Franklin County Commissioners have agreed to send a letter to the president of the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives supporting the state prison in Carrabelle.
The Department of Corrections is looking at potential budget cuts this year that could lead to the closure of some prisons and the reduction of 1500 prison jobs statewide – the legislature is expected to vote on that budget issue in the next week.
Franklin County commissioners insist that it is critical that the state prison in Carrabelle stay open.
The prison provides inmate labor to the county, particularly the road camp and solid waste department and even though the number of inmates provided has dropped substantially because of COVID, the labor is still needed.
Road camp supervisor Howard Nabors said the county used to get 4 inmates to work on each crew, but now its only one.
Franklin Correctional Institution Warden Robert Conner said they only have 70 inmates eligible to do work outside of the prison, which us nowhere near what should be coming out.
He said part of the problem is that because of COVID the courts aren't running so there aren't as many eligible prisoners.
The biggest issue, however, is staffing .
The legislature has cut positions and provided no pay raises in 10 years which means the state prison system is losing correctional officers to higher paying jobs.
In Franklin County specifically, there is also a need for affordable housing as many of the current prison staff comes from Tallahassee and Crawfordville but can't find an affordable place to live nearby.
There are some affordable housing units going in Carrabelle which he said will help – but there needs to be more.
Franklin County commissioners said they will try to address the issues with the legislature – to let them know the importance of prisons to rural counties.
The letter will specifically emphasize the importance of the state prison to Franklin County – opposing any closure.
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