House Committee Advances Plan for Construction of New Prison Facility

By Mitch Perry, The Florida Phoenix

With Florida’s prison population expected to increase in the coming decades, a committee in the Florida House approved a measure (PCB JUB 26-02) Monday that would appropriate $250 million to the Department of Corrections to develop new and existing prisons through 2067.

In their proposed budget released last week, the House included $127 million for planning and design of a new 4,800-prisoner facility and adjoining 600-bed hospital unit that would include mental health services.

The Florida Senate does not include a similar appropriation in its proposed fiscal year 2026-’27 budget.

A master plan for the Department of Corrections produced in 2023 by the consulting firm KPMG called for construction of one 4,800-bed prison and one 600-bed hospital by 2030. As for where that new prison and adjacent hospital could be constructed, the bill calls for the department to seek available land where the labor market, potential labor pool, and other factors such as commute distance and cost of living are favorable to provide a workforce.

The KMPG report lists eight potential sites for that new prison/hospital, with three in Miami-Dade County, two in Polk County, and one each in Orange, Union, and Bradford counties.

The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee passed the proposal unanimously on Monday. There was no debate or discussion.

In their proposed budgets, the House has appropriated $4.1 billion for the Corrections Department; the Senate $4 billion.