Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending Florida National Guard members to work alongside correctional officers at prisons throughout the state to help its strained Department of Corrections that has long been battling fierce staffing problems.
Lawmakers approved a request from the Department of Corrections to free up $31.25 million to be used to pay up to 300 guard members who will be deployed to prisons until July.
The Florida National Guard is getting deployed to state prisons. Lawmakers on the Joint Budget Commission approved a more than $31 million request from the governor to use guardsmen.
Pay hikes, shorter shifts and shuttering facilities are some of the strategies Florida has employed to try to rehabilitate a prison system that leaders have said is in crisis.