April 27, 2016 – Daniel Ducassi
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Corrections will not release a “transition plan” touted by secretary Julie Jones as a way to best move forward after the controversial planned closure of a Broward County prisoner re-entry center.
She said in a statement released Monday that the plan would “ensure a smooth transition” for all the services the center currently offers.
The department, however, says the only document containing the plan is exempt from state open record laws because it was drafted at the direction of its attorneys to prepare for an administrative bid protest filed by Bridges of America, a nonprofit that had the state contract to operate the center.
Department spokesman McKinley Lewis said the exempt document contains the elements of the transition plan, but the actual transition plan itself is not on paper and has only been discussed verbally. [READ MORE]