Federal prison opens in Sumter County

The men's facility makes Sumter home to the nation's largest federal prison complex.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 10, 2001

COLEMAN -- A men's federal penitentiary that will house some of the system's most violent offenders opened Monday in Sumter County, making the rural community the site of the largest federal prison complex in the nation.

The $78-million, high-security facility in Coleman will take in 40 prisoners a week until it fills its 1,536 beds. The penitentiary joins two other lesser-security facilities that hold more than 3,700 inmates and a work camp that houses 372 women.

The only prison complex in the United States with a greater population is the Soledad state prison in Monterey, Calif., which houses more than 7,000 inmates.

For Sumter County, one of Florida's poorest counties with a median income of $13,955, the prison is being welcomed for its wealth of jobs and federal funding.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is the county's largest employer, providing about 1,000 jobs.

"It's a clean industry with support industries and a stable employer," said Sumter County Administrator Bernard Drew. "If the economy goes bad, this is the industry that doesn't leave."

The complex, about 75 miles north of Tampa, covers about 1,400 acres. That's an area as big as all four Disney World theme parks, including parking lots.

Inmates will serve their time amid education programs, activities and a jobs program. One out of every five inmates will work making office chairs for federal agencies, while others will work in the prison's giant dining hall.

Inmates who work will earn between 23 cents and a $1.15 an hour. Inmates also can earn a high school equivalency diploma or learn English.

They will also have access to two prison libraries, a well-equipped exercise center, soccer and softball fields, and a music room with guitars, banjos and saxophones.

"Their punishment is being here, and that's it," said Richard Martin, a unit manager at the prison.

"We want to keep them active and busy and make them tired. I want them to use up their energy so they will come to my unit and go to sleep."

Sumter residents said they are not worried about having so many dangerous felons housed nearby.

"I'd much rather know that they are incarcerated than they are on the street," said Diana Couillard, president of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce.

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