Boards of County Commissioners are responsible for approving the Sheriffs budget, which can be more than one third of the county's entire budget. This often includes salaries for law enforcement officers, patrol fleet vehicles, local diversion initiatives and jail operating costs. Sheriffs are the leading law enforcement body charged with protecting the public, which is why FAC works closely with the Florida Sheriffs Association, local Sheriffs and jail administrators.
Sheriffs
Sheriffs are constitutional officers who are elected, or appointed, to protect all citizens within each county as specified in Article 8, 1(d) of the Florida Constitution. Sheriffs coordinate with local police departments, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Department of Corrections, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement and social service entities. Many Sheriffs operate the jails in each county, also known as county detention facilities, but there are several counties who have elected to use different methods, like a separate county correctional authority. The functions of the sheriffs are defined in Chapter 30 of the Florida Statutes.
Jails
Every county has a jail, and there are some counties with multiple facilities. More than half of inmates in jails are awaiting trial, and the majority of pretrial inmates are held for felonies. For the most up to date information on county detention facilities, please visit the Department of Corrections'
website.
County correctional systems, or jails, detain defendants awaiting trial (pretrial), violators of probation and often persons with untreated mental illness and substance abuse issues. Offenders serving sentences for less than one year, illegal immigrants and even juveniles can also be found in county jails. The federal government provides a subsidy to counties for housing illegal immigrants. The Bureau of Justice Assistance administers the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP. A funding schedule for all localities in Florida is available here.
Reentry
Nearly all of offenders in Florida’s jails and prisons will return to our communities. This means that whether or not we want to realize it, every county in Florida will be affected by prisoners returning to our neighborhoods. Many offenders are in need of housing, jobs, substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling. Since these resources are often hard to come by, counties must coordinate with our partners at the local, state and national level to ensure that communities are well prepared to deal with offender reentry.
Local Reentry Plans – In the 2010 session, the Legislature passed HB 1005 that was the Department of Corrections legislative package. This bill contained a provision relating to the local Public Safety Coordinating Councils that encourages the development of a local five year reentry plan for offenders returning to communities. The plan should focus on education, employment, health care, housing, and substance abuse.
Sample Plans:
Palm Beach 2010 5 year strategic plan.pdf
Pinellas County Five Year Re-Entry Strategic Plan.pdf
Over the last several decades prisons and jails have become the default holding cells for persons with mental illness. The majority of persons with mental illness who are in Florida’s jails are there for local ordinance violations or minor misdemeanors. The issue has gained national attention and we are experiencing a shift in criminal justice policy to identify individuals with mental illness, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders as they come in contact with law enforcement. It is more economical to serve these individuals in a community setting, as opposed to keeping them in jail for minor violations.
Florida received praise from the National Association of Counties for an the Reinvestment Grant program, a unique collaborative effort between the state and counties for local projects aimed at reducing the number of persons with mental illness, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders in county jails. Click here to read the bulletin: State and County Collaboration: Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System.
Crisis Intervention Team training, or CIT, is one process that gives law enforcement the tools on how to improve their interaction with persons who have a mental illness or substance abuse disorder. However, CIT is much more than training; it is a partnership between local law enforcement and substance abuse and mental health providers in the community. This is a great benefit to communities, since many people with mental illness, substance abuse or co-occurring disorders frequently use a large portion of public resources, like jails, hospital emergency rooms, homeless shelters and crisis stabilization units. For more information on the Florida Crisis Intervention Team, visit the Florida Partner’s in Crisis site here.
Additional Resources
- The National Association of Counties (NACo) produced a guide for how county officials can improve an offender’s chances of a successful reentry in their community. Click here to read the brochure Reentry for Safer Communities.
- The National Institute of Corrections receives federal funding to provide training and technical assistance to local governments at no cost. NIC has a variety of topic areas, such as improving your county’s Public Safety Coordinating Council, how counties and law enforcement should respond to persons with mental illness, and effective jail administration. Visit NIC’s website for more information.
- The Council of State Governments Justice Center launched a website dedicated to providing resources on prisoner reentry. Information provided includes education, training, and technical assistance to local governments working on prisoner reentry. The center will also provide a single point of contact for the individuals and organizations engaged on reentry issues. The website will be routinely updated with reentry research, publications and tools will be continually updated.
- The Urban Institute is piloting the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative in 12 localities and six states. They have compiled years of research, best practices, and successes that are available for public officials who wish to make their communities safer. It’s not a program; it’s a new way of doing business. Visit the Urban Institute's website for this must have resource: Transition from Jail to Community.
- The Council of State Governments created a valuable resource titled “Law Enforcement Responses to People with Mental Illness: A Guide to Research-Informed Policy and Practice”. It was specifically designed for law enforcement and is based on national best practices and evidence-based research. Click here to download the brochure.