariah, appointed to
the board of medicine by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2004, and Dr. Sheldon Nassberg allegedly
reaped illegal windfalls by acting on stock tips supplied by Mammen
Zachariah's brother, prominent Broward heart specialist and major Republican
fundraiser Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah. Zach Zachariah, who has raised
millions of dollars for Republican causes and candidates, including both
presidents Bush, faces similar charges, but has declined to settle his case.
A federal magistrate has set trial for Aug. 23, 2010. That trial promises to
offer a unique look at Republican fundraising and how political access is
bought and sold. Among the expected highlights is witness testimony from two
of South Florida's better-known corporate chieftains -- The Geo Group's
George Zoley and Phil Frost, formerly of IVAX. The Zachariah brothers and
Nassberg, all of whom practice at Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital, were
named in a May 2008 civil complaint brought by the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. The complaint accuses them of collecting more than a
half-million dollars in illegal profits during a fraudulent stock-trading
scheme in 2005. Without admitting or denying the government's allegations,
Mammen Zachariah, 61, agreed to pay nearly $136,000 in what a judge labeled
``ill-gotten gains,'' plus an equal amount as a civil penalty. Nassberg, an
endocrinologist, agreed to similar payments totaling $52,668. He admitted no
wrongdoing. Both men are required to pay up by the end of the month. The
final judgments signed by U.S. Magistrate Linnea Johnson on Wednesday also
include permanent injunctions that restrain both doctors from future
securities law violations. Zach Zachariah, another past chairman of the
Florida Board of Medicine, is alleged to have used nonpublic information to
buy and sell shares of two unrelated Florida companies, Miami-based generic drug
maker IVAX and Sarasota's Correctional Services Corp. (CSC). Zachariah was on
IVAX's board of directors in July 2005 when company chairman Phil Frost
informed him that IVAX had agreed to be acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals for
$26 a share. Within minutes, Zachariah bought 35,000 IVAX shares for about
$21 a share, the SEC said. At the time of the alleged purchase, company
insiders were forbidden from trading in IVAX stock. Zachariah also allegedly
tipped off his brother, who bought 2,000 IVAX shares for about $23 a share on
the last trading day before the deal was announced in July 25. Zachariah
allegedly used inside information to make even more money trading shares of
CSC, which was acquired by The GEO Group of Boca Raton in 2005. According to
the SEC, the Zachariah brothers and Nassberg turned $380,000 in quick
profits. The government says Zachariah acquired that inside knowledge in a
couple of ways. One was through his son Zachariah ``Reggie'' Zachariah, who
worked in GEO's mergers and acquisitions department. Reggie Zachariah has
denied under oath tipping off his father to the deal. Another was through
Zachariah's own moonlighting work for GEO. The SEC says Zachariah made
``millions of dollars'' as a corporate consultant, service provider and
lobbyist for GEO, a giant prison contractor once known as Wackenhut
Corrections. Zachariah, who owns a $2.3 million home on the Intracoastal
Waterway in secluded Sea Ranch Lakes, said under oath last winter that he was
paid to provide access for GEO chief executive George Zoley to top federal
and state Republican politicians. Those politicians include former President
George W. Bush, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, former Florida
Senate President Tom Lee and House Speaker Alan Bense and former attorney general
Charlie Crist, now Florida's governor.
November
8, 2005 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, has closed its $62 million deal for the
Sarasota-based private prison management company. GEO ended up paying $6 per
share and assuming $124 million in Correctional Services debt. The local
company's founder, James Slattery, plans to continue to run Youth Services
International, which runs detention operations for youthful offenders, out of
Sarasota. That unit manages programs at 17 centers with 1,300 beds. Slattery
paid $3.75 million for the business. GEO will continue to own the 26-acre
property in Newport News, Va., that housed one of Youth Services' juvenile
operations. Contingent on the closing was a settlement by Correctional Services
on a $38.8 million judgment that held the company responsible for the death
of Bryan Dale Alexander, an 18-year-old inmate at a Texas boot camp. The
terms were held confidential, but the Sarasota company paid $2.7 million
toward the settlement, with the rest made up by its liability insurers, which
initially balked at paying the award. A Texas jury in August 2003 found CSC
and a nurse at the now-closed Mansfield boot camp responsible for Alexander's
death. He died of a rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia. The judgment
against CSC and nurse Knyvett Reyes included $35 million in actual damages,
$750,000 in punitive damages and more than $2.4 million in interest.
Correctional Services' former adult division owns or operates 15 centers with
7,500 beds. GEO manages 41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the United
States, Australia, South Africa and Canada.
November
7, 2005 Yahoo
The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE: GGI - News; "GEO"), a world leader in
the delivery of correctional and mental health services, announced today the
successful completion of its previously announced acquisition of
Sarasota-based Correctional Services Corporation (Nasdaq: CSCQ - News;
"CSC"), a leading developer and manager of privatized correctional
and detention facilities, for approximately $62 million, or $6.00 per common
share. GEO also assumed $124 million of CSC non-recourse debt. GEO's
acquisition of CSC will add 16 adult male facilities located in six states,
totaling approximately 8,000 beds, to GEO's operations, representing local,
state and federal clients, including the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and the United States Marshals Service. Post-closing of the CSC
acquisition, GEO will have contracts and awards to manage 58 facilities with
a total design capacity of approximately 48,000 beds, increasing GEO's
correctional bed market share from 22 percent to 28 percent.
October
22, 2005 Sarasota Herald Tribune
Correctional Services Corp. has settled a $38.3 million judgment that held
the company responsible for the death of an 18-year-old inmate at a Texas
boot camp. Terms of the agreement are confidential, but the Sarasota-based
prison manager said Friday it will pay $2.7 million toward the settlement.
The rest will be covered by CSC's liability insurers, which initially balked
at paying the award. The agreement is contingent on the closing of CSC's
previously announced sale to The GEO Group Inc. for $62 million. CSC
shareholders will vote on the sale Nov. 4. If that deal falls through, so
does the settlement. A Texas jury in August 2003 found CSC and a nurse at the
now-closed Mansfield boot camp responsible for the death of Bryan D.
Alexander. Alexander, serving a six-month sentence for a misdemeanor driving
conviction, died in 2001 of a rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia.
Trial testimony showed he was treated for a cold and flu even though he had
coughed up blood for five days before his death. His parents sued CSC and
nurse Knyvett Reyes for their loss and anguish. Reyes was convicted of
negligent homicide and was sentenced to four years of community supervision.
She also surrendered her registered nurse's license. The judgment against CSC
and Reyes included $35 million in actual damages, $750,000 in punitive
damages and more than $2.4 million in interest. The settlement will resolve
all claims and lawsuits against CSC and Reyes. It also will end a dispute
between CSC and its liability insurers over who should pay. Boca Raton-based
GEO is paying $62 million in cash, or $6 a share, and assuming $124 million
in liabilities to acquire CSC. It will then sell the Youth Services
International subsidiary to CSC president James Slattery for $3.75 million.
That unit manages programs at 17 centers with 1,300 beds. GEO will acquire
the adult division that owns or operates 15 facilities with 7,500 beds. GEO
manages 41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the United States,
Australia, South Africa and Canada. Shares of CSC were selling for $5.91 on
the Nasdaq at the close of trading Friday, up 1 cent.
May
13, 2005 Sarasota Herald Tribune
Private prison manager Correctional Services says a lack of use of its
immigration holding centers as well as prisons in Texas bit into its bottom
line during the first quarter. The Sarasota-based company reported a loss of
$509,000, or 5 cents per share. That compared with a loss of $656,000, or 6
cents per share a year earlier. Correctional Services, which runs both adult
and juvenile detention centers, closed four juvenile operations during 2004
and expects to close another two this year.
November
15, 2001 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Private prison operator Correctional Services Corp. took a hit on
third-quarter earnings because of its restructuring plan. The Sarasota
company posted a net loss of $5.29 million, or 52 cents per share. That is
compared with a profit of $1.57 million, or 14 cents, one year earlier.
Revenues fell 19 percent to $42.34 million, while the contribution from
operations fell to $3.17 million from $6.7 million. The latest results
include charges of $7.88 million from the restructuring initiative it
announced last month and $677,000 from the loss on the disposal of
assets. Correctional also said it was hurt by falling occupancy at its
35 prisons, which house 8,100 inmates in 14 states and Puerto Rico. The company
last month said it would cut jobs and close seven unprofitable prisons to
offset its slowdown in business.
Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention
Center
Lecanto, Florida
Group 4 (formerly run by Correctional Services Corporation)
January 4, 2007 St Petersburg Times
A helicopter hovered above. Canine officers tracked through the woods.
Checkpoints were in place. And dozens of sheriff's deputies swarmed the area
near the Cypress Creek juvenile detention facility. Wednesday afternoon, the
word was out: Two teenage inmates escaped from the maximum-security prison.
Except they didn't. After an hour and a half of searching, the two missing
inmates were found hiding - in the detention facility's compound. Kendall
Wayne Wilbanks, 15, of Leesburg and Gavin Alexander Eskdale, 17, of Kathleen
in Polk County, picked a lock to gain access to the roof area of the
woodworking shop, a separate building from the main facility inside the
security fence. The inmates were in the shop for an 11 a.m. class. But they
were missing when the class ended and a head count took place at 12:06 p.m.,
the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said. A massive manhunt began, but
deputies soon turned their attention back inside the facility after a check
of the perimeter showed no breach of the fence.
August
21, 2006 Miami Herald
Just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 13, youth-camp guard Josephus Johnson heard a
''gurgling'' sound coming from a dorm room. He found 17-year-old Willie
Durden cold, limp and without a pulse. Twenty minutes and two exams later, an
officer at the Cypress Creek Juvenile Offender Correctional Center finally
started CPR. Why the wait? ''Some of these kids will play pranks,'' Johnson
told an investigator with the state Department of Juvenile Justice, according
to records provided to The Miami Herald this week. The inspector ``asked
Johnson how someone could get his or her heart to stop beating to accomplish
such a prank.'' Durden, a Jacksonville teen described as a ''model inmate''
who dreamed of being a youth counselor himself, was pronounced dead on
arrival at Citrus Memorial Hospital at 5:10 a.m. He was to receive a football
scholarship to a Christian school in Jacksonville following his release. He
became the sixth Florida child to die in DJJ custody since 2000. Two other
children have died since then, including Martin Lee Anderson, who died Jan. 6
at a Bay County boot camp. Durden is among several youths who died after
guards or nurses dismissed their condition as the false cries of a faker or
malingerer -- and the cases raise serious questions about the quality of care
children in state custody receive. "This is another tragic example of
the state's inability to guarantee the health and safety of children in its
care,'' said Roy Miller, who heads the Children's Campaign, a Tallahassee-based
advocacy group. ``Parents and judges and law enforcement people need to ask
the tough question: Are children in state custody safe? ''These are not
isolated incidents. They are recurring, and it's shameful,'' Miller added.
Asked Nancy Hamilton, who oversees a St. Petersburg drug treatment program
and is president of the state Juvenile Justice Association: ``How do you hire
for common sense? This is a key issue . . . Would you wait 20 minutes if this
were your child? Or would you be on your phone?'' The head of Cypress Creek,
Joseph Hasselbach, declined to discuss the case, citing a DJJ requirement
that agencies that contract with the state government not speak to reporters.
March
17, 2006 Florida Times-Union
It took five months for the state to release the autopsy report Thursday
for a Jacksonville teen who died in juvenile facility, drawing concern from
some lawmakers especially after another boy's taped beating death in January.
According to the autopsy, Willie Durden, who died Oct. 13 at the Cypress
Creek Juvenile Offender Corrections Center in Citrus County, had an enlarged
heart. But the report took several months to surface even after blood tests
came back negative for drugs. Durden, 17, was the third young black male in
three years to die in a state detention center. The Legislature's black
caucus has been waiting for Durden's report since before Panama City teen
Martin Lee Anderson died in January at a Panhandle boot camp where staff are
accused of contributing to his death. The report on Durden shows the autopsy
exam was performed the day of his death and toxicology results came back in
November, but only in the last few days has the report quietly appeared on
Northeast Florida lawmakers' desks.
June
28, 2004 The Chronicle
Two years ago, Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention Facility in Lecanto was
wrought with scandal - from female guards having sex with inmates to
allegations of brutal inmate treatment. The Department of Juvenile
Justice terminated its contract with Correction Services Corporation last
year and brought in Securicor to run the Level 10, or maximum security,
juvenile jail. "But we still have a considerable amount of
turnover. It's probably in line with the rest of the industry," he said.
"It's just the nature of this business. Stress is always a factor. But
if you run good programs and people can see the light at the end of the
tunnel and that they're making a difference, then you'll keep good
people."
September
3, 2003 The Chronicle
Mrs. Diane Wilbur says she has reached a kind of closure. It took a lot
of perseverance, and even guts, for her to stand up to a multimillion-dollar
corporation, but last week in Federal District Court in Ocala, she was
vindicated. After a four-day-long trial and a jury that deliberated for
more than six hours, Federal Judge William Terrell Hodges found in favor of
Wilbur in her case against Correctional Services Corp, alleging sexual
harassment. Wilbur told the Ocala jury that her employers fired her
because she refused to have sex with her bosses. Her attorney, Craig
Berman of St. Petersburg, said that it was also clear that her dismissal from
Cypress Creek had something to do with her complaints to the company and
Department of Juvenile Justice over wrongdoings in the facility. These
wrongdoings involved beatings of teen inmates and sexual misconduct galore.
Her reports were ignored or covered up. "It was typical,"
Berman said. "They got the contract, they hired incompetent
administrators, there was very little oversight and things started
happening." From descriptions offered from former employees,
Berman said he determined Cypress Creek was a snakepit of marital
infidelities, sex with inmates and staff, favoritism in job promotions,
beatings of inmates and oh yes, sexual harassment. The judge, who Berman
said was extremely fair to all concerned, declined to allow damning reports
of Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigations that should have
resulted in prosecutions from the state attorney's office, but didn't.
The jury was also not allowed to see results of a Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice Inspector General's investigation that uncovered even more
dirt at that state-funded facility. That investigation, by the by,
wasn't initiated until this newspaper, and those with inside information like
Wilbur, began kicking up sand over what was going on there. Where was
the state during all that time? Good question. DJJ is notoriously
tight-lipped about their operations, and have been in a longstanding state of
denial they were negligent in their oversight of the facility during all
those months. When Correctional Services Corporation lost their
contract at Cypress Creek, Catherine Arnold of the DJJ said the change had
nothing to do with the improprieties that had been uncovered at the facility.
CSC has a long string of misdeeds that have been documented in several
states. The $49,000 initial award to Wilbur by Judge Hodges was small, for
example, in comparison to the $35 million award a Texas jury recommended this
week against the same Sarasota-based firm. In that case, an 18-year-old
boy died due to what the jury determined was criminal negligence and
malice. The boy was in the CSC-run camp (since closed for other
improprieties) on a drunken driving conviction, and with no prior criminal
record. He coughed up blood for days before a company nurse decided he was
not faking an illness. He died two days after being hospitalized in Fort
Worth. CSC is gone from Citrus County, and with relief we say good
riddance. Now that we know what can happen behind the razor wire, and how the
state turns a blind eye to its private contractors and discourages easy
access, this newspaper and other members of the community are duty-bound to
maintain a sharp interest in what goes on there. We are hoping the new
providers are kinder, gentler and less oversexed than the folks who most
recently worked for CSC.
July
30, 2003 The Chronicle
It's the last stop before prison for some young men. However, the Level
10 Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention Facility in Lecanto should hold hope for
those who have traveled the wrong path but are seeking a way out. Securicorp
New Century, the new management team that took over as of July 1, is
committed to getting them there. "Owning the kids" is the way
one Securicorp administrator put it - being responsible for their
education and success, as well as their safety and well-being. But that's not
exactly how the former managers, Correction Services Corp (CSC), looked
at it. This newspaper revealed mistreatment of youths, as well as
sexual scandal involving CSC employees, and suspicions of practices that
compromised the security of the facility and could have impacted the
community negatively. Finally, the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice said "no more," and gave CSC six months to
move out. Citrus County and the state of Florida must hold Securicorp to a
higher standard. Kids at this point in their lives need to know that they
have an option. And if they don't take that option, they will most likely
find themselves in the adult prison setting - where the changes are few, and
the treatment is much more severe.
July
2, 2003 St Petersburg Times
At midnight Monday, Cypress Creek Academy came under new management.
Securicor New Century took over operations of the 96-bed facility, one of
four maximum-level juvenile facilities in the state. Cypress Creek is
on Woodland Ridge Drive, just east of County Road 491 and south of State Road
44 near the county jail. Juvenile offenders, all males, are sent there from
throughout Florida. The new management company is based in Richmond,
Va., and is an American subsidiary of a security company based in London.
Securicor has a strong track record, and state officials are confident the
company "will be able to provide the rehabilitative treatment necessary,"
according to Catherine Arnold, a spokeswoman for the state Department of
Juvenile Justice. Under the new contract, the state will pay Securicor
$11.7-million over three years to run Cypress Creek. Arnold said the contract
also includes an option to renew another three years. Cypress Creek had
been operated by Correctional Services Corp., a Sarasota-based private
company, since 1998 when it acquired Youth Services International. The
department's contract with Correctional Services came up for bid in December.
Securicor bested four other bidders, including Correctional Services, in the
process, which involved an evaluation of each company's performance history
and cost, Arnold said. Under Correctional Services' management, there
were escapes from Cypress Creek in 2000 and 2001. In addition, a female guard
was charged last year with having sex with three inmates older than 18; she
later accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to four years of
probation. In a performance review last year, the state gave Cypress
Creek an "acceptable performance" rating. That was an improvement
from 2001, when it rated a "minimal performance." The state
said the facility was in full compliance in 2002, which also was a step up
from the previous year when it earned a "substantial compliance"
rating. In 2002, a critical concern was an inadequate amount of mental
health and substance abuse treatment services, according to the review.
Before Correctional Services and Youth Services International, there was another
private company, Rebound, that ran Cypress Creek on the state's behalf. The
state canceled its contract with Rebound after the company experienced many
problems. The young male offenders who stay at Cypress Creek may have
committed felonies or have a long history of law violations. A maximum-level
juvenile facility like Cypress Creek is the last stop before offenders enter
the adult correctional system. In addition to Cypress Creek, Securicor
runs five other juvenile facilities in Florida: Avon Park Academy in Avon Park,
Fort Myers Detention Center in Fort Myers, Hastings Youth Academy in
Hastings, Okeechobee Juvenile Offender Correction Center in Okeechobee and
Sago Palm Academy in Pahokee. For two years in the late 1990s,
Securicor also used to run Marion Youth Development Center in Ocala. The
company lost the contract when it was outbid by another agency.
February
7, 2003 St Petersburg Times
Cypress Creek Academy,
one of the state's toughest juvenile prisons, is under new management. Correctional Services Corp., the
Sarasota-based private company that has run the detention facility for more
than five years, lost its contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice
when it came up for bid in December.
It has been replaced by Securicor New Century, which is based in Richmond
, Va. , said Catherine Arnold, a
spokeswoman for the department. There
were two high-profile escapes in 2000 and 2001, including one incident
involving a guard who gave a key to an inmate. Also, a female guard was charged in 2002
with having sex with three inmates over the age of 18. Deritha Barth accepted
a plea agreement and was sentenced to four years' probation. Despite those problems, Correctional
Services at the time was not removed by the department.
July
19, 2002 PQ Archiver
A former staff member unjustifiably held a 16-year old inmate in a headlock,
punched his face and threw him against a wall after the inmate flooded a
sleeping area, according to a Department of Juvenile Justice investigation of
Cypress Creek. At issue was the behavior of Bill Newkirk, the former
assistant facility at Cypress Creek, which is a state lockup for juvenile
offenders. A private company. Bill Newkirk placed the boy's arms
behind his back and took him to the floor, all in a effort to calm him.
The boy said Newkirk, unprovoked, threatened him, cursed, placed him in a
headlock, punched the right side of his face with a closed fist and then
pushed him into a wall, cutting his head. Two fellow inmate
corroborated that version of the events. One employee witnessed the
headlock and another saw Newkirk push the boy, the report says. Two
staffers contradicted Newkirk's claim that the boy was the aggressor.
The inspector General substantiated allegations that Newkirk used improper
and excessive force, failed to report what happened, as is required, and
bragged about what he had done later during a staff meeting, the report
showed. The report also cited youth counselors Kent Clark and
Mario Muniz and acting supervisor Johnny Estevez for failing to complete an incident
report, despite their knowledge of what had happened. The supervisor
was suspended, Cypress Creek said, while the other staffers were
reprimanded.
May
2, 2002 St Petersburg Times
A prison guard fired after co-workers
said they caught her engaging in sexual intercourse with a 19-year-old inmate
was arrested Wednesday. Deritha Earlane
Gaskins, 31, of Dunnellon, a former guard at Cypress Creek Academy, one of
the state's toughest youth prisons, has been charged with two counts of
sexual misconduct, a second-degree felony. Held at the Citrus County
jail, she posted the $5,000 bail shortly after her arrest and was
released. Cypress Creek houses up to 96 of the state's most hard-core
male juvenile offenders. It is run by Correctional Services Corp., a private
company on contract with the juvenile justice department. This is not the first time a guard at the facility has been
arrested on charges of sexual misconduct. In 1999,
a 38-year-old Cypress Creek guard was fired for having a sexual relationship
with an 18-year-old inmate.
August
25, 2001 St Petersburg Times
A guard handed a key to the three youths who escaped from Cypress Creek
Correctional Facility in May, but that wasn't the only problem.
Management also wasn't keeping the doors locked, state investigators have
found. Also, the master control panel, which is used to control all the
facility's doors, frequently gave false readings, which means guards could
not tell if a door was really locked or unlocked, the report said. All
of these factors contributed to the May 4 escape of three inmates from
Cypress Creek, which houses some of the state's most hard-core juvenile
offenders. The person most directly responsible for the escape was
detention guard Ryan Johnson, the report said. Johnson was not
interviewed for the inspector general's report. Repeated attempts to
locate Johnson by the Department of Juvenile Justice and Cypress Creek
officials were unsuccessful. Carolyn Floyd, regional director of
residential programs in northeast Florida, said Johnson was frequently seen
playing cards with the inmates in the evenings. But, according to the
report, the facility also was having difficulty keeping its own doors shut.
Other guards told inspectors the locks at Cypress Creek did not work properly
and the doors were frequently kicked in by inmates. In addition,
inspectors faulted Cypress Creek for having an inadequate number of guards on
duty. The ratio of guards to inmates is supposed to be 1-to-8 at night,
according to Department of Juvenile Justice standards. The ratio at
Cypress Creek was 1-to-6.
June
6, 2001 St Petersburg Times
Ryan Johnson, the guard accused of giving a key to an inmate who used it to
free himself and two others from Cypress Creek Correctional Facility last
month, had been demoted just two months before the escape, according to an
official at the facility. Johnson, who had worked at Cypress Creek for
about a year, was bumped from supervisor to guard in March for failing to do
his job properly, said Eric Gallon, the facility's administrator. He
said Johnson's case was an example of staffing troubles at the facility,
which he said he has struggled with since taking over in October 2000.
"This is definitely a problem I inherited, " he said, estimating
that he has fired more than 30 people during his tenure. One resident
at Monday night's meeting who lives near Cypress Creek asked why she and
other neighbors weren't notified about the escape.
May
6, 2001 Citrus Times
When three inmates at Cypress Creek Detention Facility decided to escape
Friday night, they didn't have to come up with an elaborate plan. One
of them already had the key which unlocked an exterior door. The escape
incident began when inmate Anthony Valazquez, 18, was given a key to the
shower room by Cypress Creek staff members at about 6 pm Friday, according to
a report filed by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. Somehow,
Valazquez knew the key was a master key which would also open the door
leading to the exercise yard. Valazquez waited until 10:15 pm to make
his move. He used the key to unlock the door leading to the exercise
yard and bolted toward the first of two security fences. He was joined
by fellow inmate Darious L. White, 18, and an unidentified juvenile
inmate. Cypress Creek is a maximum security facility that Correctional
Services Corp., a private company, runs on behalf of the Department of
Juvenile Justice.
December
11, 2000 St Petersburg Times
There is little documented evidence that case workers are preparing teenagers
for life among law-abiding citizens when they are released from the youth
detention center. And classrooms are often so unruly that teachers have a
difficult time teaching. Those were the findings by a state review team that,
for the second year in a row, has rated the privately run center only
marginally satisfactory in a report released by the state. The score could
have been worse. the review didn't take into account an escape by three
inmates Oct. 1. In fact, security at the facility actually got solid marks;
the escape occurred the week after the review was completed. But the annual
Quality Assurance review does highlight a general lack of order at the
maximum-risk prison. A team that visited Cypress Creek in late September
witnessed inmates who openly challenged prison workers, making obscene
gestures in front of the auditors without reproach by staff. At no other
place is that more evident than at the top, where three different facility
administrators have held the reins in about six months.
November
22, 2000 Citrus Times
The Department of Juvenile Justice is considering a fine against the company
that runs Cypress Creek after the escape of the three teenagers last month. But
the state and company officials assured an audience of about twenty - mostly
people connected to the juvenile justice system - that more changes are
under way to address the problems at the prison. Carolyn Floyd, the state
department's northeast region director for residential and correction
facilities said her agency had hired employees who will visit the prison
weekly to inspect the quality if programs there. Gallon, the facility
administrator, said, "We don't mind the department doing that because we
need to be doing things right."
October
3, 2000 St Petersburg Times
Three teenagers escaped from the maximum-risk Cypress Creek juvenile center
after shimmying underneath a perimeter fence and running. Authorities are
investigating how the teenagers, one of whom was being held on a sexual
battery charge, got out of a secured detention center building. This
incident places another black mark next to Cypress Creek and the corporation
that runs it. The company is under pressure from the Department of Juvenile
Justice to improve conditions at Cypress Creek after scoring only marginally
satisfactory marks on a 1999 evaluation. The prior evaluation gave the
company poor marks in several areas, including faulting Cypress Creek for a
lack of order and poor documentation of serious incidents such as fights. One
example was the discovery of a teen hiding in a ceiling compartment.
Department of
Juvenile Justice
Tallahassee, Florida
April 11, 2004 Orlando Sentinel
One of the most egregious child abusers in Florida
is the very agency that's supposed to rehabilitate troubled youths: the
state Department of Juvenile Justice.
It is responsible for 661 confirmed cases of abuse or neglect since 1994, according to records from the Florida Department of
Children & Families obtained by the
Orlando Sentinel. But the Sentinel's investigation reveals problems
more widespread than those in South Florida.
Records show cases of abuse and neglect throughout the statewide network of about 200 lockups, boot camps, residential
facilities and other programs. In case after
case, records suggest an agency that cannot control its employees or those of the dozens of private companies it
pays to run most of its field operations.
In fact, last year those privately run
programs -- most of them long-term residential
facilities -- were the source of 80 percent of the department's abuse and neglect cases.
February
20, 2004 Palm Beach Post
The Department of Juvenile Justice has no right to keep a grand jury report
on a girls prison from the public, a judge ruled Thursday. One of the
state's top juvenile justice officials asked a judge to expunge the entire
report, or the parts the department deems "improper," according to
the ruling. The grand jury's review included testimony from managers,
workers and inmates at the Florida Institute for Girls. Citizens tapped for
the jury spent months examining problems at the troubled prison in suburban
West Palm Beach, including sexual misconduct and violent restraints of
inmates that broke the bones of two girls. The Department of Juvenile
Justice monitors the prison, but contracts its daily operation to Premier
Behavioral Solutions, a Coral Gables for-profit company.
Duval County Jail
Jacksonville, Florida
Correctional Medical Services
August
22, 2007 First Coast News
First Coast News has obtained statements from medical staff in charge of the
care of John Laughon while at the Duval County jail. Laughon is the former
inmate allegedly beaten by police while having a seizure. Laughon is now
considered to be in a persistent vegetative state. First Coast News has
obtained the deposition of Dr. Carey Goodman, an employee of Correctional
Medical Services. CMS was the agency contracted out for medical care at the
jail. Goodman was the medical director for CMS in the Duval County jail at
the time Laughon was there. Laughon's attorneys say numerous problems were
noted in jail of Laughon having repeated seizures and yet Dr. Goodman says he
never saw the patient on his own. Attorneys for Laughon asked Goodman,
"Did you ask to see him?" Goodman replied, "No." Goodman
was then asked why not. He answered, "I have a lot of other things to
do, you know." Goodman says patients with problems are typically
referred to him and Laughon was not. He also says he did sign an order from a
nurse practitioner to increase a medication Laughon was taking. Lawyers say
the dosage was above the normal recommended dosage level. "Well, I am
not going to say I approved it or I disapproved it, but I did have to co-sign
it," says Goodman. Lawyers then asked him that knowing what he knows
now, was it the right thing to do. "If I had seen him, I wouldn't have.
But I didn't see him. She saw him. I mean, I don't know what her thinking
was. but I probably would not have done that." When asked why not, Goodman
replied, "Again, the man has refractory epilepsy. And to keep giving him
more and more medication I don't think is going to be that helpful for
him." Lawyers then asked what would be helpful at that point. "I
don't know. He might need a magnet or something. I don't know."
Laughon's attorneys call it a medical care breakdown that happened on a
number of levels. "He's in charge for care for all these inmates and yet
he doesn't see patient who is having seizures and does not order prescription
for a patient who need medication and says maybe a magnet would have helped.
It's tragic," says Laugon's attorney, Bob Spohrer. Spohrer believes if
Laughon had received the proper medication and medical care he would not be
in the state he is in today.
August
2, 2006 Florida Times-Union
The mother of a Duval County jail inmate hospitalized in a persistent
vegetative state after an altercation with corrections officers has filed a
civil rights and medical malpractice lawsuit against the Jacksonville
Sheriff's Office, the city, the jail's subcontracted health provider and some
of their employees. The suit says John Laughon, now 39, repeatedly complained
while in jail for marijuana possession that he was deprived of necessary
seizure medicine. It further accuses correctional officers of conspiring to
inflict cruel and unusual punishment on Laughon by responding to his violent
seizures with physical beatings, then failing to provide timely medical care
that could have prevented his vegetative state. I'm hoping to find out who
killed my son," said Laughon's mother, Ginger Laughon, in a phone
interview. "For them to be punished and never be allowed to do this to
another person again. Lawyer Sean Cronin announced Wednesday that the suit
had been filed after a year of investigation into what happened Feb. 22,
2005. He provided a report from the trauma wing of Shands Jacksonville that
said Laughon had been injured by assault. The same report says Laughon was
found pulseless, cold to the touch and not breathing by a nurse in the inmate
holding area. Police said Laughon had broken out of a restraint chair with
"superhuman strength" and attacked corrections officers without
showing signs of tiring. "He had a seizure disorder known to them, and
he was not getting those medications properly," Cronin said. "He
tells them he's having seizures, and they're saying he's not. Rather than
being given medication, he was misconstrued as violent, combative,
noncompliant." Cronin said Laughon had nine broken ribs on both sides of
his body, brain hemorrhaging and blood in his lungs, none of which were
consistent with self-inflicted injuries. Ken Fields, a spokesman for
Correctional Medical Services, said the company could not comment because it
had not seen the suit. "We can tell you that the facility is accredited
for its health-care operations by nationally recognized accrediting
organizations," he said. "In addition, health-care staff at the
facility follow well-established procedures for evaluating each patient's
health-care needs."
Elaine Gordon Treatment
Center
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Brown Schools of Florida
March
3, 2004 Sun Sentinel
Inspectors from the city, School Board and state Fire Marshal's Office on
Friday examined a juvenile sex offender center following reports of broken
air conditioners and alleged fire-safety violations. The problems, discovered
at the Elaine Gordon Treatment Center, prompted a removal of teachers -- but
not students -- from the residential program until they are resolved. But
both the state Department of Juvenile Justice, which owns the complex, and
brown Schools of Florida, which runs the center, stress the 49 clients living
at the center are safe. They vow to resolve any problems and say teachers
have dropped off school work all week. During Graziose's visit last week and
again on Friday, he and other inspectors noted several potential violations
of the National Fire Protection Association code. They included
classrooms that lacked either fire sprinklers or a secondary means of getting
out of the classroom in case of an emergency, furniture and extension cords
scattered throughout the main hallway and broken tiles that could contain
asbestos. A complicating factor could be that several governments agencies
handle the building, which is state owned but run by a private company. That
could have led to questions about who is in charge, Grazoise said. "One
of biggest problems and maybe why it got to condition it has, was
jurisdictional conflict," he said.
Escambia County
Jail
Pensacola, Florida
Prison Health Services
January 14, 2008 Pensacola News-Journal
The family of a man who died strapped to a jailhouse restraint chair
reached a settlement with six jail employees. Estelle Smith, the wife of
Robert Boggon, reached an agreement last week during a private mediation proceeding,
according to court papers. U.S. Judge Casey Rodgers signed an order Friday
giving all parties named in the lawsuit 60 days to agree on the settlement
terms, which were not made public. Boggon, 65, a long-distance truck driver
from Lincoln Park, was placed in Escambia County Jail in August 2005 after a
disturbance at a Dollar Tree store in Ensley. Family members said he suffered
a "mental episode" and began acting strangely, knocking over boxes
in the store. Boggon was found dead the night of Aug. 29, 2005, strapped to a
restraint chair in the jail's infirmary. The lawsuit, filed in October 2005
by Smith, originally claimed that the Escambia County Sheriff's Office,
Sheriff Ron McNesby, and other Sheriff's Office and jail employees violated
Boggon's civil rights alleging that he died from "malicious" and
"sadistic" use of a Taser stun gun. Testimony at an two-day inquest
in April 2006 revealed that Boggon was shot with a Taser on Aug. 25 and again
on Aug. 26 , testimony that was at odds with an allegation contained in the
civil lawsuit. The final settlement names detention deputy Scott Driver, Lt.
Sherrie Day, Sgt. Brett Whitlock, Cpl. Roger Lastinger, and Prison Health
Services employees Trudy Burden, Dana Helms and Lisa Whitlock as defendants.
McNesby and others were later dismissed from the lawsuit. Escambia County
Judge David Ackerman cleared all officers of any criminal wrongdoing after
the inquest. All but Helms continue to work at the jail. Prison Health
Services no longer is the medical provider for the jail, but Burden and
Whitlock continue work for Armor Correctional Health Services, sheriff's
attorney Darlene Dickey said. The department�s liability insurance through the Florida
Sheriffs Association would pay for any monetary award to Smith, Dickey said.
Dr. Andi Minyard, the local medical examiner, said Boggon died from heart
disease and paranoid schizophrenia. But Minyard listed confinement to a
restraint chair and injections of Haloperidol, a tranquilizer, as
contributory causes. Because Boggon's experience in the jail
"exacerbated" the natural diseases that ultimately led to his
death, Minyard ruled the death a homicide. But she stopped short of saying
that it involved any criminal intent or activity.
Falkenburg Road
Jail
Hillsborough County, Florida
Armor Correctional (formerly run by Prison Health Services)
August 15, 2007 Tampa Tribune
A former Hillsborough County jail inmate who had cervical cancer filed a
federal lawsuit Monday saying the sheriff's former medical provider allowed
her to bleed and suffer for weeks before sending her to a hospital. Karen Sue
Ramsey says her civil rights were violated by Prison Health Services, the
Brentwood, Tenn.-based company that provided health care at the jail at the
time, and Sheriff David Gee in the capacity of his office. Ramsey, now 48,
was transferred to Hillsborough from Orange County on Nov. 1, 2004, on a
prostitution charge, records show. Her petition gives the following account:
When booked into jail, Ramsey gave a history of cervical cancer and vaginal
bleeding. A PHS nurse examined her Nov. 5, 2004, and noted the bleeding.
About three weeks later, a PHS obstetrician found a large mass extending from
Ramsey's cervix. His plan was to send her to a clinic for a biopsy, but she
was returned to her cell for five more days. The bleeding increased
dramatically, and when she complained to a detention deputy, he refused to
summon medical help, the lawsuit said. On Nov. 29, 2004, PHS sent her to a
clinic, and she was transferred to Tampa General Hospital. Doctors there
found a 2-inch mass of dying tissue. She required multiple blood transfusions
and underwent a hysterectomy. When Ramsey was returned to jail, a doctor's
post-operative plan for cervical cancer treatment was not carried out, her
lawsuit said. She was transferred to prison a few weeks later, having had no
followup appointments. Ramsey's one-year prison sentence stemmed from a third
prostitution conviction, state records show. She was released Aug. 10, 2005.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter referred calls
to the sheriff's legal counsel, Ellen Leonard, who did not immediately return
a phone call Tuesday afternoon. Messages for Ramsey's attorney, Mike
Trentalange, and PHS also were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
This year, Trentalange represented another former Hillsborough County inmate,
Kimberly Grey, who received a $1.25 million settlement from PHS and a
$350,000 settlement from the sheriff's office. Grey gave birth in an
infirmary cell March 4, 2004. Records show she complained for 12 hours of
labor pains, but that PHS staff did not send her to a hospital. Nearly three
months premature, the baby died from an infection in his lungs, according to
an autopsy. PHS served as Hillsborough's inmate medical provider until
October 2005.
April
19, 2007 AP
An inmate whose baby died after being born over a jail cell toilet has
received a $1.25 million settlement from the Tennessee company that provided
health care at the facility. Kimberly Grey sued over the death, saying she
had complained of labor pains for nearly 12 hours. But Prison Health
Services, based in Brentwood, Tenn., settled with her Wednesday, after jurors
heard two weeks of testimony and began deliberations. "We had
discussions of a settlement throughout the trial," Grey's attorney, Mike
Trentalange, said. "We were finally able to do that with the imminent
return of the jury." Prison Health Services had no comment on why it
chose to settle the case, company spokeswoman Susan Morgenstern said. The
company no longer serves as Hillsborough County's inmate medical provider.
The Hillsborough sheriff's office settled its portion of the case in November
for $350,000. In March 2004, nurses were giving Grey a pelvic exam when the
boy was born over the toilet. He died in an ambulance on the way to Tampa
General Hospital. Grey's lawsuit claimed officials displayed a deadly
indifference to the newborn's medical distress.
March
10, 2007 Tampa Tribune
A former Hillsborough County jail inmate whose baby died after being born
over a jail cell toilet in 2004 received a $350,000 settlement last fall,
according to records released Friday. Kimberly Grey kept $104,000 of the
money she received Nov. 27 in a check signed by Sheriff David Gee. The
remainder was paid to her attorney, Mike Trentalange, and covered the
expenses of expert witnesses, case consultants and documents, Trentalange
said. The settlement removed the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office as a
defendant in an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit Grey filed in December
2004. She received the check shortly after being released from state prison
in November, having served nearly two years on a prostitution conviction. On
Friday, Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said the sheriff's office decided to pay
what it considered a reasonable settlement to Grey rather than face continued
litigation costs. Attorney fees, payments to expert witnesses and document
costs already had exceeded $100,000, he said. The original court complaint
named the defendants as Prison Health Services, the Brentwood, Tenn.-based
company that provided health care at the jail at the time; the sheriff's
office and the jail's administrator; and a PHS-employed doctor and two
nurses. As of Friday, only PHS and one nurse remained as defendants, and the
case is set for trial April 2. Armor Correctional Medical Services became the
jail's health care provider in October 2005. Docobo said the settlement does
not mean the sheriff's office is admitting any negligence.
January
30, 2007 St Petersburg Times
First, police say, a 21-year-old woman was raped at Gasparilla. Then, she was
handcuffed and jailed - for two nights and two days. A jail worker with
religious objections blocked her from ingesting a morning-after pill to
prevent pregnancy, her attorney says, keeping her from taking the required
second dose for more than 24 hours longer than recommended. The Hillsborough
Sheriff's Office wouldn't talk about her medical treatment in jail. But Tampa
police are investigating why more compassion wasn't shown toward the woman after
she reported her sexual assault to law enforcement. "We may need to
revisit our policy," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. The
premedical student attended Saturday's Gasparilla parade and veered off from
her friends shortly before 1:30 p.m., police said. The Times is not naming
her because police say she is a victim of a sexual crime. As she walked north
on Howard Avenue at Swann Avenue, she was grabbed by a man with crooked teeth
and raped behind a building, McElroy said. After the assault, the man ran
off. The woman walked to her car, which was parked on the University of Tampa
campus. At 3:40 p.m., after finding her vehicle, she called police. As police
assisted her, taking her to a nurse examiner's clinic, and processing her
report, an officer found two outstanding warrants for the woman in Sarasota
County. Attorney Virlyn "Vic" Moore III of Venice said his client
was seated in the front seat of the police cruiser, on her way to the scene
of her attack when the officer learned of the warrant, cuffed her and placed
her in the back seat. "To stop the rape investigation and instead
victimize her again," Moore said. "I'm aghast, astonished and
outraged. I have never, ever heard of this happening." The officer
arrested the woman at a sergeant's instruction, McElroy said. The student had
failed to pay $4,585 restitution after a 2003 juvenile arrest, McElroy said.
Moore said his client is convinced that she paid the fine and that the
warrant was probably the result of a clerical error. The judge set no bail.
"As soon as the chief's office found out about it Monday, detectives
were assigned to get her out of jail," McElroy said. "Obviously,
we're very concerned about this young woman." Jail records show the
woman was booked about eight hours after the reported rape. A doctor had
given her Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill" approved by
the FDA, to prevent pregnancy. But Moore said a medical supervisor at the
jail refused to let her take the second of the two pills on Sunday. For the
emergency contraceptive to work, the first pill must be taken within three
days of unprotected sex and the second 12 hours after the first. The woman
had already taken the first pill soon after the assault Saturday, Moore said.
She was unable to take the second pill until Monday afternoon. The jail
allowed it, he said, after media inquiries. Debbie Carter, a spokeswoman for
the Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said she couldn't comment on the
situation because medical information is private. But she said medical service
policies are set by Armor Correctional Health Services, which contracts with
the jail. Armor's corporate offices were closed late Monday when the St.
Petersburg Times tried to reach a spokesperson.
March
18, 2006 Tampa Tribune
Clint Joshua Grey barely whimpered when he was born two years ago over a
jail cell toilet, but his death sounded an alarm about the care of pregnant
inmates in Hillsborough County. His mother, in jail on a drug charge, was
nearly seven months pregnant when she gave birth on March 5, 2004. Kimberly
Grey says her son died because a medical group was more concerned with saving
money than lives. She has pending lawsuits against the jail's former care
provider, Prison Health Services, its staff and members of the Hillsborough
County Sheriff's Office. Her attorney, Tampa lawyer Mike Trentalange, said
the death was more than a tragic set of circumstances - it was a crime.
That's why he is asking Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober to consider
filing felony charges against PHS, which is based in Tennessee, and a member
of the staff at Falkenburg Road Jail. Last week, Trentalange mailed Ober a
letter outlining why the lack of care shown by PHS constituted felony child
neglect, he said. "States' attorneys are typically reluctant to charge
corporate entities with a crime," Trentalange said. "I think that's
just so terribly wrong. Grey filed her first lawsuit in December 2004 in
federal court, claiming a violation of her civil rights. That case is
pending. She filed another last month in state court claiming malpractice.
Not long after the baby's death, the sheriff's office announced PHS had fired
a nurse practitioner for not sending Grey to a hospital sooner. That nurse
practitioner, Debbie Devine, of Tampa, said she wasn't on duty during Grey's
labor and delivery, however. She filed her own lawsuit against PHS in May.
"I was terminated because I was [PHS'] scapegoat," Devine wrote in
an affidavit. The company "blamed me for the death of an inmate's baby
who died on a night that I was not working or on-call and published
information to the press and/or third parties that wrongfully implicated me
as the cause of the baby's death." Devine's affidavits give this account
of the events leading up to the baby's death: Over 11 hours, Devine responded
to several phone pages from the jail's on-duty nurses who were treating Grey.
The first nurse told Devine it was her first time there and that she was
alone with 35 female patients, most of whom were pregnant. Devine advised the
day nurse to perform a litany of tests on Grey for her complaints, but she
later learned some were never performed. When a night nurse called her
shortly before 2 a.m., Grey had complained of bleeding. Devine told the nurse
that if the patient was bleeding, she should be hospitalized immediately. Two
hours later, Grey was still in the infirmary cell when she gave birth. Devine
said she was not officially on call, that she told the nurses that, and that
she was never paid for taking any off-duty calls. She previously told her
supervisors about the off-duty problem and offered to take calls if paid, but
Devine said she was told that would not be necessary. Devine said PHS
suspended her but never questioned her before firing her in May. The two
other nurses kept their jobs, but the sheriff's office denied them access to
the jail.
October
28, 2005 St. Petersburg Times
Another former inmate at the Hillsborough County jail has sued Prison Health
Services, the company once in charge of inmate medical care, accusing the firm
of taunting him instead of treating his injured hand. Sean Norbury, now 21,
had a severe hand fracture when he was jailed Oct. 3, 2003, according to the
lawsuit filed Wednesday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. When he arrived
at the jail, he pleaded for treatment, the suit says. But nurses taunted him,
saying he shouldn't have hit anyone if his hand hurt, the suit says. The next
day, the jail's nurses and staff saw his hand was bruised and swollen and
that he could not make a fist, the suit says. Norbury complained of pain and
asked again for treatment but was ignored, the suit says. On Oct. 8, 2003, an
X-ray was ordered but never provided, the suit says. Norbury never saw a
doctor at the jail. Two days later he was released on bail; his mother took
him to St. Joseph's Hospital, which noted his fracture, Norbury said. The
negligence of the jail's medical staff caused him undue pain and suffering
and ongoing medical problems, the suit says.
October
26, 2005 St. Petersburg Times
A former inmate at the Hillsborough County jail has sued the company once
responsible for inmate medical care, alleging that the company's staff
blocked her from treatment and as a result she went blind. Aretha Jackson
accused Prison Health Services Inc. of cruel and unusual punishment and
failing to provide necessary medical care, according to the suit filed
Tuesday in Hillsborough Circuit Court. Jackson was an inmate at the county
jail from Aug. 16, 2004, until June 1, the suit says. Court records show she
had been charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. She was
an HIV patient with vision deterioration linked to the virus, the suit says.
She was evaluated by Dr. Todd Berger, a retinal specialist, on Oct. 13, 2004,
who noted, among other complaints, one week with no vision in the right eye,
the suit says. He ordered lab work and scheduled another appointment for two
days later, the suit says. Instead, the jail "and/or the employees or
agents of PHS" ignored the follow-up plan, the suit alleges. The jail's
nurses and medical staff were untrained and unfamiliar "or
indifferent" to the proper care and management of HIV patients with
serious vision problems, the suit says, and did not have proper HIV treatment
policies and procedures. PHS refused or failed to allow Jackson follow-up
services by Berger or another qualified doctor or otherwise failed to follow
Berger's medical orders, the suit alleges, and as a result, Jackson lost her
eyesight. Late last year, Kimberly Grey filed a lawsuit that is still pending
saying she pleaded for medical help for 12 hours before giving birth to a
baby boy in March 2004, over an infirmary toilet. Grey had complications for
five days, she said. Jail officials did not call 911 until the baby arrived.
The baby later died. A yearlong examination of Prison Health Services by the
New York Times published this year revealed repeated instances of flawed and
sometimes fatal medical care in other parts of the country. But PHS is no
longer doing business at the jail infirmaries. The sheriff's office awarded
the contract last month to Armor Correctional Health Services Inc.
October
14, 2005 Tampa Tribune
A new company took over medical care this month for Hillsborough County's
jail inmates after Sheriff David Gee solicited new bids rather than renew a
contract with the previous provider. Armor Correctional Health Services Inc.
assumed control of the jail's two 50-bed infirmaries on Oct. 1, replacing
Prison Health Services. The contract will cost taxpayers $19,888,000 in its
first 12 months and total more than $60 million over the course of the
three-year agreement, Col. David Parrish said. PHS served Hillsborough jails
for for the last three years and for seven years during the 1980s. The
company came under fire and was the target of a federal lawsuit by former
Hillsborough inmate Kimberly Grey earlier this year after she gave birth in a
jail toilet after complaining for hours she felt ill. Her infant son died en
route to the hospital. Parrish said one of the motivating factors that
prompted the sheriff to open up the contract to bidding rather than to renew
with PHS was the bad publicity that the jail received because of the Grey
case. Armor is based in Broward County, where it holds a five- year contract
with that county's five-jail system. Armor's chief executive officer, Doyle
Moore, founded PHS in 1978 and stayed with the firm in various leadership
positions until 2004. Four other key officers also worked for PHS.
September
3, 2005 Tampa Tribune
Describing her attorney's request for documents as a ``fishing expedition,''
a federal judge on Friday denied a former Hillsborough County jail inmate's
motion to compel the jail's medical provider to compile and submit a
voluminous set of documents. Kimberly Grey gave birth over a Falkenburg Road
Jail toilet March 4, 2004, after complaining for 12 hours to medical and jail
staff that she was in pain, records show. An ambulance took them to a
hospital, but the infant died en route. Grey's medical care in the jail was
provided by Prison Health Services Inc., based in Brentwood, Tenn. Tampa
lawyer Michael Trentalange filed a lawsuit in December on behalf of Grey and
her child, Clint Joshua Grey. The defendants include Prison Health Services,
the sheriff and the jail's medical director. The lawsuit contends Grey's
complaints were ignored and the care she received was grossly inadequate. Trentalange asked the court to order Prison Health
Services to submit staff training records, documents on the company's
standard of patient care for 380 facilities in 38 states, and inmate
complaints and court judgments against the company. Trentalange
accused Prison Health Services of a widespread indifference to patients'
needs and said the records might prove it. ``This is not a one-time deal or a
two- time deal,'' he said. ``This is a pattern.''
December
10, 2004 Tampa Tribune
A former inmate whose baby died after being born over a toilet in Falkenburg
Road Jail filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against her caregivers and
sheriff's officials. Mike Trentalange, a Tampa lawyer representing 35-year-
old Kimberly Grey, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa on
behalf of Grey and her deceased newborn, Clint Joshua Grey. The complaint
names Prison Health Services, the Brentwood, Tenn.-based company that
provides health care at the jail; Sheriff Cal Henderson; sheriff's Col. David
Parrish, who oversees the jail system; and a PHS-employed doctor and two
nurses as defendants. The lawsuit alleges all parties ``demonstrated
deliberate indifference to [Grey's] serious medical needs and to the serious
medical needs of her son.'' It seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Medical records obtained by The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel 8,
showed that beginning March 4, Grey complained for nearly 12 hours about
labor pains and repeatedly asked to be taken to a hospital. She was leaking
fluid and running a fever, but jail nurses gave her Tylenol and refused to
call an ambulance. Nurses were performing the first pelvic exam on Grey early
in the morning March 5 when the baby was born over a toilet. An ambulance was
called, and the baby was taken to Tampa General Hospital. He died before
arriving. A medical examiner determined the baby died of a lung infection. In
October, a former Lee County jail inmate sued county officials and jail health
care providers there, alleging her fetus died because her medical needs were
ignored. Prison Health Services Inc. was
named as a defendant in that lawsuit also. Company officials could not be
reached for comment Thursday.
April
24, 2004 Tampa Tribune
Hillsborough sheriff's Col. David Parrish agreed Wednesday to consider
creating a standard operating procedure for treating pregnant inmates in
county jails. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms peppered
Parrish with questions during a board meeting, saying she was concerned about
the death of a boy born in the jail on March 5. Inmate Kimberly Grey, 34,
gave birth to the boy over an infirmary toilet. The premature baby died
before reaching Tampa General Hospital. ``Those babies being born and being
carried by those mothers deserve a fighting chance,'' Storms said.
Parrish said the death was not indicative of systemic problems. ``It was an
anomaly,'' he said. Storms said she wants Parrish to consider
developing standard procedures for treating pregnant inmates. Parrish said he
would take the idea to officials with Prison Health Services, the company
awarded a $12 million, three-year contract to provide health care at the
jail. Medical records obtained by The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel
8, show that Grey complained for nearly 12 hours about labor pains and
repeatedly asked to be taken to the hospital. Jail nurses gave her Tylenol
and were performing the first pelvic exam when the baby emerged.
An investigation led to the firing of the supervising nurse. Two other nurses
were reprimanded and asked not to return to work in the Hillsborough County
jail system. Prison Health Services made several policy and staffing
changes after the baby's death.
April
8, 2004 Tampa Tribune
A sheriff's deputy assigned to guard the infirmary at the Falkenburg Road
Jail was scolded for calling 911 after an inmate gave birth while squatting
over a jail toilet, records released Wednesday show. An investigation
into the birth of inmate Kimberly Grey's baby shows nearly two dozen
witnesses in the jail's infirmary backed her claim that she complained she
was in labor and needed to get to a hospital for 12 hours before she gave
birth. The baby died later on the way to Tampa General Hospital.
Sheriff's Col. David Parrish, who oversees the county's jail system, declined
to comment on the documents in the report or the department's investigation.
He said the sheriff's office will release a synopsis of its three-pronged
investigation Friday and will comment then. He wouldn't say whether any
disciplinary action will be taken against medical officials on duty the night
Grey, 34, gave birth. Mark Cox, executive assistant to Hillsborough
County State Attorney Mark Ober, said Ober's office decided not to file criminal
charges after reviewing evidence from the county medical examiner's office
and the sheriff's office report. ``Our position is that there wasn't
enough evidence to support criminal charges,'' Cox said. Documents
released Wednesday as part of a joint investigation by The Tampa Tribune and
WFLA, News Channel 8, show that sheriff's Deputy Holly Deluca called the
jail's command center and asked staff there to call an ambulance after Grey
gave birth to a premature baby boy at 2:45 a.m. March 5. Officials at
the command center told Deluca that an infirmary nurse would have to call
911, and when the nurses on duty didn't, Deluca made the call herself,
records show. Witnesses reported hearing Deluca's supervisor tell her ``Don't
ever do that again'' after she called 911, documents show.
April
1, 2004 Tampa Tribune
The agency that provides health care services to Hillsborough County jail
inmates has failed in key areas during numerous audits in the past year and
been fined more than $112,045 as a result, according to documents obtained by
The Tampa Tribune. Prison Health Services Inc., the Brentwood,
Tenn.-based agency awarded a $12 million, three-year contract with the
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in 2002, has been cited for repeatedly
failing to meet required standards. Those citations included not
providing adequate staffing, failing to respond quickly when inmates asked
for medical treatment and not keeping detailed records of medications given
to inmates. The agency is under investigation after the March 5 death
of a baby boy born in the Falkenburg Road Jail infirmary. PHS,
sheriff's Col. David Parrish, who oversees the jail system for the sheriff's
office, and a sheriff's office watchdog responsible for monitoring PHS all
declined to comment about the audits. Parrish said Hillsborough jails
are accredited by two national agencies, and inmates get medical care that is
among the best in the nation. But internal audit documents obtained
from the sheriff's office in a joint investigation by WFLA, News Channel 8,
and The Tampa Tribune show that of the 10 audits done by the sheriff's office
in the past year, PHS failed in 15 categories and amassed $58,000 in
fines. The company also was cited several times for failing to provide
adequate medical staff at county jail infirmaries, as required by the
contract with the sheriff's office. That cost the company $54,045 in fines
last year.
March
14, 2004 AP
A 34-year-old woman has blamed the medical treatment she received at the
Falkenburg Road Jail for causing her newborn son's death. Kimberly Grey
said she pleaded for medical help for 12 hours before giving birth to a baby
boy earlier this month over an infirmary toilet. She had been leaking
amniotic fluid for five days. But Falkenburg Road Jail medical workers
didn't call 911 until the baby arrived. The boy, named Clint, died before he
arrived at the hospital. A team of homicide detectives were
investigating whether mistakes were made. "This is not about me,
about my crimes or what I've done in my past," said Grey, who was jailed
Feb. 20 on a charge of cocaine possession. "My baby didn't have to die.
If they would have listened to my cries for help, my baby would still be
alive." Prison Health Services, the company awarded a $12 million
contract in 2002 to provide care for Hillsborough inmates, has been
investigated before. In Pinellas County, Sheriff Everett Rice terminated his
agency's relationship with PHS in 1995 after an inmate died of a heart
attack, The Tampa Tribune reported Saturday. In Polk County, the
company settled a $3 million lawsuit filed by the family of former inmate
Michael Cullaton, 31, who died in 1994 after he was beaten by corrections
officials. The lawsuit alleged he was denied proper medical
treatment. Lawrence Pomeroy, senior vice president for PHS,
called the death of Grey's child a tragedy. He said the company is doing its
own investigation, and he wouldn't comment further. Hillsborough
sheriff's Col. David Parrish, who oversees the jail, said he is happy with
the care provided by PHS. (AP)
Florida
Attorney General's Office
Tallahassee, Florida
April 1, 2004 St Petersburg Times
The Attorney General's Office has reached a $5-million Medicaid fraud
settlement with a company that provides or provided health services for some
Florida prisons and county jails, including the Citrus County jail.
Attorney General Charlie Crist on Wednesday announced the settlement with
EMSA Limited Partnership, also known as Prison Health Services, which does
business with the state prison system, the Department of Juvenile Justice and
several county jails. Corrections Corporation of America, which manages
the Citrus County jail, has dropped its contract with the
company.
February 23, 2004 Palm Beach Post
The
Florida Attorney General's Office is investigating illegal Medicaid billings
for prison and jail inmate treatment and is targeting two longtime medical
contractors at jails in Palm Beach, St. Lucie and 18 other counties,
according to their corporate parent. Based on "recent discussions"
with the attorney general's office, America Service Group says it expects the
state to pursue a claim against two of its subsidiaries: Prison Health
Services Inc., the Palm Beach County Jail's medical provider, and EMSA
Correctional Services, which held the Palm Beach and St. Lucie contracts
through most of the 1990s before being bought out by Prison Health Services
in 1999. The claim, based on Medicaid billings from December 1998 to
now, could have a "material impact" on America Service Group's
finances, the Tennessee-based conglomerate said in statements to stockholders
and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Inadvertently,
some claims went through to Medicaid for inmates," company general
counsel Jean Byassee said. "That's not allowed. We have a strict policy
against that." The federal government considers jail and
prison inmates wards of the state and not eligible for most Medicare and
Medicaid payments. America Service Group characterized the Florida
Medicaid investigation as "industry-wide," indicating other
inmate-care providers also are under scrutiny. The company's two main
competitors are Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources, which provides
inmate care at 13 South Florida state prisons, and St. Louis-based
Correctional Medical Services, which has jail contracts with Duval and Polk
counties. Ken Fields, spokesman for Correctional Medical Services, said
a state investigator visited the Polk County Jail several months ago looking
for records related to the previous medical contractor: Prison Health Services.
Polk County is involved in a legal fight with Prison Health Services over
payment of a $1.1 million claim filed by the family of an inmate who was
beaten by deputies and died later because of what a court called negligence
by the company. "We understood at that time the review did not
focus on our service at that jail," Fields said. "We haven't
received any information or communication that would indicate we are involved
in or a subject of an investigation. "CMS does not and has not
billed or sought reimbursement from Medicaid for inmate care." The
roots of the investigation go back to 1997, when The Palm Beach Post
reported that EMSA had encouraged a hospital and a drug company to bill
Medicaid, the federal health-care program for low-income people, for
treatment of jail inmates in St. Lucie County. Under the Social
Security Act, Medicaid is supposed to be available only to people who have no
other health-care coverage. A person may be eligible for Medicaid, but once
in custody, that person is a ward of the state, and the state -- or the local
sheriff -- becomes responsible for inmates' food, clothing, shelter and
medical care. The only exception is when an inmate who qualifies for
Medicaid is admitted as a patient to a medical institution such as a
hospital, nursing home or juvenile psychiatric care facility. The
investigation began when Bob Butterworth, the attorney general in 1997, asked
the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department to
handle the probe of billings by EMSA because his wife, Marta Prado, was the
company's president. "I took my agency out of it completely,"
Butterworth said in an interview last week. "I told my staff to turn it
over to the feds."
Florida City Youth
Center
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Premier Behavioral Solutions
May 27, 2005 Tallahassee Democrat
A new $12 million center, surrounded by razor wire on the edge of the
Everglades west of Miami, will soon house up to 80 high-risk teens, letting
the Juvenile Justice Department close two aging facilities nearby, state
officials said Thursday. Being
closed are the Florida City Youth Center and Southern Glades Youth Camp, both
in far southwestern Miami-Dade County. The two being closed are run by the
same company that manages the embattled Florida Institute for Girls in Palm
Beach County, which was already planned for closure later this year. A week
before the closure of the Florida Institute for Girls was announced, the
department criticized the quality of mental-health services provided by the
contract company. No one answered the phone at Premier's offices late
Thursday.
Florida Civil
Commitment Center
Arcadia, Florida
GEO Group (formerly Liberty Behavioral Health, Prison Health Services)
May 3, 2011 Herald Tribune
The state has moved to revoke the license of a mental health counselor at
an Arcadia facility for sexually violent predators, almost a year after she
was accused of having sex 17 times with an inmate. Leanne Paynter, 42,
resigned from her job as a group therapy leader at the Florida Civil
Commitment Center in May 2010 after her employer learned of her relationship
with a resident in his 40s who had been convicted of sexual battery. In
April, the Department of Health petitioned the board that oversees mental
health counselors to discipline Paynter. According to the petition, Paynter
admitted she began making personal phone calls to the inmate in September
2009, gave him a silver necklace and asked him to be tested for HIV; then met
with him in her office for sex 17 times. Security cameras recorded the pair
on four of these occasions. Paynter's former employer, the GEO Group Inc.,
has managed the 720-bed facility since July 2006. It replaced another
contractor when the center's high turnover rate was attributed to female
employees leaving their jobs after engaging in sex with the offenders.
May
26, 2010 Highlands Today
A Sebring woman tendered her resignation at a DeSoto County treatment
facility for sexually violent predators after being arrested last week on a charge
of sexual misconduct with a resident. Leanne Paynter, 42, of 4426 Mercado
Drive, Sebring, is accused of engaging in sexual activity with a resident at
the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), according to the arrest report.
The FCCC is a 660-bed secure treatment facility for sexual predators and
treats individuals who have been detained or civilly committed under the
Sexually Violent Predator Act, according to information from The GEO Group
Web site. It contracts with the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Investigators reportedly watched a May 7 security video where the resident is
allegedly seen going into a cubicle directly across from Paynter's and then
disappearing on the floor behind a divider wall. Both Paynter and the man
remained on the floor for several hours, the report stated. The tape showed
her leave the office at approximately 9:17 p.m. There were allegedly three
previous dates where security video showed Paynter and the man engaging in
the same type of behavior. The warrant for Paynter's arrest was obtained on
May 19, the same day she went to the FCCC to tender her resignation,
according to the report. She declined to make any statements about the
allegations.
February
12, 2008 Sun-Herald
Deputies arrested Florida Civil Commitment Center resident George Wilson
Williams, 44, on charges related to aiding and abetting the recent of escape
of 59-year-old fellow center resident Bruce Young. Williams is charged with
escape while in lawful custody, principle in the first degree. No bond is
set. The center houses and treats some of Florida's worst sexual predators --
who are involuntarily civilly committed by the state for an indeterminate
length of time in the remote, high-security facility. DeSoto County Sheriff's
Office reports say Young told interrogators it was Williams who taught him
about the construction of the center's fence and how to bypass its alarm
systems. The center has more than a dozen buildings spread out on its campus,
which lies near the DeSoto Correctional Institution on State Road 70. A
level-four security fence surrounds the center with double razor-wire fences.
Reports reveal Williams took part in maintenance work at the facility and was
familiar with how the center's outer fences were installed. Williams reportedly
knew the fence's electronic surveillance beam stopped near a
"sally-port" at the south side at the facility, which is where
Young breached the fence. Later, Young said he chose that weak point based on
Williams' information. Williams denied giving any information to Young, and
reports say he accused Young of lying. Deputies told Williams he had nothing
to gain by lying, to which Williams said, "do what you have to do, and
try and arrest me if you want. The GEO Group, a private company specializing
in sex offender treatment, is contracted to administer the center for the
Florida Department of Children and Families. GEO Group spokesman Pablo Paez
said an internal investigation into Young's escape is still under way.
"Given the security nature of the investigation, we may not be able to
publicly disclose findings," Paez said. "We will be taking the
necessary corrective actions in tandem with (the department). We are
confident the facility has taken the necessary steps, and will continue to
take steps as necessary, to insure to safety and security of the
facility."
February
10, 2008 WINK
Escaped sexual predator Bruce Young has been captured by the Arcadia
Police Department. It is a story you saw first on WINK. The DeSoto County
Sheriff's Office tells WINK News, Young was captured just two blocks away
from their Sheriff's Headquarters. Arcadia Police tell WINK News Young was
spot running across a street. A patrolman questioned Young and asked for his
name. Young gave a fake name to the patrolman. The patrolman was able to
realize that it was in fact Young. Young was then taken into custody without
any incident. After being take into custody, Young requested a drink of
water. Young escaped from the Arcadia-based Florida Civil Commitment Center.
The center is run by private firm, GEO Group Incorporated. Residents at the
Florida Civil Commitment Center have served their time in state prisons for
the their crimes, but are considered to be too dangerous to be released into
the public.
February
9, 2008 St Petersburg Times
A man convicted of raping sedated patients at a Citrus County hospital
escaped from a detention center early Friday. Bruce Alan Young, 59,
disappeared about 1:30 a.m. from the Florida Civil Commitment Center in
Arcadia, southeast of Sarasota. Law enforcement from the DeSoto County
Sheriff's Office and the Department of Corrections used dogs to search for
Young all day but had not found him late Friday. He is considered dangerous.
Pablo Paez, a spokesman for the company that has run the center since 2006,
would not specify how Young escaped, saying the cause was under
investigation. This was the first escape since the company took over the
operation of the facility, which has 680 beds and houses 635 residents, Paez
said. DeSoto County Sheriff Vernon Keen told the Charlotte Sun that a breach
was found in the security fence, but deputies couldn't find a track leading
away from it. The center, which has held notorious criminals such as
"Hyde Park Rapist" Bobby Joe Helms, confines and treats sexual
offenders who have served their sentences but are considered too dangerous to
go free. The facility opened after the Legislature passed the Jimmy Ryce Act,
named for a 9-year-old Miami-Dade County boy who was killed by a child
molester, in 1998. It is the only facility of its kind in the state. When the
facility was run by a different contractor, Liberty Behavioral Health Corp.,
state investigators reported a chaotic environment in which inmates brewed
alcohol, fought and bought drugs from corrupt staff members. In 2004, eight
inmates sued the state, saying they did not receive the mental health
treatment that would help them get released. But the new contractor, GEO
Group Inc., has been doing a good job, Department of Children and Families
spokeswoman Erin Geraghty said.
April
14, 2007 Sun Herald
One state agency's requirement that a contractor running Florida's
treatment center for sexually violent predators must employ at least 30
certified prison guards has been blocked by another state agency. The Florida
Department of Law Enforcement, which certifies law enforcement officers, has
refused to certify any employees to work at the Florida Civil Commitment
Center in DeSoto County, even though the employees have completed the courses
and passed a test required for certification, state officials confirmed this
week. That creates a problem for GEO Care, the contractor that runs the
center for the state Department of Children and Families. Under the terms of
its DCF contract, GEO is required to employ state- certified correctional
officers to provide security within the center's compound, located in a
former state prison 10 miles east of Arcadia. But the FDLE refused to certify
GEO's correctional officer trainees because their jobs at the civil center
were not "sworn positions," said Kristen Peruzluha, spokeswoman for
the FDLE. The state only certifies officers who are to be employed in law
enforcement positions -- and deactivates the certification for those who, for
any reason, fail to maintain such employment, Peruzluha said. "The issue
is simply that certified officers must be employed or must volunteer in some
capacity in a position that is designated as a law enforcement
position," said Al Zimmerman, spokesman for the DCF. "GEO is
exploring options to meet the requirement." For a number of FCCC
residents, however, the contract problem illustrates a conflict over whether
the center functions as a treatment center or prison, according to Tom Panno,
a resident of the FCCC. The center was established by the Florida Legislature's
1998 Jimmy Ryce Act. The act calls for sexually violent predators to be
detained after they complete their prison sentences in a secured institution
for treatment and control. "The fundamental issue here is the
same," Panno said. "What are we? Are we a mental health facility?
Are we correctional?" The Supreme Court, in a 1995 Kansas decision,
ruled that sexual offenders could be committed to an institution after
serving their prison terms, provided the purpose of the commitment was for
treatment, not punishment. Panno argues the FCCC exceeds that legal boundary
because treatment is limited and security is maximal. Only about 150 of the
center's 545 residents participate in treatment. "This is more secure
than any prison I've been in my life," added Panno, who served in prison
from 1986 to 2005 on convictions for kidnapping and committing a lewd act
upon a child. Panno said he spent time in the facility before it was
converted from a state prison into the treatment center. The center is
equipped with more fences and barbed wire, and the movement of residents is
more restricted now, he said. "Our movement is restricted to almost
nothing without escort," he said. "Now we are treated like
terrorists at Guantanamo." The DCF required GEO to employ certified
correctional officers when the company was hired to take over the operation
of the FCCC in July 2006. "A certified correctional officer has been
through the correctional officer academy and has extensive training that is
beneficial for security posts at FCCC," said Al Zimmerman, spokesman for
the DCF. Certified correctional officers have also been employed at the
center in the past. The center's former operator, Liberty Health Care, hired
a private security firm to provide 124 correctional officers from February 2005
to June 2006. The officers were hired after the state Department of
Corrections intervened to quell a sit-in protest and other disruptive
activities within the facility. In June 2006, GEO hired the DOC under a
contract to provide security officers. That lasted until last month, when the
company planned to have its own employees certified for the security role.
Attempts to contact GEO officials at both the FCCC and GEO headquarters in
Boca Raton for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. GEO Care is a subsidiary
of GEO Group, which provides 48,000 beds in 58 institutions, including
prisons, immigration detention facilities and mental institutions in the
U.S., Australia, South Africa and Canada. GEO Care is paid about $20 million
per year to operate the FCCC and build a $60 million, 660-bed facility, to be
constructed near Arcadia in 2008. The company also operates the South Florida
Evaluation and Treatment Center in Miami and the Treasure Coast Forensic
Treatment Center in Martin County.
March
5, 2007 Herald Tribune
Inside a privately run treatment center here for pedophiles and rapists
who have completed their prison sentences, where they are supposed to reflect
on their crimes and learn to control their sexual urges, bikini posters were
pinned to walls. Two men took their shirts off, rubbed each other’s backs and
held hands, while others disappeared together into dormitory rooms. Some of
the sex offenders appeared to be drunk from homemade “buck” liquor secretly
brewed and sold here. And some of the center’s employees, who openly ignored
the breaking of rules (“As long as they are happy, we let them go,” one
explained), reported that a high turnover rate among staff members was mostly
because of female employees leaving their jobs after having had sex with the
offenders. These and other observations were included in a memorandum
composed in 2004 by six employees on loan here from Pennsylvania. They had
been dispatched by the Liberty Behavioral Health Corporation, which ran the
facility, the Florida Civil Commitment Center, and a facility in
Pennsylvania. Nineteen states have laws that allow them to confine or
restrict sex criminals beyond prison in a trend that is expanding around the
country, with legislators in New York last week announcing agreement on a new
civil commitment law there. The courts have upheld the constitutionality of
such laws in part because they are meant to furnish treatment where possible.
Most of the states run their own centers to hold and treat such predators,
generally with meager results, but at a time when private solutions are
popular for prisons, toll roads and other state functions, a few have teamed
with private industry. Yet as the story of the center here in Arcadia
reveals, even a $19 million partnership between the state and a company that
describes itself as “a national leader in the field of specialized sex
offender treatment and management” failed to meet a central purpose: treating
sex offenders so they would be well enough to return to society. “It was like
walking into a war zone,” Jared Lamantia, one of the visiting workers who
signed the memorandum, recalled in an interview. “The residents in that place
ran the whole facility.” The memorandum is among thousands of pages of public
and private documents about the Florida center reviewed by The New York
Times, providing a rare window into the lives of civilly committed sexual
predators and the people who guard and treat them. While programs like
Florida’s are popular because they keep sex offenders locked away past their
prison terms, they cost far more than prison — in the case of Florida, on
average twice as much — with no measurable benefit beyond confinement. For
more than seven years, Liberty was in charge of almost every facet of the
Florida center, where more than 500 men are held beyond their criminal
sentences in a crowded former prison surrounded by cow pastures. That ended
last June in a cloud of claims and counterclaims, investigations and
legislative hearings. By the end, after the state did not renew Liberty’s
contract, the Florida Department of Children and Families was virtually at
war with the company, with each side pinning blame on the other — the state
accused of failing to properly finance the center, the company accused of
failing to manage it. “The place is a cesspool of despair and depression and
drug abuse — of people being lost,” said Don Sweeney, a mental health
counselor in St. Petersburg who treats some former residents of the center,
reflecting on Liberty’s tenure there. Many outside experts, even some of the
center’s critics, said the state’s insufficient financing of the center made
Florida as much to blame as Liberty for the many failings, many of which are
common in other states. Florida spends less than $42,000 a year per resident,
one of the lowest rates in the country. “There was no money to support that
facility and to do what had to be done,” Dr. Robert Bellino, a psychiatrist
who worked at the center here, said of the company. “It’s a political
football. They were always turning the screws on Liberty — ‘Cut this, cut
that, don’t spend this, don’t spend that.’ ” Ambitious Private Contractors:
As legislators across the nation have answered public outrage about heinous
sex crimes with civil commitment laws, a bevy of companies and well-paid
specialists have cropped up like constellations around the expanding demand.
Liberty Behavioral Health and Liberty Healthcare Corporation, affiliates with
common ownership, have emerged as the most ambitious private contractors in
the commitment center arena. As recently as last year, the affiliates had
accumulated contracts worth up to $26 million a year in California, Illinois,
Pennsylvania and Florida, which was the biggest both in terms of compensation
and responsibility. Growing out of a company that provided emergency room
employees to hospitals starting in the mid 1970s, Liberty Healthcare
Corporation was founded in 1986 as a provider of mental health, developmental
disability and primary care services. In its earliest days, it had no
experience treating sex offenders and, its officials said, there was never a
particular moment when company officials said to one another, “Let’s go into
the sex offender business.” Yet as Shan Jumper, Liberty’s clinical director
in Illinois, tells it, after “analyzing market trends and seeing what areas
they could jump into,” Liberty executives apparently recognized the
potential. By 1998, the company, which is privately held and based in Bala
Cynwyd, Pa., won its first contract to provide services inside a civil commitment
center, in Illinois. Rick Robinson, executive vice president and chief
operating officer of Liberty Healthcare, described the move as a natural
outgrowth of its work, which included creating an adolescent sex offender
unit in an Arkansas hospital in 1995. The states that have hired private
companies reason that outside experts have more background in the complex
realm of detaining and treating sex offenders than most public workers, and
in several states where Liberty holds contracts, officials say they have been
impressed with the company’s expertise. But at the Florida center, even
beyond a string of embarrassing failures — an escape, the death of an
offender after a fight with another over a bag of chips, a sit-in that the
state ultimately quashed with hundreds of law enforcement officers — the
treatment record was poor. In Liberty’s tenure, only one of the hundreds of
men here progressed far enough in therapy to earn a recommendation from
company clinicians that he be released. At various points, many residents
were not attending the group therapy specifically addressing sex offending;
in May 2005, 35 percent of the center’s 484 residents fell into that
category. In written responses to questions from The New York Times, as well
as court depositions, legislative testimony, e-mail messages, letters and
memorandums, Liberty defended its treatment record, blamed Florida as
insufficiently financing its commitment program and, for years, failing to
define exactly what it expected of Liberty. Early Praise and Promise:
Liberty’s early tenure in Florida won praise from independent evaluators who
said the treatment program showed promise. Over the first four years the
state asked for few changes, and on matters such as the treatment of mentally
ill residents, had a “just do the best you can” attitude, as Susan Keenan
Nayda, vice president of operations for behavioral health programs at
Liberty, said in a court deposition. But problems began to surface publicly
in June 2000 in dramatic fashion when a resident escaped in a helicopter that
an accomplice had landed inside the center’s perimeter. The helicopter
crashed after departing with the escapee, who was caught 26 hours later in a
canal with the pilot, 2 handguns and 28 rounds of ammunition. The pilot, a
longtime friend, had visited the escapee 10 times in the five months before
the escape. The bizarre incident raised worrisome questions and the first
hints of a conflict over the center’s combined goals of security and
treatment. Too few Liberty staff members were in the yard when the escape
occurred, a report by state officials found, and the center’s director had
ordered razor wire removed from a security fence because, he said, the wire
was damaging volleyballs from a nearby court the residents used. The report also
complained about the state’s role, questioning why corrections officers, who
were in charge of security on the perimeter, were unarmed. Commitment centers
across the country have wavered between following the legal mandate to run a
therapeutic program, as laid out by the courts, and the politically
acceptable alternative of a more prisonlike one. In Florida, the conflict
emerged again and again. The state’s emphasis swung, at various points,
toward and away from a “correctional” approach, company officials suggested.
At one point, Ms. Nayda told a Florida State Senate committee that even she
was not entirely sure what the center was trying to be. “There’s a little bit
of confusion,” Ms. Nayda said. “What is this place? Is it a prison? Is it a
mental health center? A residential treatment facility where people are
clients? What is it? We ask that question sometimes too. We really don’t have
a lot of guidance around what it is the state wants the facility to be, and
we would encourage the state to look at that.” By the end of 2000, the state
moved its civil commitment center from Martin County on the state’s East
Coast to its current home here in Arcadia, a 14-acre compound with eight
dormitories and other buildings. From there, the population rose swiftly,
even as staff levels mostly stayed put. Liberty repeatedly sought more money
from the state for the center’s operations, for special treatment of its
large severely mentally ill population and for creation of a supervised
release program. Asked to respond to Liberty’s complaints about financing,
Rod Hall, director of the mental health program office for the state
Department of Children and Families, said, “The funding provided to operate
the facility was the amount negotiated and agreed upon by Liberty prior to
its signing of the contracts.” Liberty’s monthly reports began suggesting
that the company was feeling the crunch. The reports noted frequent troubling
incidents: residents having sex, assaulting staff members and each another,
hiding knives in their rooms. Liberty also said it faced an unusual challenge
in Florida, where hundreds of the center’s residents are not formally
committed, but awaiting trials for commitment. These “detainees,” the company
said, often reject treatment to focus on their legal battles. Some critics,
meanwhile, began questioning the treatment. Ted Shaw, a forensic psychologist
who evaluates civilly committed sex offenders, complained that Liberty held
men back in treatment as punishment for minor infractions. Liberty officials
deny the allegations, but Michael Canty, a child molester who was detained at
the center but was never formally committed, concurred with Dr. Shaw, saying
Liberty staff members would “harass, taunt — try to get you in trouble so you
would get kicked out of treatment.” Rising Tensions, and Violence: By the
time the six workers from Liberty’s facility in Pennsylvania arrived here in
2004, tensions inside the center and with the state authorities were reaching
a peak. In April of that year, a mentally ill man jumped off the center’s
roof and was injured after staff members rushed at him to get him down. In
June, a resident stabbed another 12 times and the staff had residents mop up
the blood, destroying evidence before outside law enforcement officials
arrived, an internal report showed. “It was basically a free-for-all prison,
out of control,” said Josh Stiles, another of the visiting workers from
Pennsylvania. Liberty officials said they investigated and immediately took
“appropriate actions” regarding all that their Pennsylvania employees
reported. But they also said the atmosphere in the center at the time was
“probably very conducive for allegations that were either unfounded or
exaggerated,” and noted that a second group from the Pennsylvania facility,
including its director, returned to Florida several weeks later and reported
no similar problems. Nonetheless, Lynda Sommers, a consultant hired by the
state to monitor the facility over a number of years, also found it in
disarray in the period after the second Pennsylvania group. Ms. Sommers
reported suspected sexual relationships between staff members and offenders,
staff members who slept on the job, crumbling facilities, and vague policies
on punishing troublemakers and treating the mentally ill. Liberty’s own
internal investigator, Kenneth Dudding, was also deeply critical of hiring
decisions for low-level staff members, whose salaries started at a base rate
of $12.89 an hour. “You could have worked at Wal-Mart last week, they put you
in front of a computer to read policy for a few hours, then they send you to
a dorm and let you go,” said Mr. Dudding, who left after clashing with
Liberty’s management. As for female security workers, Mr. Dudding said they
were easily manipulated by the sex offenders. “It’s like putting candy in
front of a baby,” he said. Mr. Dudding said he ultimately called a state
whistle-blower’s hot line. The inspector general of the Department of
Children and Families investigated and issued stinging reports, saying that
the facility’s safety director had tried to cover up wrongdoing by tampering
with evidence, that an employee was suspected of selling marijuana, and that
alcohol was being made and sold there. Liberty officials said the safety
director was fired for “failure to properly function in her role” before they
received the inspector general’s critique, and they said they fired the
worker suspected of drug sales — on whom no contraband was found — for an
unrelated reason. Then a group of residents, angry when the fire marshal demanded
that they not have so many personal items, moved into a yard. For months, the
staff could not persuade them to go back to their rooms, creating a scene one
law enforcement officer called “Woodstock gone amok.” Liberty said it first
asked for help from the Department of Corrections and was turned down, only
to ultimately get a response the company called “excessive.” In February
2005, several hundred corrections and law enforcement officers in riot gear
arrived and restored order. That spring, Liberty’s requests to the state grew
more insistent. The company asked for $31.1 million for the next fiscal year;
it received $18.7 million, the same as the year before. By April, having
described an “alarming” set of “chronic and serious” issues at the facility,
the state was preparing to end its relationship with Liberty. New Company
Takes Over: In the end, the struggle between security and treatment may help
explain Liberty’s doomed tenure at the Florida center. “I had imagined that
we would be trying to do research or publish or be innovative or at least use
state-of-the-art equipment,” said Dean Cauley, a former therapist at the
center. “When I arrived, the equipment wasn’t being used, tests were outdated
and treatment was very much secondary to maintaining security.” Liberty
officials said that treating patients had always been their company’s reason
for being. Most of the company leaders, including Dr. Herbert T. Caskey, the
founder, were originally clinicians, not business people. If states wanted
simply to lock up, not treat, the worst sexual predators, Kenneth Carabello,
Liberty’s director of regional operations for California and the western
United States, said, “We’d let somebody else do this.” Despite the center’s
history, Don Ryce, the father of Jimmy Ryce, the 9-year-old boy whose 1995
rape and murder spurred the Florida Legislature to adopt a civil commitment
law in his name three years later, said the law’s “overall intention” had
been accomplished. “There are a lot of people who are confined who otherwise
I guarantee you would be out there reoffending,” Mr. Ryce said, though he
added, “I’m not going to pretend there aren’t serious problems that need to
be addressed.” As Liberty departed, Florida picked another private company,
the GEO Group Inc., to run the center here. The GEO Group, once known as
Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, has more than 23 years of experience
running prisons. Of 63 centers GEO operates worldwide, 58 are correctional
and detention facilities. Last fall, under GEO’s watch, a new glimpse of
turmoil began emerging. Early one morning, a resident said he was attacked by
another in his bunk. His screaming, kicking and banging on his door went
unanswered for almost 15 minutes before staff members responded, other
residents said. GEO officials said workers from the company and the
Department of Corrections “responded promptly” to what GEO described as a
“resident upon resident” fight, an assessment echoed in a DeSoto County
sheriff’s report. But some 100 residents signed a letter calling for an end
to the practice of housing two residents in a single room. The center “is
supposed to be a mental health facility, not a prison,” the residents wrote.
“We are to be treated as patients, not state convicts.”
November
2, 2006 Sun-Herald
At about 3 a.m. Saturday, many of the 190 residents incarcerated two to a
cell in "D-Dorm" at the Florida Civil Commitment Center awoke to
the sounds of "screaming and banging," as one man began assaulting
another in his bunk, according to written and verbal reports from residents.
The assault raged on for almost 15 minutes, prompting complaints from the
residents that the FCCC is overcrowded and understaffed. More than 100 of the
D-Dorm residents signed a letter Monday expressing their concerns. The letter
was sent to Dr. Teion L. Wells Harrison, director of the sexually violent
predator program for the Florida Department of Children and Families. The
letter calls for an end to "double-celling," the practice of
placing two residents in a single cell. The residents also request that GEO
Group, the contractor hired by the DCF to operate the facility, provide more
security staffers so they can be "on the floor at all times roving from
quad to quad." "Disturbingly, the victim cried out for emergency
assistance for almost 15 minutes; screaming, kicking and banging his cell
door, without staff response," stated the letter. The DCF is responsible
for carrying out the provisions of the state's 1998 Jimmy Ryce Act, which
calls for sexual offenders with mental disorders to be committed to an
institution for control and treatment after they serve their prison terms.
The DCF in July replaced the former contractor, Liberty, with GEO Group. The
Oct. 28 assault was the third in two days at the center, according to the
letter. The other assaults included two back-to-back fights between residents
in Quad 2 of F-Dorm on Oct. 26. That section of the dorm houses those with
severe mental illnesses or "special needs," according to the
letter. In the most recent assault, a DeSoto County Sheriff's deputy was
dispatched the day after the incident to respond to a report of simple
battery.
July
13, 2006 Sun-Herald
The Florida Civil Commitment Center near Arcadia underwent a changing of the
guard this week -- without changing many of the guards. A new contractor, the
GEO Group of Boca Raton, has taken over the operation of the facility from
the former contractor, Liberty of Philadelphia. But GEO has hired 182 of
Liberty's former employees, under a 90-day probation agreement in which the
employees have to prove themselves, said Timothy Budz, GEO facility
administrator. "We did that in three days," Budz said Wednesday.
"The transition has progressed very well." Established by the
Legislature's 1998 Jimmy Ryce Act, the center houses some 545 violence sex
offenders. It is located 10 miles east of Arcadia in a former state prison.
June
19, 2006 Miami Herald
Holding the razor in his mouth, Ernest Contrillo ran the blade over his
right wrist seven times as blood flowed from the crooked wounds. It wasn't
the first time he mutilated himself inside the Florida Civil Commitment
Center. A year earlier in the center, Contrillo, 52, lost his left arm to a
gangrene infection he coaxed along by severing his flesh. State records show
that for four decades Contrillo had sought comfort in pain, yet he managed to
obtain razor blades and cut himself numerous times in what's supposed to be a
secure mental health facility for Florida's most menacing sexual predators.
Since it opened in 1999, the center -- created to treat men for their sexual
disorders after serving prison terms -- has struggled to meet its most basic
mission, let alone deal with the medical needs of men like Contrillo. After
his arm was amputated, he spent 10 days in the hospital because caregivers
did not keep him on antibiotics. In fact, a four-month review of monitoring
reports, court cases and internal documents show so many breakdowns in
medical and mental care that drugs often were dispensed without doctors'
approval, men languished without treatment, and in some cases, those with
severe psychological disorders were forced into solitary confinement -- some
never getting treatment for sexual problems. Gaps in care were often noted
during state reviews, but problems continued. One man was given a powerful antipsychotic
drug even though he was not diagnosed with a mental illness. Another was left
in an infirmary for days while urine in his bedpan collected mold. ''All I
ever heard from everybody was that they were sexual predators. But they're
also human,'' said Beverly Babb, a former nurse who quit the center in 2004
after a year. Said Douglas Shadle, a psychiatrist who left because of
conditions: ``This is an asylum-era institution that has no place in this
century.'' Despite problems, state lawmakers repeatedly refused requests to
adequately fund the center. But they waived laws that require the civil
commitment facility to meet state medical and mental care standards. Seven
years later, those decisions have exposed the state to a class-action lawsuit
that places the entire program in jeopardy and exposes taxpayers to millions
in potential court fines, a Miami Herald investigation has found. Consider: •
For years, medical care has been plagued by shoddy record keeping, failure to
provide basic checkups, delayed treatment of serious illnesses and potential
violations of state and federal laws. • Crucial medications, such as powerful
psychotropic and cancer drugs, were often not available or provided to
residents without proper documentation. • Records show the center's use of
solitary confinement defies state and federal guidelines. • As the facility
began filling up with mentally ill men, the private contractor hired to run
the center, Liberty Behavioral Health, asked the state five times for more
money and staff to provide psychiatric care. Each time, the state balked. •
As the center's population grew by more than 300 percent, its funding
increased just 46 percent, leaving it to operate on a budget that's less than
half of those found at other mental health facilities in Florida. • The
facility's staffing levels are now less than half of similar programs in
other states. ''Anytime offenders are put in the position where they can
pretend to have the moral high ground, then we have done something very
stupid,'' said Don Ryce, the father of 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce, whose 1995
abduction, rape and murder led to the creation of Florida's civil commitment
law, known as the Jimmy Ryce Act. BLAME GAME With Liberty's contract set to
expire June 30, the Florida Department of Children & Families -- the
agency that runs the program -- has the difficult job of cleaning up a
treatment center it allowed to deteriorate during the past seven years. DCF
lays most of the blame for the center's woes on its Pennsylvania-based contractor
and has decided to manage the center until January 2007, when the
international corrections company GEO Group is slated to take over the
contract. But Liberty, which holds similar contracts in four other states,
says the agency's decisions and the state's refusal to adequately fund the
program caused it to falter. ''[Now] that the Department of Children &
Families has chosen to publicly denounce our company and turn Liberty into a
scapegoat for a legacy of its own poor decisions, we are prepared to speak out,''
Sue Nayda, Liberty's vice president, wrote in a 9-page letter to The Miami
Herald on June 9. Liberty says that since the program began, the DCF
''abdicated its responsibilities to establish formal, fundamental
administrative rules, regulations or standards to govern the program,''
leaving Liberty to fend for itself as it struggled to treat offenders with a
shoestring staff. CLASS-ACTION SUIT Florida now faces a class-action lawsuit
that claims the center is failing to provide constitutionally adequate care.
One other state with a similar program, Washington, has racked up $10 million
in court fines after losing a similar class-action case in 1992 -- and it
spends twice as much per offender as Florida. Already, the center in
Northwest Florida lost one state case over its disciplinary methods. Four
offenders at the facility filed suit in DeSoto County Circuit Court in 2002,
claiming the center violated their rights by placing them in confinement
without telling them why or allowing them to contact lawyers. Ruling in favor
of the offenders, DeSoto County Circuit Court Judge Vincent T. Hall found the
center not only broke rules governing mental health facilities, but also
state prisons and standards set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court.
June
8, 2006 Sun-Herald
The troubled Florida Civil Commitment Center will soon be under new
management. The Florida Department of Children and Families Tuesday issued a
notice of its intent to award a contract to the GEO Group Inc. and its
subsidiary, GEO Care, to run the 545-bed institution for sexually violent
predators, located 10 miles east of Arcadia. GEO would replace Liberty
Behavioral Health, which has operated the facility for the past six years.
Liberty's contract expires June 30. The proposed deal calls for GEO to take
over the facility in January. "We are looking forward to working with
the state and the community in bringing high-quality management services to
this community," said Pablo Paez, GEO spokesman.
June
2, 2006 Sun-Herald
When its contract expires June 30, the contractor operating a state
treatment center for sexually violent predators near Arcadia will be shown
the door. The Florida Department of Children and Families, which manages the
Florida Civil Commitment Center, will not retain Liberty Behavioral Health to
run the facility until a new contractor can be hired, said Tim Bottcher,
spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families. The process to
award a new contract and build a new facility could take six months or more.
To run the facility in the interim, the state will assign perhaps dozens of
Department of Corrections officers from prisons in surrounding counties to
provide security. And a temporary employee service will provide other
workers, Bottcher indicated. Technically, Liberty is still in the running for
the new contract. But the DCF's inspector general in a past investigation
cited numerous incidents of violent assaults, drug abuse, alcohol bootlegging
and inappropriate behavior involving both residents and staffers. "I
don't think it's any secret we haven't been happy with Liberty's performance
as far as the current contract is concerned," Bottcher said. The change
in center management has Liberty's local employees worried about both their
jobs and the treatment of the residents, said John Brosnihan, a security
supervisor for Liberty. Liberty was the only bidder at the time the center
was started. A competing firm had declined to bid because of the facility
proposed for the center -- in a defunct state prison, an officer of the firm,
Geo Group, said in a past interview. In 2005, the Legislature passed a bill
that authorized the DCF to hire a contractor to both build and operate a new
600-bed center. The DCF's bidding process was derailed, however, after
Liberty challenged the bid specifications for alleged bid-rigging. That
litigation was recently resolved and now the bidding selection process will
get under way, Bottcher said. Liberty and the Geo Group have submitted bids.
Bottcher said a site for the new facility has not been identified, but it
will likely be located within the Arcadia area. Prison Health Services will
be hired to provide health care and clinical treatment until the contract is
awarded. The DCF is still "in talks" with a temporary employment
service to fill other roles in the interim, Bottcher said.
February
3, 2006 Sun Herald
Chronic problems with the way Florida deals with its sexually violent
predators by detaining them in a prison-like institution called the Florida
Civil Commitment Center have been reported to state officials, lawmakers and
the governor for years. So far, little has changed. But a four-part series of
articles about the center published this week by the Miami Herald may change
that, said Ken Dudding of Port Charlotte, a former internal affairs investigator
at the facility who is featured in the series. Now, Dudding said he hopes the
Herald's exposure of the problems will spur Gov. Jeb. Bush and the
Legislature to reform the facility. Dudding cites a phone call he received
Thursday morning from the show "60 Minutes" to arrange an interview
next week. "I mean, you can report it to the governor, report it to the
Legislature and nothing happens," Dudding said. "All of a sudden,
an article like this comes out, and (state officials are) taking notice. At least
they can't claim ignorance." A spokesman for the program said "60
Minutes" does not comment on stories it may or may not be doing.
Dudding, a retired Charlotte County sheriff's deputy, worked for Liberty
Behavioral Health, the company hired by the state to run the facility, for a
year in 2004-05. Dudding resigned citing a lackadaisical response by
Liberty's administrators to his investigations. His investigations often
found that staffers turned a blind eye to incidents in which residents
committed physical assaults, stabbings, sexual assaults and drug and alcohol
abuse.
January
30, 2006 Miami Herald
For seven years, Florida taxpayers pumped more than $100 million into the
Florida Civil Commitment Center, a facility set up to treat the mental
disorders of the state's most dangerous sexual predators. What taxpayers got:
a place where child pornography arrived in the mail, stashed inside
transistor radios. Bags of marijuana came in care packages, stuffed in the
guts of peanut butter jars, and men brewed gallons of homemade alcohol under
the noses of a shoestring staff. The cornerstone of a program named after a
slain 9-year-old boy, the center eroded into a place where boredom, violence
and the fog of drugs and alcohol became as common as group therapy sessions
-- with one man dying after a fight over a bag of Cheetos. Overcrowded and
short-staffed, with less than half of the men actually in treatment, the
center lies at the heart of what is wrong with the Jimmy Ryce Act, an
investigation by The Miami Herald found. ''It's a terribly, terribly run
program,'' said Kelly Summers, a former investigator for the Florida
Department of Children & Families, who uncovered a slew of problems at
the center. ``Because no one wants to appear soft on sex offenders, no one wants
to address what's going on down there.''Among the newspaper's findings: •
Employees struggle to manage a facility plagued with fights, substance abuse
and suicide attempts. Guards have been caught covering up mistakes by erasing
security tapes and altering reports, while others have been accused of
selling drugs and having sex with offenders. • While the state has sent more
men to the center, staffing hasn't kept pace because the Legislature refuses
to provide enough funds -- creating a dangerous disparity that reached an
all-time high in the months before authorities were forced to conduct a raid
last February to restore order. • The number of clinicians also has failed to
keep pace with the ballooning population. Since the facility opened seven
years ago, psychologists' caseloads have quadrupled, leaving hundreds of men
pacing the yard, dwelling in doldrums and stirring up trouble. • Nearly three
dozen men who suffer from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder receive little or no specialized treatment -- let alone
therapy for their psychosexual disorders -- a direct violation of federal
law, several civil rights attorneys say. • Meanwhile, a treatment center
originally slated to house 460 men now holds more than 520, creating more
tension. Liberty Behavioral Health, the private company that runs the center,
insists that security is now under control and that problems at the center
are no different from those found at any institution of a ``correctional
nature.'' ''To characterize the facility as rife with trouble . . . is a
gross exaggeration,'' the company wrote in a response to The Miami Herald's
findings. But the center never was intended to be a correctional facility,
according to the legislation. In fact, the Department of Children &
Families, which hired Liberty to operate the center, told The Miami Herald
that it has ''identified numerous deficiencies in Liberty's performance,''
including inadequate supervision and ''mismanagement'' of security. Several
men recently interviewed at the center by The Miami Herald said disruptions
and fights continue at the facility.The boredom and frustration felt by the
offenders boiled over on Feb. 9, 2005, when more than 300 officers clad in
riot gear and armed with billy clubs and pepper spray began to assemble
before dawn. At sunrise, they descended on the cluster of concrete buildings
tucked into the sprawling prison compound that houses the treatment center.
Their mission: Restore order. Conditions at the center had deteriorated so badly
that a lockdown was under way to force the men to obey orders from the state
fire marshal. Dozens of offenders refused to leave the yard, where they
dragged mattresses from their dormitories and draped sheets on extension
cords running from buildings to television sets outside. Minutes after
storming the center, police confronted men who were brandishing broom
handles. In one dorm, officers had to call for reinforcements and shoot
bursts of chemical agents into the air to regain control. The raid was a culmination
of events building inside the facility for many years. By 2004, the men
outnumbered employees more than 2-1, a disparity so lopsided that many guards
felt inclined to let bad behavior pass, according to internal documents and
interviews with several workers. ''As long as they are happy, we let them
go,'' one staff member told corporate officers from Liberty Behavioral Health
during a tour of the facility in July 2004. According to an internal memo
obtained by The Miami Herald, Liberty's officers described fights breaking
out between drunken offenders, bikini posters hanging in the rooms of sexual
offenders, and a facility where ''residents appear to have the run of the
cafeteria.'' In one packed dorm, men outnumbered staff members 45-3. To this
day, Liberty has had difficulty attracting and keeping staff members because
of stressful working conditions and because Arcadia's labor pool is so small,
according to state investigators.The DCF had to pay the Department of
Corrections $2 million to ship in 300 officers and conduct a raid on the
center just to get the men to comply with orders from the state fire marshal.
During the raid, officers searched offenders' rooms and found more than eight
gallons of homemade alcohol and other contraband. After the raid, the
Legislature provided an additional $2.6 million last May for more security at
the center. But experts say that's not enough to fix the center's woes. Last
October, a man housed in the quad died after a brawl over a bag of cheese
curls. Daniel Donnelly, 38, sat at a table in the bay area of F Dorm Quad 2
when Alfredo Roebuck, 48, called in payment for two rolled cigarettes he had
given to Donnelly earlier. Owed to Roebuck: a bag of Cheetos. Donnelly, five
feet four inches tall, 134 pounds, had a history of reneging on barters,
common at a facility where many men have no money. He refused to give the bag
to Roebuck -- who was five inches taller and nearly 100 pounds heavier.
Offenders in F Dorm say no guards were watching when Roebuck and Donnelly began
to scuffle. State reports say there was one staff member present, a
51-year-old therapeutic assistant responsible for monitoring all four quads
in the dorm while most offenders were at lunch -- a deficiency noted in
reports conducted after Donnelly's death. After the altercation, Donnelly's
condition rapidly deteriorated. He later slipped into a coma. Paramedics
airlifted him to Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was placed on life support.
Donnelly died nine days later, after his family decided to remove his feeding
tube. Donnelly's death came as no surprise to Kenneth Dudding, a former
Washington, D.C., police detective, hired by the center as an internal
investigator in March 2004. During the next year, he conducted investigations
at a facility that had completely broken down as an inadequate, untrained
staff struggled to handle hundreds of men. In one case, Jerome Wagner, an
offender with severe mental illness, was able to climb onto the roof of one
of the buildings in April 2004. Instead of trying to coax him into climbing
down, staff members on duty rushed him. So Wagner jumped off the roof and
injured his left leg. He was later treated by DeSoto County emergency medical
workers. In another case, a two-time sexual offender named Jorge Delgado
stabbed offender Marshal Watson 12 times, using a 10-inch metal shank with a
white-taped handle in October 2004. After the incident, staff members ordered
offenders in the dorm to clean up the crime scene with bleach, ruining an
investigation by the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office, according to an internal
report. In both cases, Dudding went back to review security tapes and read
reports of the incidents but found that they had been erased or tampered
with. ''During these investigations, staff immediately began covering up what
happened -- destroying tapes, altering reports. I was being hampered,''
Dudding said. He said that when he complained, he was told that he was being
too aggressive. Fed up after just two months on the job, Dudding blew the
whistle on the facility in May 2004. Investigators from the DCF's Office of
Inspector General spent the next four months picking the facility apart.
Records show that they corroborated nearly every problem outlined by Dudding:
widespread use of alcohol and drugs, sex among offenders and staff members.
There were also instances of tampering with security tapes and incident
reports and a general lack of control, the inspector general's report stated.
In addition, the investigators reported that marijuana arrived in care
packages, with some stashes stuffed in peanut butter jars. Cocaine was found
in one room but was flushed down a toilet by a staff member. No one was
charged. But after DCF investigator Summers and her boss issued their report
in September 2004, little changed at the facility at first. ''When my
supervisor and I sent up our preliminary reports, we were surprised about the
minimal attention it got,'' Summers said. She said they pushed harder to help
persuade the DCF to conduct the raid in February, after offenders refused to
comply with orders from the state fire marshal. ''Part of the problem is that
DCF is not equipped to handle a facility that is responsible for violent
criminals,'' she said. The Legislature provided $2.6 million more for
additional staff members after the February raid, and the DCF says it
contracted with the DCF last October to monitor safety and security at the
center. But even with the additional money and oversight, problems persist.
Donnelly was killed four months after the increase, while Delgado repeatedly
stabbed another man with a metal shank in December. ''The program doesn't
work because it's not designed to work,'' said Dean Cauley, a former
clinician at the center. ``This was a harebrained idea and an expensive idea
that really wasn't thought out very well, and now we are seeing the result of
it.''
December
15, 2005 Sun Herald
It was 42-year-old George Williams' hobby to tend to a patch of flowers
outside his dormitory at the Florida Civil Commitment Center. But his
devotion to his flower garden nearly got Williams killed Friday. Williams was
stabbed seven times with a homemade knife. The stabbing came after he got
into a fight with another center resident when a basketball bounced into his
garden, according to a DeSoto County Sheriff's Office report. Friday's
stabbing fits a pattern indicating that chronic understaffing and
mismanagement by administrators have created an insecure environment,
according to Ken Dudding, a former internal affairs investigator for Liberty
Behavioral Health, the contractor that runs the facility for the Florida
Department of Children and Families. "My point is, this (Delgado) is a
guy that goes around stabbing people -- and he can find a knife laying around
anyplace," Dudding said in a phone interview Tuesday. Located 10 miles
east of Arcadia, the center houses 520 sex offenders who have completed their
prison terms but have been deemed by the state to still pose a risk of
re-offending. The center was established in a former state prison under the
Legislature's 1998 Jimmy Ryce Act. The act calls for the civil commitment of
sexual predators for "care, control and treatment." Dudding
resigned in January 2005 after a year with Liberty. He said he investigated
about 100 violent incidents involving bodily harm, as well as other
allegations of drug dealing, alcohol smuggling and nepotism. Dudding claimed
that his supervisors stymied some of his investigations and failed to
adequately discipline misconduct by some of the staffers. Resident John
Curry, who has filed numerous complaints with the DCF and the courts on
behalf of himself and other residents, described the current atmosphere
within the facility as "a battle zone." "We're erupting
because they're tightening down the hatch intensely and there's no release,
so we react to the least little thing," Curry said. "What it boils
down to is we do not have adequate staff to operate this facility."
Curry said facility staffers often complain their ranks are understaffed to
the point they can't handle incidents effectively. Liberty's contract
requires 179 employees. The number of vacant positions could not be obtained
Tuesday.
April
8, 2005 St. Petersburg Times
Sexual predators too violent to be released into society would get a new
600-bed, privately built facility under a plan the state Department of
Children and Families is quietly pitching in the Legislature. The proposal,
largely unnoticed until Democrats discovered it in the Senate budget, comes
six months after state officials discovered rampant lawlessness at the Florida
Civil Commitment Facility near Arcadia, a facility run by Liberty Behavioral
Health Corp. of Pennsylvania. A February report by DCF's inspector general
revealed that residents made and abused homemade alcohol. It said fights
between residents were common. The report also found Liberty employees
compromised an investigation of a stabbing by ordering residents to clean up
before law enforcement arrived.
September
30, 2004 Sun Herald
Florida's commitment center for sexually violent predators has serious problems
with employee nepotism, cover-ups of staff mismanagement, marijuana
smuggling, money laundering, and a lack of professional response to violent
incidents -- and the contractor that runs the facility needs to do more to
solve them. That's the conclusion of Sheryl Steckler, inspector general for
the Department of Children and Families, the agency responsible for the
Florida Civil Commitment Center. And the department itself, headed by Luci D.
Hadi, Interim Secretary, echoes that conclusion, in a statement issued
Wednesday by DCF spokesman Tim Bottcher. "The performance of the
contractor with regard to these issues is unsatisfactory," the
department stated. "The residents of the Florida Civil Commitment Center
are dangerous, and it is vital that the facility be secure and safe at all
times. The inspector general concluded
that facility safety director Tiffany Lane failed to document incidents of
alleged misconduct or mismanagement by staff. In some cases, she also
destroyed evidence, including erasing videotapes. The DCF has hired Liberty
Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania to run the facility under a $50 million,
three-year contract. Lane and several staffers worked to cover up evidence or
discard complaints to thwart internal investigations into the handling of a
half-dozen incidents, the investigative report states. In several
instances, employees who complained of misconduct or mismanagement by Lane or
members of her clique were given demotions, suspensions and terminations, the
report indicates. The investigation "demonstrated how Ms. Lane either
failed to document or destroyed documents that she felt were unfavorable
toward or certain staff members, including her own mother whom she
supervised," wrote Summers. The report also cites that a half-dozen
employees have criminal records. Sworn statements from residents also
revealed that racial tensions had led to stabbings and beatings. Also, residents and employees told investigators that
marijuana use inside the facility is rampant. Since the investigation, the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement has opened an investigation into drug
dealing and money laundering. Also, the inspector general plans to
investigate additional allegations in a separate investigation, according to
the report.
Florida Department
of Children & Families
Tallahassee, Florida
April 9, 2002 St Petersburg Times
A committee is looking at whether the
Department of Children and Families mishandled supervision. Prompted by reports of falsified records, overbilling and
conflicts of interest, state lawmakers have launched an investigation into
Florida's social services agency and the private companies it hires. In particular, the bipartisan committee will study how closely
the department monitored a Pinellas Park nonprofit organization that was
hired to finish investigating old child abuse cases for the department. The company now is being audited by DCF, following allegations
that workers may have falsified records while under pressure to close cases
quickly. The company denies the claims. The
committee also will study Lakeside Alternatives, an Orlando-area mental
health center that allegedly overbilled the state by $1.3-million and where
foster children as young as 3 spent months locked up, even though some were
not even mentally ill, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "There's an underlying problem in the department,"
said Rep. Sandra Murman, R-Tampa, who was appointed by Feeney to chair the
House Select Committee on Oversight of Florida's Department of Children and
Family Services.
DCF last month fired the Pinellas
Park-based Florida Task Force for the Protection of Abused and Neglected
Children amid the allegations of rushed work and questionable practices. Murman said the revelation that the task force hired
investigators previously fired from similar jobs with the state -- first
reported in the St. Petersburg Times -- was particularly troubling.
June
21, 2001 Orlando Sentinel
A year after the Lake County Boys Ranch ceased operations under a cloud of
criminal indictments, the state Commission on Ethics says two former state
employees who went to work for the ranch probably violated the state ethics
code. Pamela Brown, a former assistant district administrator for the
Department of Children & Families, negotiated a major foster care
contract on behalf of DCF with the Boys Ranch. The so-called
"Bridges" contract was awarded in early 1997. A little more
than a year after the Ranch-DCF negotiations, Brown took a job with the
Altoona-based charity and worked directly under the very "privatization
contract" she helped negotiate while with the state agency, according to
a commission report released last week. "Because her actions were
not done with an intent to enrich herself and, in fact, did not benefit her
personally, the commission will take no further action on the alleged
violations," the commission report said. As DCF moves more and
more toward privatization and workers engage in contract negotiations
regularly, clarification of the state's ethics rules may be necessary.
Long considered one of Lake's most respected charities, the Boys Ranch
crumbled under a pair of criminal indictments for Medicaid fraud and grand
theft in April 2000. The complaint alleged the Ranch stole $3 million
in taxpayer money through "outright fraud." Once the charges
were announced, DCF severed its contracts with the Ranch, and the 32-year-old
charity soon folded.
Florida Department
of Corrections
Tallahassee, Florida
Aramark, Correctional Medical Services, Group 4, Keefe, MHM Correctional
Services, Prison Health Services, STOP, Sunshine Transportation, Trinity,
TYA, Wexford
Prison
fight heats up as legislature, union square off over privatization:
November 4, 2011, Sascha Cordner, WFSU. Details double-cross by the
DOC and Legisltive leaders.
Privately run jails are not big cost savers,
by Dan DeWitt, St Petersburg Times Columnist, September 4, 2011. Great
editorial on mess CCA made of the Hernando County Jail.
After South Bay incident, Florida corrections
department takes watch over private prisons: August 3,
2011, by Dara Kam, Palm Beach Post. Kam's continuing
exposure of mismanagement at South Bay.
Jan 4, 2013 WTSB.com
Largo, Florida -- State Sen. Jack
Latvala is calling on the Department of Corrections to conduct a review of a
Goodwill-run work release facility in Largo after two inmates from the center
allegedly committed violent crimes in the community. Michael Scott Norris is accused of killing
two St. Petersburg men and setting a home on fire back on Sept. 30. Dustin
Kennedy is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl as she walked to her bus stop
in Clearwater last month. Could stricter monitoring of work release inmates
saved lives? Both Norris and Kennedy were inmates at the Largo Residential
Re-Entry Center located at 16432 U.S. 19. The facility is run by Goodwill,
but under the control of the Department of Corrections, and Friday morning
Latvala called the DOC secretary to voice his concerns. "I've asked for
a full review, a case-by-case on every inmate that's there and I think that
the department is taking this very, very seriously," Latvala told 10
News. The Republican from Clearwater says he was also alarmed to learn on
average an inmate escapes from the center about once every two weeks.
Officials say Norris escaped the facility before he committed double murder.
But a DOC spokesperson tried to downplay the issue of 27 escapes from the
Largo center in the year, that ended June 30, by saying the frequency was
only more common because of the large inmate population at the facility.
"The number of walk-aways at this particular facility are somewhat in
line with the rest of the state in that it is the biggest in terms of sheer
numbers. There are just more than 280 men at this particular facility,"
said DOC Communications Director Ann Howard. Howard says the next largest
work release center in the state was in Miami with 180 inmates. But the sheer
size of the facility is also something that has Latvala concerned. "I
drive by it quite frequently but I didn't know there [were] 280-inmates there
and that's a huge number to be in the middle of the densest populated county
in the state," he said. Work release inmates are near the end of their
sentences and generally work in the community daily. For the past 10 years,
Latvala says the inmates have been left to their own to get to and from work.
But he says the recent alleged crimes by Norris and Kennedy suggest that also
needs to change. "Just using a bicycle, or walking, or public
transportation leaves a lot to chance there and I'm very sorry that this has
happened in this community and -- now that this has happened and it's in my
district now -- I'm going to look into it very carefully."
January 4, 2013 TCPalm.com
MARTIN COUNTY — Healthcare
employees at two areas prisons will be laid off in the next three months as
part of a privatization plan, the Department of Corrections announced Friday.
All of those who will be let go, however, will be able to interview to get
their old jobs back under the new management, said Ann Howard, corrections
spokeswoman. The outsourcing, which will happen at correctional institutions
in Martin County, Okeechobee County and seven other South Florida prisons,
could save the state $1 million monthly. The Corrections Department will lay
off 36 healthcare employees at the Martin Correctional Institution in
Indiantown and 24 at the Okeechobee Correctional Institution in Okeechobee.
Overall, termination notices were handed to 400 employees at the nine
facilities this week, Howard said. All will have the opportunity to interview
with Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources, with which the state signed a
five-year, $48 million annual contract to handle infirmaries at the prisons.
Howard said Wexford is expected to hire the amount of employees as will be
let go at the nine prisons. In other privatization deals done by Wexford, the
company rehired about 90 percent of the former staff, Howard said.
Corrections officials have used privatization for various other services at
its facilities, she said. The South Florida prisons were covered by a budget
provision calling for privatization of their health services. The other
affected prisons are in Hardee, DeSoto, Charlotte and Miami-Dade counties. A
judge blocked plans to outsource health care at other prisons because they
were not included in the budget provision. The department is appealing. State
officials have looked to other cost-cutting measures in recent years for the
prison system. Last year, corrections officials closed the Indian River
Correctional Institution in Vero Beach, as well as six other prisons and four
work camps. The move was expected to save about $90 million during a two-year
period. The Indian River closing laid off 155 employees.
September
15, 2012 WFSU
About three-thousand employees could soon be out of a job, after the Florida
Department of Corrections recently received the funds to privatize its inmate
health care services. A Legislative Budget panel gave millions of dollars to
the department to contract with two private companies. But, now, a state
employee union filed a lawsuit Friday to block the move. It all started at a
recent Joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting, when the budget panel
heard a funding request from Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Ken
Tucker to contract with two private management companies: “The following
health care providers were selected: Corizon Incorporated for Health Care
Services in Regions I,II, and III, and Wexford Health Sources for Region
IV," said Tucker. "Our budget amendment request is to move
$57,535,05 into the department’s inmate health services category.” Tucker
says spending money to start privatizing the state’s prison health care
services will save taxpayers millions of dollars. That’s the story he pitched
to ten lawmakers on the budget panel Wednesday. But, not everyone was buying
it, like Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich. She says the Legislature as a
whole should be making the decision, not a small fraction of the legislative
body. Rich adds it goes beyond the scope of what the Legislative Budget
Commission is supposed to do, which led to a disagreement between herself and
Senate Budget Chief JD Alexander, the panel’s chairman. "The courts, as
far as I understand, says it’s just moot because the proviso has expired. So,
it leaves me believing that we don’t have the authority to do this and this
is actually going beyond the role or the mission of the LBC [Legislative
Budget Commission]," said Rich. "Senator, you’re welcome to your
opinion, but I don’t share it," replied Alexander. The issue of whether
it’s legal for the panel to take up the funding request is just one question
many opponents of the privatization effort have brought up repeatedly. But,
Republican Senator Joe Negron insists they’re wrong. “Having reviewed this,
to me it’s clear the LBC [Legislative Budget Commission] has the legal
authority to approve this budget amendment," said Negron. "It’s
based on statues that have been in place for many years." Now, it seems
the whole issue is heading to court. A union is now suing the state, after
the legislative panel approved the funding request in a 6-4 decision. The
union, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), filed the suit Friday, and has also filed multiple challenges
against the state on the issue of private prison health care. Union Spokesman
Doug Martin says he wishes lawmakers would wait until the legal matters are
settled, and the Legislature can take up the matter again. And, during his
plea to lawmakers, he made that same argument, adding the budget panel should
also think of its negative impact on taxpayers. “Please have the highest
duty, the fiduciary duty in mind, and not just say ‘well, it’s not our
money.’ I know you guys take these matters very seriously," pleaded
Martin. "So, please come back, and after these questions can be answered
and the policy matters sorted out.” Martin claims privatizing prison health
care will not save the state money, and he says reports show the two
companies already don’t have a good track record with the state. He adds it
could also cost state workers their jobs. Martin represents thousands who
will soon be out of a job, and Chris Snow’s union represents the rest. He’s
with the Florida Nurses Association, one of the unions which has also sued
the state before on this issue. “We have 850-plus members of our association
who will basically lose their jobs upon implementation of this
privatization," said Snow. "They may be offered a job with a
private firm, but most likely at a lower salary for lower benefits.” But,
Senate Budget Chief JD Alexander says he thinks privatizing is good for Florida.
As for the employees, he says the Department of Corrections has already said
at least 98 percent of them could find a job with the private companies. “I
think the vast majority, if not virtually all, will have employment provided
to them by the private providers and it’s an opportunity to provide more
efficient and effective services to those inmates and help to save money,”
said Alexander. The department hopes to privatize the state’s inmate health
care services by January.
August
30, 2012 WFSU
An effort by the state to privatize Florida’s inmate health care services
could still be on hold, even after a Leon Circuit Judge recently rejected a
motion to reconsider a case that could have blocked the effort. In early
July, Leon Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll had previously dismissed the case
because the budget provision that let the state privatize inmate health care
services had already expired. But, about a month later, the two employee
unions who had filed the initial suit asked Carroll to reconsider the case.
The two groups are the Florida Nurses Association and AFSCME, or the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The unions contend the
Florida Department of Corrections was still pursing private vendor contracts
for prison inmate health care services under the expired budget provision.
But, the state claims it has the authority to privatize prison health care
services, even without a provision written into the budget. Now, Judge
Carroll has denied the motion to re-hear the challenge, ruling in favor of
the state. But, he says both unions can still come back with a new request.
And, AFSCME Spokesman Doug Martin says his union is looking at all their
options: “Our attorneys are evaluating the judge’s decision and looking at
our next step in this legal action and have not decided on the best course of
action yet," said Martin. "But, we will let the public know once
our attorneys have decided on a course of action.”
August
8, 2012 Tampa Times
Ken Tucker has brought stability to the Florida Department of Corrections,
but he might not be around much longer. On the job for less than a year as
chief of the nation's third-largest prison system, Tucker has told his senior
staff and Gov. Rick Scott's office that he may leave as soon as October. He
has applied for the directorship of an anti-drug initiative between the
federal and state governments called the North Florida High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA), and has made his intentions very clear to senior
staff in the agency and to Scott's people. "He did apply for the
position, and he spoke with the governor's office first," said Tucker's
spokeswoman, Ann Howard. Tucker's long career in the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement may make him a logical fit for the new position: HIDTA works
with FDLE in Northeast Florida on drug cases -- the kind Tucker worked on
regularly earlier in his career. In addition, Tucker's roots are in that part
of the state (he's a native of Bunnell and worked as a cop in Daytona Beach)
and he and his wife are looking forward to living there once again, Howard
said. Tucker would have been gone by next spring anyway: His retirement date
under the state's DROP program is March 2013. Leaving sooner rather than
later would give the governor's office time to groom a new prisons chief
before the next legislative session begins next March. Tucker's replacement
will be the sixth new secretary in six years, a dizzying level of turnover at
such a large and important agency. Tucker, 58, would be the eighth high-level
agency head to depart since Scott took office 19 months ago. The national
HIDTA director, Michael Gottlieb, works in the Office of National Drug
Control Policy in the White House. Even though he had no experience in
corrections, Tucker was hired from FDLE to take over last August after Scott
and his former chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, decided to dismiss Ed Buss,
who had been highly recruited from Indiana but who soon ran afoul of the
governor's office.
August
8, 2012 WCTV
A Leon County circuit judge Wednesday waded back into a dispute about whether
the Florida Department of Corrections can proceed with a plan to privatize
inmate health services, with opponents arguing the agency should be forced to
go through a new bidding process. Lawmakers last year used budget fine print,
known as "proviso" language, to direct the Department of
Corrections to go through a contracting process for prison health services.
But the Florida Nurses Association and a state-workers union filed a lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of the move, saying it needed to be
approved in state law and not through proviso language. Circuit Judge Kevin
Carroll appeared to end the case last month without ruling on the
constitutional issue, because the proviso language expired with the June 30
end of the 2011-12 fiscal year. After the expiration, however, the Department
of Corrections announced it would move forward with privatization and award
contracts to two companies based on other authority it has in state law. The
department's move spurred attorneys for the nurses association and the union,
the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, to seek to
bring the case back before Carroll |
