Monticello and Jefferson County, Florida, have become dependent on a prison that opened in 1990. Why? According to Rick Stone of WUSF 1 Feb 2012,

Late in the 80s, with crime rising and prisons filling up, Florida needed new prison sites but few counties wanted to be one. Jefferson

because of the state’s declining inmate population.

County, just east of Tallahassee, was different. Then, as now, underpopulated and desperately poor, it saw an opportunity and it did something unusual.

“We welcomed them with open arms,” said Kirk Reams, Jefferson County’s court clerk and chief financial officer.

That’s not our situation. Crime is as low as it has been since the 1960s, prison populations have peaked, and we do have other sources of employment. Or are we really that desperate?

Jefferson County thinks it has lucked out again, but only at the expense of Florida taxpayers, and against the prison population trend.

John Kennedy wrote for the Palm Beach Post 8 February 2012, Condemned Florida prison gets second chance at life in House, Continue reading →