As the Florida Department of Corrections prepares to close the Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Balm, local legislators and community activists are again mounting an effort to keep the prison open.
Less than a year ago, a grassroots campaign and the efforts of state senators Arthenia Joiner, D-Tampa, Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and other legislators spared the country's only faith- and character-based women's prison from the state's budget axe.
But Florida's sagging economy has put HCI on a list of seven prisons and four work camps set to shut down in the next several months. The DOC plans to close Hillsborough Correctional on March 1.
"I am clearly disappointed the department of corrections has determined that HCI will face closure," said Storms. "I am asking the governor to intercede and would encourage members of the public to contact him as well."
The news is catching some legislators by surprise, many of whom recognize HCI's faith- and character-based program as a success.
"This is a perfect example of what we should be keeping in place," said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Local legislators may not be able to save the prison this time, though.
Kenneth Tucker, the new DOC secretary, has shown little interest in amending the department's list of closings, said Audie Canney, one of Storms' legislative assistants.
"The secretary is adamant there is no room for negotiations," she said. "We are looking at whether there is anything the Legislature can do at this point; however, without interest in the House, it doesn't look promising."
On Jan. 13, a day after the DOC announced it would close Hillsborough Correctional, community activist Nancy Williams wrote a letter to volunteers, former HCI staff and former inmates encouraging them to call or write the governor, corrections officials and state legislators.
"The FDOC went back on its word," said Janet Smith, one of four people leading a group of 400 prison volunteers that wants to keep HCI open. "Last year, (former FDOC secretary) Ed Buss told me and Sens. Joiner and Storms in a conference call that if we got Hillsborough County to issue a zoning change for HCI so the inmate population could increase to 486, the prison would become financially viable.
"The corrections department got exactly what it asked for. We will fight this all the way to the governor's office."
For the DOC, though, closing the prison is simply a matter of money.
At $97.59 per person per day, HCI is the state's second-most-expensive prison to operate, said DOC spokeswoman Ann Howard. Only Broward Correctional in Fort Lauderdale costs more to run. By comparison, the least-expensive prison, Gulf Correctional in Wewahitchka, costs $33.80 per inmate.
The DOC used a list of criteria, scoring each factor on a scale of 1 to 5, to rate the state's 140 prisons and determine which to close, Howard said. The list included each facility's mission and what duplicating the mission would cost at a different location, the cost per inmate, maintenance and construction costs over three years, community and employee impacts, inmate labor, security, education and programs and active volunteers.
"The higher the score, the better," Howard said. "Hillsborough came in last with 22 points."
In addition to HCI and Broward Correctional, other prisons scheduled to close are Demilly Correctional Institution in Polk City, Gainesville Correctional Institution in Alachua County, Indian River Correctional Institution in Vero Beach, Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello and New River Correctional Institution in Raiford. Work camps in Chattahoochee, Washington County, Immokalee and Ocala also are closing.
The closings will save the state more than $75 million, Howard said.
Meanwhile, community organizations tied to the prison are preparing for life after it closes.
The University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm will have to replace the inmate workers supplied by the prison.
"Jack Rechcigl, the center's director, said: "The women do everything from staking, picking and weeding to landscaping and carpentry work. And we pay them $2 per hour as opposed to around $9, which we'd have to pay for outside laborers."
In turn, the center teaches the inmates skills that help them find work after they are released.