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Parrish Retiring As Director Of Hillsborough County Jails

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By JOSH POLTILOVE The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

TAMPA - Just days after Col. David Parrish passed one of the biggest tests of his career, he announced his retirement.

Parrish, 61, who oversaw Hillsborough County's jails for 27 years, will officially step down Sept. 27. He said he had planned to retire in February but received an offer from a private company that manages the construction of medical detention facilities.

"It is an opportunity that I cannot pass up," he said.

His work running the jails, he said, is "the best job I've ever had. I wouldn't trade it for any other job in the sheriff's office."

Parrish's resignation comes less than a year after quadriplegic inmate Brian Sterner was dumped from his wheelchair by a detention deputy. Video of that incident, which drew acute media attention, led to the creation of an independent review commission of Hillsborough's jails.

The commission released its final report on the county's jails last week and made 40 recommendations for change but mostly had good things to say. Chairman James Sewell called the Sterner incident an anomaly.

"I've got a lot of respect for David. He's one of the reasons the jail has been effective as it is," Sewell said Monday.

"Historically, Hillsborough County has been a leader in the nation, and I think that's really been because of his hard work."

Parrish sent a memo to detention staff Sunday afternoon saying he would be stepping down sooner than expected. Parrish, who has been with the sheriff's office about 35 years, is taking leave until his resignation is effective. Although his new job is in California, Parrish will maintain his residence in Florida.

Sterner's attorney, John Trevena, had called for Parrish's resignation. Trevena said he thinks other inmate abuse incidents will come to light in the next few years.

"I guess my thought goes to the old adage: If the house is on fire, you get out as quickly as possible," Trevena said. "Even though he would never say that publicly, I'm sure that's what happened."

Parrish said the timing of his resignation is coincidental, though he wouldn't have wanted to leave until after the commission's report was released. He said he would have been foolish to turn down the job opportunity.

He is in a program that would require him to retire in February from the sheriff's office, and he had been looking for career plans for about a year, he said. On Wednesday night, the same day the commission's report was released, he met with the head of a planning and design firm that works with jails and prisons. He was offered a job that night.

He accepted the position, but said nothing is final yet. He declined to provide the firm's name.

Parrish doesn't have an official start date with the firm and isn't sure what his job title will be. In coming days, he said, he wants to ride in his grandfather's 1938 Plymouth to visit his mother in Pennsylvania. He chose Sept. 27 for his retirement date because it's his mother's 87th birthday.

In 1985, Parrish brought the concept of direct supervision to Hillsborough County's jails. That type of supervision provides deputies a better ability to oversee inmates, making escape attempts, assaults and vandalism more difficult to commit, Maj. Robert Lucas said.

Among the other major jail system accomplishments during Parrish's leadership: Orient Road Jail opened in 1990 and Falkenburg Road Jail opened in 1998.

Parrish earned a bachelor's degree in history from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree in criminology and corrections from Sam Houston State University in Texas. He has received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Central Methodist College in Fayette, Mo.

Parrish joined the sheriff's office in 1974. His starting salary was $12,800 a year. He is currently paid $136,000.

In 1997, Parrish was given the E.R. Cass Award by the American Correctional Association. The highest recognition given by the organization, the award normally is reserved for administrators of state and federal prison systems.

On an average day in 1981, there were about 1,200 inmates in the jail system, Parrish said. This year, he said, it's about 3,870.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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