An effort by lawmakers to reduce prison costs byoffering private firms a chance to manage29 South Florida correctional facilities has again been put on hold as a circuit court judge has again shut down the bidding process.
Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford declared early Saturday that the bid process should have remained suspended as it had been from Sept. 30 -- when she ruled against Floridas proposal to privatize the correctional facilities -- until last Thursday.
In her ruling, Fulford took issue with the Department of Corrections reopening the bid process on Thursday, hours after she had set a Nov. 16 hearing between the Florida Police Benevolent Association and the state.
The Nov. 16hearing had been scheduled in response to Attorney General Pam Bondis Oct. 31 appeal of Fulfords initial ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.
In selecting the hearing date, DOC agreed through counsel that it would take no further steps toward privatization until this court could hear argument, Fulford wrote.
The attorney generals office is reviewing the ruling and will discuss it with the Legislature, office spokeswoman Jennifer Meale stated in a release.
The state had suspended a planned Oct. 4 bid opening after Fulfords initial ruling. However, once the appeal was filed, the Department of Corrections announced it would again accept bids on Nov. 10.
In making the announcment late Thursday, the Department of Corrections added that it would not enter any contracts until the litigation was completed.
Assistant Attorney General Jon Glogau argued -- during an emergency hearing requested late Friday by the PBA -- that the original order to halt the bid process was lifted when Bondi filed the appeal.
The appeal contests Fulford's ruling that the state should have approved the prison privatization plan as a stand-alone bill in the 2011 legislative session, rather than as a proviso in the overall 2011-2012 budget.
Lawmakers hope privatization cuts prison costs by 7 percent.
Attorney Stephen Turner, representing the union, argued in court Friday that state lawmakers should follow Fulfords initial order and return the push for privatization as a stand-alone bill in the 2012 session that begins in January.
He said the current timetable is for privatization management of the facilities being turned over June 1, 2012, a month before the end of the current fiscal year.
The PBA, which represents approximately 17,000 correctional officers also argued that correctional officers could be financially and emotionally harmed by the privatization effort.
Trial courts have leeway to balance the interests of affected persons with the concerns of the state, Fulford wrote. This court finds that the evidence in the record establishes the likelihood of irreparable injury to the plaintiffs if the stay is vacated, and further that defendants are not likely to succeed on the merits on appeal.
Jim Baiardi, president of a PBA State Correctional Officers Chapter and one of the named plaintiffs, testified by phone in court Friday that just by reopening the bid process stress levels had increased among correctional officers.
"The PBA is pleased that Judge Fulford has stopped this action. State correctional officers can breathe a sigh of relief today," Baiardi stated in a release after Fulfords decision was announced.
Fulford gave weight to Baiardis testimony in her ruling.
Captain Baiardi identified such factors as the disruption of families, the threatened separation of families, loss of jobs, change of schools, lack of sleep, loss of homes and displacement of experienced officers to institutions away from their families as concerns which are overwhelming the correctional officers of the affected facilities,'' she wrote.
The PBA has also questioned why Bondi appealed, rather than the Department of Corrections or the governors office.
The fight with the state over prison privatization comes for the PBA as it battles the International Brotherhood of Teamsters over which union will be the bargaining unit for most of the state's nearly 20,000 correctional and probation officers.
Voting began Oct. 18 and the results are expected to be known after Nov. 15.
Last week, the state Commission on Ethics rejected a Teamsters charge that political contributions spurred Gov. Rick Scott to push for the prison privatization.
The union noted that Boca Raton-based GEO Group and Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, both major players in the prison privatization bidding process, gave a combined $30,000 for Scotts inaugural fund.
The two companies have also contributed nearly $1 million in contributions to state candidates and political parties in the 2010 election cycle.
Meanwhile, the state has more than $7 million invested in the two companies.
The correctional facilities under consideration for privatization 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.
