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County jail in transition with new warden at helm

Despite a lingering investigation into claims of inmate mistreatment, the facility will be adding 360 beds, a medical facility, a drug-detecting dog and a chaplain.

By JOHN FRANK
Published October 1, 2006

	[Times photo: Ron Thompson]
	Raymond Jolly welds together a wall in the Citrus County jail's new medical facility. The walls between cells are made of metal.

LECANTO - As Jason Ellis surveys the upturned red earth and slabs of newly laid concrete behind the Citrus County jail, he sees a much different detention facility than the one he left four years ago.

Ellis, 36, returned to Citrus County last month as the new warden at the privately run facility after serving as assistant warden at a Mississippi jail.

He transferred there in 2002 after serving as assistant warden at the Citrus jail, a facility with 400 beds.

At that time, he helped monitor an operation with about 250 to 300 inmates. Now, he said, the jail is "busting at the seams."

This year, the jail plans to nearly double in size. The $18-million project is financed entirely by Corrections Corporation of America, the private company that operates the jail. It is scheduled for completion in mid January and will add 360 beds, a 4,700 square-foot medical facility and a covered outdoor recreation area.

Ellis takes over the jail at a crossroads, of sorts, as the company tries to look forward with the expansion but also deals with a lingering state investigation into alleged inmate mistreatment.

In March, a handful of inmates filed a federal lawsuit that contended guards tortured them by lacing their food with human waste. Two former employees and a supervisor at the Citrus jail were fired, and executives at the nation's largest private jail operator traveled to Lecanto for damage control.

Last month, the original lawsuit was withdrawn, but William Grant, an Inverness attorney representing the inmates, said it was merely a procedural move. He said he is getting more calls from inmates making claims against the jail and plans to add them to the lawsuit, which he will re-file soon.

The whole incident sparked an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is still ongoing, according to a department spokeswoman.

Ellis said he couldn't talk about the lawsuit, but he and assistant warden Chris Howard said the company has a clean track record since it took over in 1995.

In an internal audit last fall, the Citrus jail received a 79 percent grade. Howard said 80 percent is an "A" grade.

The Citrus facility stands in contrast to the Hernando County jail, also operated by CCA, which scored a 72 percent on the audit and has experienced a number of problems with inmates in recent years.

Citrus jail officials are focusing their attention on the future expansion, which county officials agreed to last year when they struck a deal to extend the company's contract to operate the prison through 2020.

The new addition is scheduled to open in early February after a new class of 40 correctional officers finish their four-month training at the Withlacoochee Technical Institute.

New programs are in the works, too. The jail has added a drug-detecting dog, and officials plan to hire a full-time chaplain once the expansion is complete.

Ellis, a quiet, Nashville native, said he plans to continue business as normal and doesn't foresee making any major changes at this point.

"We have to be a customer to the county," he said, "but we also need to be a positive member in the community."

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified September 30, 2006, 21:22:55]