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![handle is hein.sag/sagfl0026 and id is 1 raw text is: Florida Attorney General
Advisory Legal Opinion
Number: AGO 2004-01
Date: January 21, 2004
Subject: County work release program
Mr. David Wagner
Alachua County Attorney
Post Office Box 2877
Gainesville, Florida 32602-2877
RE: COUNTY JAILS-EXTENDED LIMITS OF CONFINEMENT-WORK-RELEASE PROGRAMS-
SHERIFFS-county may not use s. 951.24, Fla. Stat., for individuals who
have not been sentenced or who are not inmates of county jail. s. 951.24,
Fla. Stat.
Dear Mr. Wagner:
You ask substantially the following questions:
1. May a charter county enact an ordinance to extend the limits of
confinement beyond those enumerated in section 951.24, Florida Statutes,
to allow a county prisoner to participate in a drug or alcohol abuse
treatment program in which the inmate is not confined to the county jail?
2. May the county ordinance extend the limits of confinement to the
county's work-release facility for pre-trial defendants who are detained
at the jail?
3. May the county set aside beds in the county work-release program for
pre-trial defendants?
Since your questions are interrelated, they will be answered together.
You state that Alachua County has oversight of a work-release program
housed in a 60-bed facility located in a separate building from the county
jail. The sheriff operates the county jail through an interlocal agreement
with the county commission that also makes the sheriff responsible for
providing meals and medical care to the inmates housed in the work-release
facility. The county has used the work-release program as a means to allow
inmates to receive drug abuse treatment at remote facilities and to allow
pre-trial defendants to remain employed while awaiting resolution of their
cases. The sheriff has taken the position that the use of the work-release
program for such purposes exceeds the statutory authority in section
951.24, Florida Statutes, and that only judicial orders complying with the
purposes enumerated in that section should be followed.
Section 951.24, Florida Statutes, authorizes the board of county
commissioners of any county, with the concurrence of the sheriff of the
county, to have a work-release program for county prisoners.(1] The
statute prescribes the manner in which such a work-release program will be](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagfl0026&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)