The purpose of the Department of Corrections is to protect the public through the incarceration and supervision of offenders and to rehabilitate offenders through the application of work, programs, and services.

The department administers the following services.

• Community Corrections
• Health Services
• Inmate Programs
• Security and Institutional Operations

As of March 2022, the department housed 80,917 inmates in its facilities and was responsible for an additional 86,391 offenders on active community supervision. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, FDC incarcerated approximately 94,000 inmates. The response to COVID-19 resulted in fewer arrests and prosecutions, fewer individuals sentenced to incarceration, and fewer commitments received from county jails. As of December 2021, the most current data available, Florida had the third largest state prison population in the United States, behind Texas and California.

Section 944.275, Florida Statutes, requires all inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentence.

Florida Department of Corrections Facilities as of June 1, 2022

Major Institutions	50
Annexes (Annexes, South Units, East Units, West Units)	15
Private Facilities	7
Work Camps	21
Road Prisons/Forestry Camps	2
Boot Camps	1
Contracted Community Release Centers	21
Community Release Centers	9
Reentry Centers	3
Total Number of Facilities	129

Many facilities have closed or have been consolidated due to staffing concerns. This included several work camps (Cross City Work Camp, Columbia Work Camp, Franklin Work Camp, Hamilton Work Camp, Santa Rosa Work Camp, Suwannee Work Camp, Jackson Work Camp, Madison Work Camp, Lowell Work Camp, Graceville Work Camp, Holmes Work Camp, and Liberty South Unit Work Camp.) Additionally, the Gulf Forestry Camp and Taylor Correctional Institution Annex were also closed. One previously closed facility, the Largo Road Prison, was reopened in May 2022.

The department is accredited by the American Correctional Association. The department maintains the accreditation of its major institutions, probation and parole field services, and work release centers. The department's involvement in the accreditation process began in 1968 when Florida was the first state to complete a preliminary self-evaluation of standards. Florida also became the first state to enter all of its major institutions into the accreditation process in 1979 when it entered into a contract to accredit its 24 major institutions. This was followed by the accreditation of its probation and parole field services and all of its work release centers in 1982. Finally, with the accreditation of its central office in January 1984, the department became the largest fully accredited correctional agency in the nation.

Victim Services assists victims of crimes committed by inmates in the department's custody or under the department's supervision and notifies victims prior to an inmate's release. Victim Services also provides referral services to victims with specific needs, such as counseling, support groups, crimes compensation, and crisis intervention.

An escape is an unauthorized absence from a designated facility boundary or absence from any official assignment outside the boundary. The department classifies escapes into three categories.

• Level I: Escape from non-secure environment, such as a community correctional center or outside work squad, in which no Level 3 behaviors are exhibited.
• Level II: Escape from a secure perimeter or supervised environment, in which no Level 3 behaviors are exhibited.
• Level III: Escape that involves hostages, weapons/tools, outside assistance or violence during or after the escape. 

The number of escapes decreased by 23.3%, from 30 in Fiscal Year 2019-20 to 23 in Fiscal Year 2020-21. One (4.3%) of the 23 escapes was from a correctional institution. The escape from a correctional institution was not an escape from a secure perimeter, but from an outside work squad. Due to the use of a shovel as a weapon to assault the work squad officer and the theft of a vehicle, the escape was deemed a Level III escape. Two (8.7%) of the 23 escape were from a work camp/road prison; one was a Level II escape and one was a Level III escape. The remaining 20 (87.0%) escapes were from work release/contract centers and all 20 were Level I escapes. 

Of the 23 escapes, 18 (78.3%) were recaptured by July 7, 2021. Of the 18 recaptured, 17 (94.4%) were recaptured within the same quarter the escape occurred. Of the 17 recaptured within the quarter, 9 (52.9%) were recaptured within 24 hours of the escape.

According to the most recent rate for 2017, the department reported that 24.1% of the inmates who left Florida's prisons will return (or recidivate) within three years. For 2017 releases, some factors found to influence an inmate’s likelihood of recidivism include

• the number of prior prison commitments;
• the inmate’s age at release;
• the inmate’s gang membership;
• the inmate’s theft offense counts; and
• whether the inmate committed a murder or manslaughter offense.

For Fiscal Year 2020-21, it cost $76.83 per day to house an inmate. These rates represent an average cost per day for all types of inmates from the lowest custody level to death row and all types of facilities from the least costly community release centers to the more costly reception centers and specialty institutions, but excludes private facilities.

Correctional Officer Pay Increase. The Florida Legislature passed the state budget, Ch. 2022-156, Laws of Florida, which increases the minimum base pay for correctional and probation officers to $20 an hour, and provides $15.9 million to provide pay increases for certain positions based on years of service. The state budget also includes $19.9 million to increase pay for correctional officers in privately operated correctional facilities.

Education for Student Inmates. Chapter 2022-143, Laws of Florida authorizes the Department of Corrections and each county, respectively, to contract with Florida College System institutions to provide education services for student inmates. The educational services may include any educational, career, or vocation training that is authorized by a county or municipal detention facility, or the department. State funds are authorized to be used on postsecondary workforce education programs for state inmates with 24 months or less remaining on their sentences.

Probationary or Supervision Services for Misdemeanor Offender. The 2022 Legislature enacted Ch. 2022-166, Laws of Florida, which removes a statutory prohibition to a private entity providing probationary or supervision services to misdemeanor offenders who are sentenced by a circuit court. Previously, a private entity could only provide supervision to offenders sentenced by a county court.  The law also transfers the authority to approve a contract with a private entity to provide supervision services for misdemeanor offenders from the county court judge or administrative judge to the chief judge of the circuit.

Modification or Continuation of Terms of Probation. The 2021 Legislature passed Ch. 2021-210, Laws of Florida, which amended s. 948.06, Florida Statutes. In 2019, the Legislature passed legislation requiring a court to modify and continue, rather than revoke, probation for specified offenders who violate probation by committing certain technical violations deemed low-risk. A technical violation is any alleged violation of probation that is not a new felony, misdemeanor, or criminal traffic offense. The Legislature intended for this benefit to apply only to offenders meeting multiple eligibility criteria. This law change provides that  a court must modify or continue a probationary term upon finding that a probationer has committed certain technical violations when all , rather than any, of the following apply.

• The term of supervision is probation.
• The probationer does not qualify as a violent felony offender of special concern. The violation is a low-risk technical violation, as defined in s. 948.06(9)(b), Florida Statutes.
• The court has not previously found the probationer in violation of his or her probation pursuant to a filed violation of probation affidavit during the current term of supervision. A probationer who has successfully completed sanctions through the alternative sanctioning program is eligible for mandatory modification or continuation of his or her probation.
  

Other Reports

The Auditor General reports on department operations are available on its website.

Commission on Offender Review-Clemency and Conditional Medical Release-Operational Audit, Report 2021-118, January 2021 

Department of Corrections: Correctional Officer Recruitment, Certification, and Training and Selected Administrative Activities - Operational Audit, Report 2020-192, April 2020. 

Department of Corrections - Community Supervision, Selected Administrative Activities, and Prior Audit Follow-Up - Operational Audit, Report 2020-006, July 2019.

Florida Department of Corrections statistics and publications are available on its website.
Comprehensive Correctional Master Plan, Florida Department of Corrections, 2018.

 2021-2024 Strategic Plan, Florida Department of Corrections.

2021-2022 Regulatory Plan, Florida Department of Corrections, 2021.

2022-2023 through 2026-2027 Long Range Program Plan, Florida Department of Corrections.

Florida Prison Recidivism Report: Releases from 2008 to 2018,Florida Department of Corrections, June 2020.  

Florida Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet Preparation Manual, Florida Department of Corrections and Office of the State Courts Administrator, July 2020.

Websites of Interest

American Probation and Parole Association
American Correctional Association
The Corrections Connection
Correctional Peace Officers Foundation

Procurements 

The Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System (FACTS) website provides access to department contract and purchase order information.

Performance Information

Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Section 20.315, Florida Statutes.

Department of Corrections, 850-488-5021

Website