12/19/1989 - Laserfiche WebLink

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!' ROOK 78 F;P,,[ 6977 Cabinet have the ability to commute sentences. The Sheriffs are asking that be put to a stop. Commissioner Bird asked if the Sheriff is requesting that we join in the lawsuit or just support it by virtue of the Resolution, and Sheriff Dobeck stated that he is asking that the Board support the Resolution and forward it to the Governor and the D.O.C. Chairman Wheeler stated that he would also like to send a Resolution to the League of Counties and ask them to support this as he felt strongly that something has to be done. Commissioner Scurlock wished to address the following remarks in Sheriff Dobeck's letter dated December llth: The consequences of early release impact every citizen in this state. When we in law enforcement are fortunale to re -arrest those who have committed crimes after being released early from the state prison system they are held . In . the county jail pending trial. In many counties these prisoners contribute to overcrowding at the county jails. In some instances the. Department of Corrections sues to enforce state mandated standards. You should be aware that the standards which the state enforces against the counties are more strict than the standards imposed by the federal government against the stale. As a result of this counties are forced to build bigger jails. Taxpayers are asked to approve increased sales and advalorern taxes to support bigger, jails. On l)crenrbcr 6, 1989 the Press Journal printed an article quoting Commissioner Scurlock saying, "IOC and the sheriffs are to blame for the crowding of county jails." Ile was further quoted that "Sheriffs write 80 per -cent of the administrative rules the DOC uses to inspect jails for deficiencies—everything from guard -to -prisoner rotation to living conditions." must apologize that I am • not familiar with the process Mr. Scurlock speaks about. The 1)OC and legislature are solely responsible for the authorship of the laws, rules and regulations the sheriffs are bound. by in the operation of their facilities. And, yes, Florida sheriffs are contributing to the overcrowding of our jails by arresting criminals, a practice we will continue. Don't you agree it's Lime now for convicted criminals to serve their full sentence. •As a Florida sheriff 1 believe we must be given the opportunity to become more involved with this process. 1 iow much is enough? so • Commissioner Scurlock noted that when we first started in on the various phases of the Jail, we at one point were told by our architects and Michael Wright, the Administrator at the time, that we would get preapproved staffing and manning levels from D.O.C. prior to the construction of the Jail. He believed 23 was the number agreed upon, and then we subsequently found that a higher staffing level was being required. Commissioner Scurlock noted that he personally made some very strong comments about the D.O.C. changing the rules of the game after pre -approval, and a 56