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Hernando County reverses ruling on finger printing

With conditions at the county jail having improved, the Sheriff's Office will no longer be responsible for the booking process.

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published July 27, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Six months after voting for the Sheriff's Office to take over fingerprinting at the Hernando jail, the County Commission decided Tuesday that the Corrections Corporation of America should have that responsibility after all.

"Everyone is attempting to do what is best for the public," County Administrator Gary Kuhl said as he introduced the compromise.

Stringent performance standards, he said, would ensure that the CCA didn't continue having problems.

Standards was the buzzword of the 20-minute discussion, which was admittedly calmer than the meeting in February, which took place in the wake of three suicides and an escape that put the county's contract with the CCA in jeopardy.

"As long as we can get the performance standards to make sure that the Sheriff is comfortable and the warden is comfortable ... I'd be comfortable," Commissioner Chris Kingsley said.

The other commissioners agreed and the reversal passed unanimously, 4-0.

In December, Sheriff Richard Nugent complained that the privately run jail had fallen way behind in entering arrests into the statewide fingerprint database.

He told the Times that constituted a "serious, serious public safety concern," because criminals were getting arrested and released without anyone else around the state knowing about it.

The fingerprinting was one of a number of issues voted on at the February meeting, when the commission decided to put the Sheriff's Office in charge of the booking process - at a cost of $305,000 a year for six deputies.

At the time, the CCA agreed to reimburse the Sheriff's Office for the expense.

But no one ever followed through on this arrangement. No formal contract language was approved, no money changed hands and no deputies were hired.

In the meantime, though, conditions at the jail improved. Commissioners and staff members decided that it was no longer necessary to give the fingerprinting and photography task over to the sheriff.

But before they could do that formally, they needed a vote.

"What has transpired is an unintended probationary period that has turned out to be successful," said Commissioner Nancy Robinson.

But she warned, "If there is a repeat of the problems at the jail, I would have no qualms about going back to the sheriff."

For his part, Nugent presented a list of nine performance standards he said should be incorporated into the county's contract with CCA.

The standards included making sure that fingerprints and palm prints were high enough quality to be usable, that the prints were submitted within one or two days - "not two to three months" - and that the booking information was updated in real time.

Among other requirements, he wanted the jail to be responsible for all the costs associated with the LiveScan fingerprint machine and for the CCA to reimburse the Sheriff's Office for the time it has spent in the last few months training jail staff on how to fingerprint properly.

"Whether I'm doing it or someone else is," Nugent said after the meeting, "I don't care as long as it gets done."

Jail warden Don Stewart agreed.

"I'm very happy," he said. "I'm a big believer in performance standards."

The contract language should be settled in the next 30 days.

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6114.

[Last modified July 26, 2006, 21:57:15]