Facilities

Florida correctional facilities are divided into major institutions, work camps, work release centers, and road prisons. The classification of inmates into these different facilities takes into account the seriousness of their offenses, length of sentence, time remaining to serve, prior criminal record, escape history, prison adjustment, and other factors. The most serious offenders with the longest sentences and those least likely to adjust to institutional life are placed in more secure facilities.

Correctional Institutions are prisons with fences, razor wire or ribbon, electronic detection systems, perimeter towers with armed correctional officers and/or officers in roving perimeter vehicles. Most of these inmates do not reside in cells, but in open bay dormitories with bunk beds. Some exceptions include those confined for disciplinary or security reasons, and those on death row. These facilities are divided into seven levels of security ranging from minimum custody facilities to maximum custody facilities. About 85% of the Florida prison population is housed in a major institution.

Work/Forestry Camps are minimum to medium custody facilities, surrounded by fences and razor ribbon. Inmates are usually transferred to a work camp after completing part of their sentences at a correctional institution and demonstrating satisfactory adjustment. Most of these work camps are located next to correctional institutions enabling the sharing of facilities like laundry and health services. The inmates housed at these facilities may be assigned to community and public work squads. Their jobs include cleaning up roadways and right-of-ways, grounds and building maintenance, painting, building construction projects, moving state offices, and cleaning up forests. 11% of the prison population resides in work camps.

Work Release Centers (WRC) house two categories of inmates: community custody inmates who are participating in community work release by working at paid employment in the community and minimum custody inmates who are participating in a center work assignment by working in a support capacity for the center (such as food services and laundry). They must be within two or three years of their release date, depending on their job assignment. Sex offenders may not participate in work release or center work assignments. There are no perimeter fences, and inmates must remain at the WRC when they are not working or attending programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Inmates participating in work release must save part of their earnings for when they are released in order to pay toward victim restitution as well as room and board. More than 3,000 inmates participate in Florida’s 30 work release programs annually, with about 3% of the prison population enrolled at any given time. Work release centers are supervised by the Department’s Office of Institutions.

Road Prisons house minimum and medium custody inmates and have perimeter fences. Most of these inmates work on community work squads and the highways doing road work. Their jobs also include support services to state agencies such as collecting recycling materials and moving furniture. Less than 1% of the prison population is housed in road prisons.