Despite Scott's budget, more issues must be addressed at prisons, official says

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Another former state agency head has gone public with heavy criticism about Gov. Rick Scott and his staff, and the former secretary of the state's $2 billion prison system has painted a bleak picture. 

Scott's proposed budget would add more than $50 million to the prison system, including money to fix run-down facilities. It does not call for employee raises, which corrections employees haven't seen in seven years.

Mike Crews, who stepped down as chief of the prison system in November, has publicly accused Scott and his office of ignoring multiple problems within the system. 

Crews told the Miami Herald that the governor's office asked him to fire corrections workers against Crews' wishes, and tried wishes, and tried to distract from the dangerous prison conditions that led to inmate abuse and deaths.

Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman Greg Evers said he's taking the allegations seriously.

"I've got a lot of concerns about the allegations that Secretary Crews came up with," Evers said. "I've seen that there's a lot of truth, underlying truth, in everything he said, because those are the things I'm actually picking up in the investigations I'm running."

Scott addressed Crews' comments Monday in Jacksonville.

"What I can tell you is that we're at a 43 ½-year low on our crime rate," Scott said. "We'll continue to increase funding, we have a true reformer running this department, and I absolutely believe in accountability and transparency."

Lawmakers have already come up with a 29-page bill to fix the prison problems, but they say more changes could be coming.

Following the comments and his own personal, unannounced visits to three correctional institutions, Evers said lawmakers need to get their fixes right.

"We'll be moving back at a snail's pace instead of a sprint," Evers said. "We'll be going back to a snail's pace to actually win the race and really find out what's going on."

Scott's latest budget would fill 300 vacant staff positions, which Evers said still isn't enough.