Conditions in Florida’s prisons and jails are an ongoing problem, but the question of deaths behind bars isn’t studied enough. So far this year, the Leon County Detention Facility has seen six inmates die from a range of causes. That’s a lot for Leon – and well above similar facilities in Florida. But it’s consistent with the increase in incarceration deaths across the country.
One man died of a stroke. A woman died of what’s described as blood intoxication. An inflamed stomach lining claimed the life of a third person, and another death was heart-related. The causes of the two remaining deaths have been redacted in public records, but a jail official says one man was found hanging in his cell, with no one else there.
“We also have had several die of natural causes, as determined by the medical examiner,” said Leon County Undersheriff Ron Cave.
Cave said people who come to the detention facility often haven’t had much access to health care before they arrive, or they have pre-existing health conditions. “And then we’ve had some instances where people have ingested drugs into their system, unfortunately, just prior to being arrested,” he said.
The situation in Leon is consistent with research studies. A 2022 National Institutes of Health report found that on average, there are roughly 1.4 deaths per 1,000 incarcerated people annually. Of those, 44 percent are illness related, one third are suicides and about 10 percent are due to drugs and alcohol.
That means that more than 40 percent of deaths are due to either suicide or are drug related – an issue that the Florida Sheriffs Association’s Cory Godwin says has been an ongoing trend for decades.
“Those with behavioral health issues – not only behavioral health but substance abuse or addiction disorders – or more commonly, a dual diagnosis with both, obviously are ending up into our correctional facilities and jails across the nation,” Godwin said. “And Florida’s certainly not been immune to that.”
Former state senator Jeff Brandes is the founder of the Florida Policy Project, a nonprofit think tank focusing on best practices in criminal justice, housing, transportation and insurance. He says that jails and prisons are being asked to function as treatment facilities for people with mental health issues.
“And so, they end up in our jails and our prisons, and oftentimes they end up in solitary confinement, because even the jails and prisons don’t know what to do with them,” said Brandes. “And that leads to a spiral of these individuals – putting these individuals in a room by themselves for hours, sometimes days on end. It does not improve their mental state. And we do not currently allocate the resources necessary to deal with this growing population in our jails and prisons.”
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, there were 29 suicides statewide in Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and 321 natural deaths. The figures have remained relatively consistent over the past few years.
The federal study from 2022 also emphasizes how jails and prisons can often make existing mental health issues worse. Denise Rock couldn’t agree more. She’s the executive director and founder of Florida Cares Charity, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of the incarcerated. She says reaching people with mental health issues early is exactly what’s needed: the earlier, the better.
“…less police officers, more counselors and therapists,” she said. “And start addressing the mental health issues – which actually snowball once drug issues come into play, right? And many people that have mental health issues treat them with street drugs, and that exacerbates the problem.”
Judge Steve Leifman is an expert on the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. He works at the criminal division of the Miami-Dade county court and says it’s essential to use highly trained professionals to screen new inmates for the risk of suicide. The Miami-Dade jail uses a professional screener from the Jackson Memorial Hospital Correction Health Services.
“So, if there’s any indication that there may be any sort of behavioral health issues, the person is segregated immediately at the jail and seen by a psychiatrist,” Leifman said. “Extra eyes are kept on them to make sure there’s no suicide risk or suicide attempt.”
Leon’s Cave says the sheriff’s department has taken steps to mitigate inmate suicides. They’ve substituted high-tech materials for sheets and blankets that could be used for hangings and welded holes shut to prevent their being used for leverage in such deaths. The department has also consulted with Florida State University, the Apalachee Center, and a suicide mitigation expert.
“If persons are going through personal challenges on the outside,” Cave said, “that’s obviously going to have an impact internally."
As to the recent deaths, Cave says inmates with health issues already have medical care on-site. In the last year, the facility has created a behavioral health unit, with an advanced registered nurse practitioner who comes in four days a week and a psychiatrist who is there when the nurse is not.
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