State lawmakers will contest a judges ruling that the prison privatization effort legislators approved in the 2011 session violated Florida's Constitution.
With the deadline looming, state Attorney General Pam Bondi filed paperwork with the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee late Monday afternoon seeking to reverse a lower court ruling that halted plans to privatize 29 correctional facilities across South Florida.
Her office said the appeal was on behalf of the Legislature.
A message from House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, simply stated, Speaker Cannon believes the proviso language and process were appropriate and disagrees with the lower court ruling.
Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford sided with Florida Police Benevolent Association attorneys who argued that lawmakers should have put the potential privatization of the prisons in South Florida into a separate bill, rather than as a proviso to the budget.
With Fulford'sSept. 30 ruling, the state Department of Corrections suspended a planned bid opening from companies seeking to manage all or some of the correctional facilities.
The Legislature had projected the privatization as a means to save $11 million in the current fiscal year.
News had circulated Monday that there would be no appeal. Those reports were backed when a spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott said Monday morning there would be no appeal from the executive office.
No reason was immediately given for the decision.
Cannons office at the time deferred to the executive office.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos called the privatization effort "good policy" that frees up money for education, health care and economic development programs.
"As I have expressed on numerous occasions, I firmly believe that the use of proviso language in our efforts to privatize Floridas prisons was done completely in the sunshine as the language was fully vetted and received three hearings in the Senate before it was ever voted on," Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, stated in a release. I am hopeful that the appellate court will agree, and I look forward to monitoring the appeals process.
The Florida Police Benevolent Association said it will continue to fight the law.
The PBA is disappointed that Attorney General Pam Bondi waited until the last minute to file an appeal of the prison privatization ruling by Circuit Judge Fulford, noted PBA spokesman Ken Kopczynski. This came after Governor Rick Scott said they would not appeal the ruling. The PBA has been and is prepared to fight this issue to the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day the PBA expressed its pleasure as media outlets reported that Scott and the legislative leaders decided not to move forward with the appeal.
Now we need to educate the public and the Legislature on the significant public safety issues and lack of significant savings associated with the privatization issue, Matt Puckett, Florida PBA executive director, stated in a release.
The proviso required the Department of Corrections to accept bids from companies seeking to privatize state prisons, making the change from public to private if the contracts would save at least 7 percent from the current prison costs.
Katherine Betta, spokeswoman for Cannon, said the Department of Corrections budget should be large enough to absorb the impact of keeping the facilities public through the end of the current fiscal year.
The Legislative Budget Commission does not have the authority to outright restore the cut, but there may be other options available, Betta said.
The correctional facilities are located in: Manatee, Hardee, Indian River, Okeechobee, Highlands, St. Lucie, DeSoto, Sarasota, Charlotte, Glades, Martin, Palm Beach, Hendry, Lee, Collier, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859 or (772) 215-9889.
