Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Here in Broward County, the Sheriff’s Office has tabled its plans to close a jail wing in Pompano Beach. The closure plan would have reduced the office’s budget by $5 million; however it would have also pushed jail occupancy to 102 percent for which the county could be fined $1,000 a day for overcrowding. The original plan was reportedly created when jail occupancy was lower.

The Sheriff’s Office is continuing with the controversial demotion of 254 deputies who work in the jails and the elimination of a hot meal at work for jail employees. All employees will be subject to a wage freeze.

The union has fought this plan, but a special magistrate ruled in favor of the Sheriff, saying that public sector employees need to adjust their pay expectations.

Source: Broward sheriff won't close Pompano jail wing, South Florida Sun Sentinel, September 5, 2010

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Our South Florida criminal defense lawyers recently read that the Polk County Sheriff’s office is now recording telephone calls between prison inmates and their legal counsel. The calls can be used as evidence against them. The change went into effect on July 1. Before new policy, the Sheriff’s Office had recorded calls but exempted lawyer-client calls.

A recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court said inmates have no reasonable expectation of privacy if they know calls are being recorded. While the policy is in accordance with the law, some Florida attorneys worry that it could slow down the legal process, because they will need to visit clients in prison rather than handling questions over the phone.

Lawyers are still permitted to visit clients in private during face-to-face visits or discuss their cases through a secure videoconference link. Some worry that will take longer to resolve cases and that innocent people will be stuck in jail longer.

Source: Sheriff Says He Will Record Inmate Calls to Lawyers and Use Them as Evidence, TheLedger.com, June 21, 2010

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Our Broward County defense lawyers have learned that the Broward County sheriff has decide to close a 544-bed tower at a Pompano Beach detention facility. In addition, 327 jail deputies will be laid off or demoted in order to save money. This controversial decision comes after a court order that jails may not exceed their designated capacity. Between 1986 and 1992, the county ran up $1.8 million in fines for overcrowding its jails.

Although Broward County once planned to build a new jail building, those plans have been tabled. This is the fourth consecutive year in which Broward County has decreased the number of jail beds. Although the Broward Sheriff says he doesn’t want to lower the bed count, budget cuts have forced him to do so. In fact, he estimates that there are already 19,000 suspects or convicts in Broward monitoring programs.

If the overcrowding problem continues in Broward County, the federal court could order the release of inmates with up to third-degree felonies, a fact that has many people concerned.

Source: Broward closing jail space; will suspects be released?, South Florida Sun Sentinel, June 1, 2010

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