Florida evacuates over 4,000 inmates from prisons, jails ahead of Milton; some stay behind

Ahead of Hurricane Milton, the Department of Corrections evacuated 4,636 inmates across 28 facilities. Some prisons or jails have decided to not evacuate, despite being in counties with orders for others to evacuate.

The Sheriff’s Offices in Manatee, Lee, Pinellas and St. Johns counties said they have no plan to evacuate local jails. A Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson described the jail as a “secure building” where employees and inmates would be safe.

A Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said Orient Road Jail, a facility located in mandatory evacuation Zone A, is transporting inmates to Falkenburg Road Jail in evacuation Zone E, which is equipped to sustain the storm.

Other state prisons in Hernando, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties have not evacuated.

Julie Reimer, a Florida resident who asked to be identified by her maiden name in fear or retaliation, has family members in FDC’s Charlotte Correctional Institution and Hardee Correctional Institution. She said she called the facilities Monday and Tuesday to check on their status and was told they did not plan to evacuate.

“They said their buildings are able to sustain a storm like this,” she said. “They seem to think this storm is not serious.”

Reimer worries about her son, who is an inmate at one of the facilities, and the organization’s lack of action when it comes to protecting inmates ahead of the storm.

“When my son was sentenced, he was not given a death sentence,” she said.

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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.