Getting to the core at county jail

Happy Tuesday! 

We’re going to talk about the county jail, but first a little personnel news.
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The county’s tourism director, Auvis Cole, is on paid administrative leave after a co-worker made allegations regarding issues in his leadership. The alleged behavior is neither illegal nor immoral, so I’m told.

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The suspension happened Thursday when human resources told Auvis that he was on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Growth Management Director Eric Landon notified members of the Tourist Development Council by email that he’s temporarily in charge.

“My name is Eric Landon, and I am serving as the Interim Tourism Director for Citrus County,” he wrote. “I look forward to meeting and seeing all of you at the next TDC meeting.”

Odd message. The next TDC meeting isn’t until March 12. Why would Landon inform TDC members now that he’ll be seeing them in three weeks? Does that telegraph that a decision is already reached?

Auvis came on board in January 2024 and is an enthusiastic supporter of Citrus County. Spend 20 minutes talking to the guy and you’re booking a Crystal River vacation.

His predecessor, John Pricher, lost employment in July 2023 when he went ahead with a manatee promotion at the Cincinnati Zoo after county commissioners told him no. 

As expected, County Administrator Steve Howard could say little about the Auvis matter. He’s the one who decides discipline if there is any.

“Hopefully, it’ll be wrapped up in a few days,” he said.

I hope this doesn’t turn into anything bad. Auvis seems like a decent guy and a real Citrus County go-getter. Stay tuned.

Now, the jail.

Officially, it’s the Citrus County Detention Facility. Operated, at first, by the sheriff’s office, then Corrections Corporation of America, and now CoreCivic.

I have very little interaction with the jail. Thinking about it Monday, I recall five instances behind those locked doors. Twice for 12-step meetings with inmates, once on a tour with Leadership Citrus, and twice interviewing criminal defendants for news stories.

My county jail memory goes back to when it was in Inverness, across from the Old Courthouse. Reporters had to buzz in on the weekends to see arrest reports.

The jail became overcrowded, and county commissioners hemmed/hawed about replacing it. One day, during an otherwise ordinary County Commission meeting, the senior circuit court judge strolled in and said he’d hold all five in contempt if they didn’t have a new jail in 90 days.

That resulted in the “Jailatorium” — a makeshift jail in the Citrus County Auditorium. That lasted about four years before the Citrus County Detention Facility in Lecanto opened.

Going on memory, the first big event at the new jail was the night five inmates escaped. Oh my, that was big breaking news. One of those crazy, chaotic nights in the newsroom I won’t forget. Our headline the next day: “Five inmates bust loose.”

All five were captured and four pleaded guilty to escape. The one who didn’t was acquitted. You may ask, how is that possible? Well, even though the inmate was captured on the outside and he was supposed to be on the inside, prosecutors didn’t prove he ESCAPED from jail. So said a jury of our peers.

My point.

CoreCivic has a regular spot on the County Commission agenda, but not for platitudes. Rather, the company has consistently failed to meet contractual requirements for staffing.

The county keeps fining CoreCivic — $150,000 in December alone. The company doesn’t pay the fine; it counts against the county’s monthly invoice.

Here’s the thing. We’re on our third warden in less than a year. Orlando Rodriguez got the appointment in 2022 after his predecessor was fired. Rodriguez moved on and Jason Snow replaced him in July ‘24. Now, as of a week ago, Snow is gone, and we have another warden.

Frankly, I’m less concerned with contract language and how a position is counted as vacant or not. I’m more concerned with whether we have a well-run jail. Is it safe for inmates and employees? Is it safe for the public?

A Just Wright Citrus reader has implored me to dig into the jail. She wrote:

“I was wondering if you would be interested in writing a story about the unorganized chaos, lack of help, and deplorable conditions that seem to go on inside.”

I told her I wouldn’t go that far, but I’d mention the issue.

The County Commission will discuss CoreCivic again at its meeting today. Here’s hoping those discussions go somewhere beyond words in a contract.

That’s it for Tuesday. Enjoy!

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