ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Following four months of discussions among leaders throughout Orange County, a series of jail reform recommendations were unveiled Wednesday, though challenges persist in executing these changes.

The Orange County Jail Oversight Commission was reinstated in January after a nearly 25-year break to tackle issues within the jail, such as the growing inmate population,

The commission is made up of law enforcement leaders, mental and physical health officials, and homelessness advocates. Their suggested changes announced Wednesday include:

• Increase inmate training programs that are geared toward in-demand jobs in Florida.

• Encourage attorneys and public defenders to complete the 40-hour Crisis Response and Management Training course.

• Create a dedicated attorney phone help line for employees inside the jail.

• Encourage judges to resolve violation of probation cases as quickly as possible.

• Repurpose the Work Release Center by changing it to house inmates who are considered safe for the community or for inmates who have mental health problems.
• Work to change Florida law to allow counties to bill Medicaid for inmates who are hospitalized for 24 hours or more.

• Diversify the current substance abuse treatment options available for inmates.

• Increase the sign-on bonus for Correctional Officers.

• Create a program for Correctional Officers dedicated to advancing educational opportunities.

• Change the tuition reimbursement program for Correctional staff to a tuition payment program.

It may take a while for these changes to be put in place as one major obstacle stands in the way — money.

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The budget for the upcoming fiscal year in Orange County is unknown at this time, according to Mayor Jerry Demings. This comes with the Florida Legislature at deadlock over the state budget and changes to sales or property tax.

“If the two predominant sources of revenue for local governments are reduced, that reduces our ability to pay a lot of things, and we can find ourselves in a situation where the priority can be just on maintaining employment and not improving benefits,” Demings said.

All in all, the Jail Oversight Committee agreed to host one more meeting at the end of June to tweak the recommendation report. Demings said he hopes that by then there will be some more answers to what the county’s budget will look like for the next year.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will then work to see how it can implement the recommended changes to the jail through budget workshops in July, according to Demings.

“Hopefully by then we will understand where we are with the federal grants and other funding sources. We will understand where we are with the state as well,” Demings said.