Published: May 04, 2009 11:26 am      

BREAKING NEWS: Privatization plans scrapped

Suwannee Correctional Institution will remain a state-run facility

The move to privatize Suwannee Correctional Institution has been abandoned, according to SCI Warden Jim Witt.

The measure was written into the proposed state budget by the Florida Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee. Budget conference committee members gave up on the measure during negotiations Sunday night, according to legislative reports.

"We're excited we're going to be able to stay in the community," Witt said Monday by phone.

The measure would have saved the state $3.4 million in operational costs and retirement benefits for correctional officers and other employees. However, SCI will be a 24-hour lock down facility that houses inmates with behavioral problems. If the prison were to be privatized, those inmates would have to be housed elsewhere.

SCI currently has 175 inmates at the work camp with a capacity of 432. The main unit is scheduled to open in August. The annex is scheduled to open in November. If original plans are followed the prison will house more than 3,000 inmates and employee more than 600 workers.

SCI is located seven miles east of Live Oak on the south side of US 90.