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S 1710

Florida Senate•Failed

Summary

S 1710, “Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsperson”, was introduced in the Senate on Jan 9, 2026 by Sen. Carlos Smith (D). It last saw action on Mar 13, 2026: Died in Criminal Justice.

Record

Text

S 1710 has no co-sponsors and has not gone to a roll call.

s1710/introduced.txt
Florida Senate - 2026  SB 1710
By Senator Smith
17-00773-26  20261710__
A bill to be entitled
An act relating to the Office of the Department of
Corrections Ombudsperson; creating s. 944.101, F.S.;
defining terms; creating the Office of the Department
of Corrections Ombudsperson within the Department of
Corrections; providing duties for the office;
specifying that the office is directed by the
Ombudsperson; requiring that the Ombudsperson be
selected by the Corrections Oversight Committee;
specifying the authority and duties of the
Ombudsperson; establishing the Corrections Oversight
Committee; providing for membership, appointment, and
terms of committee members; specifying that committee
members are not eligible for compensation but are
eligible for reimbursement of per diem and travel
expenses; requiring the committee to announce
Ombudsperson nominees publicly; requiring the
committee to hold quarterly meetings and at least one
annual public hearing; providing powers and duties of
the committee; requiring that the office have access
to department facilities for specified purposes;
providing powers and duties of the office; authorizing
the office to subpoena department records, employees,
or contractors; providing that specified
correspondence and communications are confidential and
privileged; requiring the office to conduct periodic
inspections of department facilities; requiring the
office to produce a report upon completion of an
inspection, make it available to the public, and
submit it to the Governor, the Legislature, and the
department; providing report requirements; requiring
that facilities inspected by the office be assigned a
safety and compliance classification; requiring the
department to respond, within a specified timeframe,
to each office inspection report; authorizing the
office to investigate complaints on specified matters;
authorizing the office to decline to investigate
complaints; prohibiting the office from investigating
complaints on specified matters; prohibiting the
office from levying fees; prohibiting the department
or its employees or contractors from terminating,
retaliating against, or discriminating against a
person who files a complaint; requiring the office to
produce an annual report by a specified date and make
it publicly available on its website and submit it to
the Governor, the Attorney General, the Legislature,
and the department; providing report requirements;
authorizing the department and the office to adopt
rules; creating s. 944.102, F.S.; defining terms;
requiring the office to create an electronic family
form and make it available on the office’s public
website for a specified purpose; requiring the office
to create an incarcerated person advocacy and support
services form; providing requirements relating to
making the form accessible to incarcerated persons;
providing for confidentiality and privilege of the
forms; providing office requirements relating to the
forms; requiring the office to create telephone
hotlines for specified purposes; providing office
requirements regarding the hotlines; prohibiting the
department and its employees and contractors from
terminating, retaliating against, or discriminating
against a person for filing a complaint or inquiry;
providing for redress of violations; authorizing the
department and the office to adopt rules; providing an
appropriation; providing effective dates.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Effective January 1, 2027, section 944.101,
Florida Statutes, is created to read:
944.101 Office of the Department of Corrections
Ombudsperson.—
(1)As used in this section, the term:
(a)“Family member” includes a grandparent, a parent, a
sibling, a spouse or domestic partner, a child, an aunt, an
uncle, a cousin, a niece, a nephew, a grandchild, or any other
person related to an incarcerated person by blood, adoption,
marriage, or a fostering relationship.
(b)“Office” means the Office of the Department of
Corrections Ombudsperson.
(2)The Office of the Department of Corrections
Ombudsperson is created within the department.
(a)The office shall be composed of the following sections:
1.The Inspections Section.
2.The Complaints Investigation Section.
(b)The office shall:
1.Provide information, as appropriate, to incarcerated
persons, family members, representatives of incarcerated
persons, department employees and contractors, and others
regarding the rights of incarcerated persons;
2.Monitor conditions of confinement and assess department
compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules,
regulations, policies, and best practices as they relate to the
health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of incarcerated
persons;
3.Provide technical assistance to support incarcerated
persons in self-advocacy;
4.Provide technical assistance to local governments in the
creation of jail oversight bodies, as requested;
5.Establish a statewide uniform reporting system to
collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the
department, and data related to all of the following:
a.Deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts of incarcerated
persons while in custody;
b.Physical and sexual assaults of incarcerated persons
while in custody;
c.The number of incarcerated persons placed in
administrative segregation or solitary confinement, and the
duration of stays in such confinement;
d.The number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24
hours;
e.The number of staff vacancies at each facility;
f.The incarcerated-person-to-staff ratios at each
facility;
g.The staff tenure and turnover;
h.The numbers of in-person visits to incarcerated persons
which were granted and denied at each facility;
i.The types of programming, with data disaggregated by
program, relating to participation, waiting lists, and
exclusionary or inclusionary factors;
j.The number of contraband items confiscated and the types
of contraband confiscated; and
k.Demographic data on the prison population, disaggregated
by race, ethnicity, gender, and age;
6.Establish procedures to gather stakeholder input into
the office’s activities and priorities, which must include, at a
minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of, and office
response to, public comment;
7.Inspect each department facility at least once every 3
years, and at least once each year for each maximum security
facility and each facility where the office has found cause for
more frequent inspection or monitoring; and
8.Publicly issue periodic facility inspection reports; an
annual report with recommendations on the state of department
facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising
from any complaints investigated and resolved pursuant to this
section or s. 944.102; and any other thematic reports covering
any topic the office finds relevant to running a safe, secure,
and humane corrections department.
(c)The office is directed by the Ombudsperson, who must be
selected by the Corrections Oversight Committee and serves a
term of 6 years, during which the Ombudsperson may be removed
only by the Governor and only for good cause. The Ombudsperson
may not be a current or former employee or contractor of the
department, and the Ombudsperson’s spouse or domestic partner,
parents, grandparents, children, or siblings may not be current
employees or contractors of the department.
(d)The Ombudsperson has the authority:
1.To hire staff, contractors, and unpaid volunteers and to
secure office space, equipment, and other services necessary to
carry out the duties of the office pursuant to this section and
s. 944.102. Any employee, contractor, or unpaid volunteer hired
or retained by the office has the same authority and powers of
the office as described in this section and s. 944.102; and
2.To contract with experts as needed to assist in the
monitoring and inspection of facilities, in the assessment of
data, and in the review, investigation, or resolution of
complaints.
(e)A staff member, an expert, or a volunteer hired by the
Ombudsperson has the same authority and duties of the office as
described in this section. To avoid conflicts of interest around
particular topics or facilities, the Ombudsperson shall develop
a recusal process for staff and volunteers who have been
department employees or contractors in the last 5 years or whose
parents, children, spouses, or domestic partners are current
department employees or contractors. A staff member or volunteer
hired by the Ombudsperson may not be a current employee or
contractor of the department.
(f)The Ombudsperson shall coordinate and collaborate with
other state agencies and entities, including, but not limited
to, the department’s inspector general or theAuditor General,
mandated protection and advocacy organizations, and safety and
environmental entities.
(g)The Ombudsperson shall manage all appropriations and
funding of the office.
(3)There is established a Corrections Oversight Committee,
composed of:
(a)Two members appointed by the President of the Senate
who are not members of the same political party. The President
of the Senate shall select one of the two members to serve as
co-chair.
(b)Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives who are not members of the same political party.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select one of
the two members to serve as co-chair.
(c)The following members, appointed by the Governor:
1.One representative of a prisoner advocacy organization.
2.One representative of an organization that provides
training or rehabilitation programs for incarcerated persons.
3.One man who was formerly incarcerated in a facility of
the department.
4.One woman who was formerly incarcerated in a facility of
the department.
5.One physician, currently licensed or retired, with
experience in family medicine or internal medicine.
6.One mental or behavioral health professional, currently
licensed or retired, who has a history of providing mental
health services or counseling to adults.
7.One person who is a grandparent, parent, child, sibling,
or spouse or domestic partner of a person currently incarcerated
in a department facility.
8.One person who was formerly employed as a correctional
employee in this state or any other state.
(d)Members of the committee shall serve for terms of 3
years.The Governor shall make all subsequent appointments.
(e)A member of the committee may not be a current employee
or contractor of the department. To avoid conflicts of interest
around particular topics, facilities, or nominees,the committee
shall develop a recusal process for members who have been
employees or contractors in the previous 5 years or whose
parent, child, spouse, or domestic partner is currently a
department employee or contractor. With the exception of the
members in subparagraphs (c)2. and 8., a committee member may
not have been an employee or a contractor of the department at
any time during the 5 years immediately before his or her
appointment to the committee.
(f)The committee shall meet upon the call of the co-chairs
or the majority of the members or whenever there is a vacancy in
the Ombudsperson position.
(g)Committee members are not eligible to receive
compensation but are eligible for reimbursement for per diem and
travel expenses.
(h)The committee shall announce the Ombudsperson nominee
publicly and vote to appoint the nominee after holding a public
hearing, during which the committee shall hear and consider oral
or written testimony from the Ombudsperson nominee, any
witnesses the Ombudsperson nominee presents on his or her
behalf, and any members of the public. The Ombudsperson nominee
shall take office upon a majority vote of the committee in his
or her favor. In the event of a vacancy, the committee shall
announce a nominee within 6 months after resignation, removal,
or expiration of term of the sitting Ombudsperson.
(i)The committee shall hold at least one public hearing
each year to present, review, and discuss the office’s
inspections, findings, reports, and recommendations set forth in
the office’s annual report and shall hold quarterly public
hearings to present, review, and discuss any other data,
reports, or findings of the office which the committee feels are
relevant. At such hearings, the committee may solicit and
receive written or oral testimony from experts, members of the
community, the office, or the department.
(j)The committee may, in its discretion or upon request
from the office, issue findings, recommendations, and policy and
legislative proposals that must be provided to the department,
the Governor, and the judiciary committees of each house of the
Legislature and made available to the public on the office’s
website.
(k)The committee must be given the same access to
facilities, records, and persons within facilities as the office
receives pursuant to this section. If the position of
Ombudsperson is vacant, the committee may subpoena department
records, employees, or contractors.
(l)Accompanied by the office, the committee shall visit
two different correctional facilities during each calendar year.
(4)(a)The office must have reasonable access, upon demand
in person or in writing and with or without prior notice, to all
department facilities, including all areas that are used by
incarcerated persons and all areas that are accessible to
incarcerated persons, and to programs for incarcerated persons
at reasonable times, which, at a minimum, must include normal
working hours and visiting hours. This authority includes the
opportunity to conduct an interview with any incarcerated
person, department employee or contractor, or other person. This
access is for all of the following purposes:
1.Providing information about individual rights and the
services available from the office, including the name, address,
and telephone number of the office facilities or staff;
2.Conducting official inspections under subsection (6);
3.Conducting an official investigation under subsection
(7) or as described in s. 944.102; and
4.Inspecting, viewing, photographing, or video recording
all areas of the facility which are used by incarcerated persons
or are accessible to incarcerated persons.
(b)Access to incarcerated persons includes the opportunity
to meet and communicate privately and confidentially with
individuals regularly, with or without prior notice, formally or
informally, by telephone, mail, electronic communication, or in
person. In the case of communications with incarcerated persons,
these communications may not be monitored by, recorded, or
conducted in the presence of department employees or
contractors.
(c)The office may access, inspect, and copy all
information, records, or documents in the possession or control
of the department which the office considers necessary in an
investigation of a complaint filed under this section or s.
944.102, and the department shall assist the office in obtaining
any necessary releases for those documents that are specifically
restricted or privileged for use by the office.
(d)Following notification from the office with a written
demand for access to department records, the designated
department staff shall provide the office with access to the
requested documentation no later than 20 days after the office’s
written request for the records. If the records requested by the
office pertain to an incarcerated person’s death; threats of
bodily harm, including, but not limited to, sexual or physical
assaults; or the denial of necessary medical treatment, the
records must be provided within 5 days unless the office
consents to an extension of that timeframe.
(e)The office shall work with the department to minimize
disruption to the department’s operations due to office
activities and must comply with the department’s security
clearance processes, provided that these processes do not impede
the activities outlined in this section.
(f)The office may subpoena department records, employees,
or contractors.
(g)The department has an affirmative duty to provide data
related to the collection and dissemination of information under
subparagraph (2)(b)5.
(5)(a)Correspondence and communication with the office,
including that made pursuant to s. 944.102, are confidential and
must be protected as privileged correspondence in the same
manner as legal correspondence or communication.
(b)The office shall establish confidentiality rules and
procedures for all information maintained by the office to
ensure that:
1.Department employees or contractors are not aware of the
identity of a person who submits a complaint or inquiry before,
during, or after an investigation, to the greatest extent
practicable. The office may disclose personal identifying
information for the sole purpose of carrying out an
investigation; and
2.Other persons in department custody are not aware of the
identity of a person who submits a complaint or inquiry before,
during, or after an investigation, to the greatest extent
practicable. The office may disclose personal identifying
information for the sole purpose of carrying out an
investigation.
(6)The office shall conduct periodic inspections of each
department facility.
(a)Initial inspection.—The office shall conduct an
inspection of each department facility and release a public
report by July 1, 2029.
(b)Subsequent inspection.—Subsequent inspections of each
facility must be conducted on a staggered schedule dependent on
the facility’s safety and compliance classification.
(c)Inspection assessment.—The office shall conduct a
complete inspection of a department facility which covers all
matters pertinent to the welfare of staff and incarcerated
persons within the facility, including, but not limited to, an
assessment of all of the following:
1.All policies and procedures in place at the facility
related to the care of incarcerated persons.
2.Conditions of confinement.
3.Availability to incarcerated persons of educational and
rehabilitative programming, drug and mental health treatment,
and jobs and vocational training.
4.All policies and procedures related to visitation.
5.All medical facilities and medical procedures and
policies.
6.Lockdowns at the facility in the time since the last
audit. For an initial assessment, the office shall review
lockdowns from the last 3 years.
7.Staffing at the facility, including the number and job
assignments of correctional staff, the ratio of staff to
incarcerated persons at the facility, and the staff position
vacancy rate at the facility.
8.Physical and sexual assaults at the facility in the time
since the last inspection. For an initial assessment, the office
shall review assaults from the last 3 years.
9.Incarcerated person or staff deaths that occurred at the
facility in the time since the last inspection. For an initial
assessment, the office shall review incarcerated person and
staff deaths from the last 3 years.
10.Department staff recruitment, training, supervision,
and discipline.
11.Programming within the facility, including type of
programming, program eligibility, and length of waiting list, if
applicable.
12.Any other aspect of the operation of the facility which
the office deems necessary over the course of an inspection.
(d)Report.—Upon completion of an inspection, the office
shall produce a report and make it publicly available on its
website and submit the report to the Governor, the Attorney
General, the judiciary committees of each house of the
Legislature, and the secretary of the department. The report
must include all of the following:
1.A summary of the facility’s policies and procedures
related to the care of the incarcerated persons.
2.A characterization of the conditions of confinement.
3.A catalog of the educational and rehabilitative
programming, drug and mental health treatment, and jobs and
vocational trainingavailable to incarcerated persons.
4.A summary of visitation policies and procedures.
5.A summary of medical facilities and medical procedures
and policies.
6.A summary of the lockdowns reviewed by the office.
7.A summary of the staffing at the facility, including
policies relating to staff recruitment, training, supervision,
and discipline.
8.A summary of physical and sexual assaults reviewed by
the office.
9.A summary of any incarcerated person or staff deaths
that occurred at the facility.
10.Recommendations made to the facility to improve safety
and conditions within the facility.
11.Safety and compliance classification with recommended
timeline for the next inspection.
(e)Safety and compliance classification.—Upon completion
of an inspection, the office shall assign the facility a safety
and compliance classification. The classification system must be
divided into 3 tiers and be determined based on the factors
described in thisparagraph. The safety and compliance
classification are:
1.Tier 1. This classification requires subsequent
inspection within 12 months and is used for maximum security
facilities and facilities that present clear violations of
rights, risks to the safety of incarcerated persons, or severe
lack of quality programming for the successful rehabilitation of
incarcerated persons.
2.Tier 2. This classification requires subsequent
inspection between 18 months and 36 months and is used for
facilities that may have violations of rights, substandard
conditions of confinement, or substandard programming options.
3.Tier 3. This classification requires subsequent
inspection within 36 months and is used for facilities with
adequate conditions of confinement and programming options.
(f)Responses.—The department shall respond in writing to
each inspection report issued by the office within 60 days after
issuance of the report, and its response must include a
corrective action plan. The office shall monitor the
department’s compliance with the corrective action plan and may
conduct further inspections or investigations as necessary to
ensure compliance.
(7)(a)The office may initiate and attempt to resolve a
complaint investigation upon its own initiative, or upon receipt
of a complaint from an incarcerated person, a family member, a
representative of an incarcerated person, a department employee
or contractor, or others, regarding any of the following that
may adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of
incarcerated persons:
1.Abuse or neglect.
2.Conditions of confinement.
3.Department decisions or administrative actions.
4.Department inactions or omissions.
5.Department policies, rules, or procedures.
6.Alleged violations of law by department employees or
contractors which may adversely affect the health, safety,
welfare, or rights of incarcerated persons.
(b)The office may decline to investigate any complaint. If
the office does not investigate a complaint, the office must
notify the person who submitted the complaint in writing of the
decision not to investigate and the reasons for the decision.
(c)Filing a complaint with the office, or any action or
lack of action on a complaint by the office, may not be deemed
an administrative procedure required for exhaustion of remedies
prior to bringing an action pursuant to the Prison Litigation
Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 1997e.
(d)The office may not investigate a complaint relating to
an incarcerated person’s underlying criminal conviction.
(e)The office may not investigate a complaint from a
department employee or contractor which relates to the
employee’s or contractor’s employment relationship with the
department unless the complaint is related to the health,
safety, welfare, or rehabilitation of incarcerated persons.
(f)The office may refer the person who submitted a
complaint and others to appropriate resources or state, tribal,
or federal agencies, as applicable.
(g)The office may not levy any fees for the submission or
investigation of complaints.
(h)At the conclusion of an investigation of a complaint,
the office shall render a public decision on the merits of each
complaint, except that the documents supporting the decision are
subject to the confidentiality provision of this section. The
office shall communicate the decision to the person who
submitted the complaint and to the department. The office must
state its recommendations and reasoning if, in the office’s
opinion, the department or any employee or contractor thereof
should:
1.Consider the matter further;
2.Modify or cancel any action;
3.Alter a rule, practice, or ruling;
4.Explain in detail the administrative action in question;
or
5.Rectify an omission.
(i)Upon a request by the office, the department shall,
within the time specified or within a reasonable time, inform
the office in writing about any action taken on the
recommendations or the reasons for not complying with the
recommendations.
(j)If the office believes, based on the investigation,
that there has been or continues to be a significant health,
safety, welfare, or rehabilitation issue, the office must report
the finding to the Governor, the Attorney General, the judiciary
committees of each house of the Legislature, and the secretary
of the department.
(k)If the department conducts an internal disciplinary
investigation and review of one or more of its staff members as
a result of an office investigation, the department’s
disciplinary review may be subject to additional review and
investigation by the office to ensure a fair and objective
process.
(l)Before announcing a conclusion or recommendation that
expressly, or by implication, criticizes a person or the
department, the office shall consult with that person or the
department. The office may request to be notified by the
department, within a specified time, of any action taken on any
recommendation presented.
(m)The department and its employees and contractors may
not terminate, retaliate against, or in any manner discriminate
against any person because he or she has filed a complaint or
instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or
related to this subsection.
1.Any alleged termination of, retaliation against, or
discrimination against a person who submitted a complaint may be
considered by the office as an appropriate subject of an
investigation.
2.Any department employee or contractor who believes that
he or she has been terminated or otherwise discriminated against
by a person in violation of this subsection may, within 30 days
after such violation occurs, file a complaint pursuant to the
state’s whistleblower or wrongful termination laws, or both.
(8)(a)By December 31 of each year, the office shall
produce an annual report and make it publicly available on its
website and submit it to the Governor, the Attorney General, the
judiciary committees of each house of the Legislature, and the
secretary of the department. The report must include all of the
following:
1.A summary of the office’s inspections and complaint
investigations conducted that calendar year, including the
office’s findings and recommendations and the department’s
responses and corrective actions.
2.A characterization of the conditions of confinement.
3.A summary of educational and rehabilitative programming,
drug and mental health treatment, and jobs and vocational
training available to incarcerated persons.
4.A summary of visitation policies and procedures.
5.A summary of medical facilities and medical procedures
and policies.
6.A summary of the lockdowns reviewed by the office.
7.A summary of the staffing at each facility and in the
department overall.
8.A summary of physical and sexual assaults reviewed by
the office.
9.A summary of any incarcerated person or staff deaths
that occurred at a facility.
10.A summary of the office’s investigations, findings, and
resolutions of any complaints submitted pursuant to this section
or s. 944.102.
11.A summary of the pending and settled lawsuits during
the previous calendar year in which the department or its
contractors are a party and which relate to any covered issue as
defined in s. 944.102, with a description of the nature of the
claims, their date and location, and attorney fees, court costs,
and settlement costs spent by the department, its contractors,
or the state.
12.A summary of the criminal prosecutions of department
employees, contractors, or incarcerated persons initiated or
concluded during the previous calendar year, with a description
of the dates and locations of the alleged offenses, the nature
of the charges, and any adjudication or disposition of the
cases.
13.Recommendations to the Legislature and the department,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
a.How the office and the department could be better funded
and staffed.
b.How to improve staff retention, training, working
conditions, compensation, benefits, morale, and safety.
c.How to improve incarcerated person health, safety,
conditions of confinement, or medical care.
d.How to improve visitation and limiting the use of
lockdowns and administrative segregation or solitary
confinement.
e.How to improve complaint investigation and resolution.
f.How to improve access to and quality and availability of
educational and rehabilitative programming, drug and mental
health treatment, and jobs and vocational training to
incarcerated persons.
g.How to improve transparency about conditions in the
facilities and the department overall.
h.How to improve the disciplinary process to hold staff
accountable for mistreatment of incarcerated persons.
i.How to prevent future violations of incarcerated
persons’ rights protected under state and federal law.
(b)Upon a request by the office, the department shall,
within the time specified or within a reasonable time, inform
the office in writing about any action taken on the
recommendations or the reasons for not complying with the
recommendations.
(9)The department and the office may adopt rules to enact
this section.
Section 2. Section 944.102, Florida Statutes, is created to
read:
944.102 Incarcerated person and family support services;
function of the Office of the Department of Corrections
Ombudsperson.—
(1)DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
(a)“Covered issue” includes, but is not limited to, all of
the following:
1.Sanitation in prison facilities.
2.Access to proper nutrition.
3.Livable temperatures in prison facilities.
4.Physical or sexual abuse from fellow incarcerated
persons.
5.Physical or sexual abuse from department staff or
contractors.
6.Credible threats against an incarcerated person from
another incarcerated person, staff, or contractors.
7.Neglect of prison staff or contractors which results in
physical or sexual trauma.
8.Denial of rights afforded to incarcerated persons under
federal or state law.
9.Access to visitation and communication with family.
10.Any instance in which the office determines an action
or behavior to be such that it constitutes abuse or neglect
against an incarcerated person.
11.Access to medical or mental health care or substance
abuse treatment.
12.Access to educational and rehabilitative programming,
drug and mental health treatment, and incarcerated person jobs
and vocational training.
(b)“Family form” means a secure online form created by the
office through which a family member can submit a complaint or
an inquiry.
(c)“Family member” has the same meaning as in s. 944.101.
(d)“Incarcerated person form” means a secure online form
available through the department’s intranet through which an
incarcerated person can submit a complaint or inquiries
regarding covered issues on his or her behalf.
(e)“Office” means the Office of the Department of
Corrections Ombudsperson.
(2)FAMILY ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT SERVICES ONLINE FORM.—The
office shall create an electronic family form and make it
publicly available on the office’s website so that family
members, friends, and advocates can submit complaints and
inquiries regarding covered issues on behalf of a person
incarcerated within the department. Upon receipt of a family
form, the office shall:
(a)Confirm receipt of the family form within 5 business
days after receipt;
(b)Determine whether an investigation is warranted within
7 business days after the confirmation of receipt of the form
and notify the person who submitted the form of the office’s
determination; and
(c)If the office determines an investigation is
unwarranted, provide a written statement explaining its decision
to the person who submitted the form.
(3)INCARCERATED PERSON ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT SERVICES
ONLINE FORM.—The office shall create an incarcerated person
advocacy and support services form.
(a)Availability.—The department shall ensure that the
incarcerated person form is available and operating on at least
12 computers within each department facility and accessible to
all incarcerated persons from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day.
For incarcerated persons in administrative segregation or
solitary confinement, the department shall ensure that employees
and contractors provide incarcerated persons with access to the
incarcerated person form on a computer or computer tablet or by
providing a paper copy upon the incarcerated person’s request.
The department shall make paper copies of the incarcerated
person form available, at no cost to incarcerated persons, in
each facility’s library, law library, and recreational and
medical facilities.
(b)Confidentiality.—The office shall create the
incarcerated person form in a secure format that excludes any
electronic monitoring or reproduction by the department or its
employees or contractors. Any submissions of paper copies of the
incarcerated person form by an incarcerated person must be
treated as confidential and privileged by department employees
or contractors in the same manner as legal correspondence or
communication.
(c)Requirements.—The office shall:
1.Confirm receipt of the incarcerated person form within 5
business days after receipt;
2.Determine whether an investigation is warranted within 7
business days after the confirmation of receipt of the form and
notify the person who submitted the form of the office’s
determination; and
3.If the office determines an investigation is
unwarranted, provide a written statement explaining its decision
to the person who submitted the form.
(4)FAMILY ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT SERVICES HOTLINE.—The
office shall create a telephone hotline that family members,
friends, and advocates of incarcerated persons can call to file
complaints and inquiries regarding covered issues on behalf of a
person incarcerated within the department. The office shall:
(a)Confirm receipt of the complaint or inquiry within 5
business days after its receipt;
(b)Determine whether an investigation is warranted within
7 business days after the confirmation of receipt of the
complaint or inquiry and notify the person who submitted the
complaint or inquiry; and
(c)If the office determines an investigation is
unwarranted, provide a written statement explaining its decision
to the person who submitted the complaint or inquiry.
(5)ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT SERVICES HOTLINE.—The office shall
create a secure telephone hotline that all department employees
and contractors and incarcerated persons can call to file
complaints and inquiries regarding covered issues on their own
behalf.
(a)Prohibition on phone call fees.—The secretary of the
department shall ensure that the hotline and its use are made
available to all incarcerated persons free of charge.
(b)Confidentiality.—The office and the secretary of the
department shall ensure that calls to the hotline are not
monitored or recorded by department employees or contractors.
(c)Requirements.—The office shall:
1.Confirm receipt of the complaint or inquiry within 5
business days after receipt;
2.Determine whether an investigation is warranted within 7
business days after the confirmation of receipt of the complaint
or inquiry and notify the person who submitted the complaint or
inquiry of the office’s determination; and
3.If the office determines an investigation is
unwarranted, provide a written statement explaining its decision
to the person who submitted the complaint or inquiry.
(6)BAN ON RETALIATION.—The department and its employees
and contractors may not terminate, retaliate against, or in any
manner discriminate against a person because he or she has filed
a complaint or inquiry or instituted or caused to be instituted
any proceeding under or related to this section.
(a)Any alleged termination of, retaliation against, or
discrimination against the person who submitted the complaint or
inquiry may be considered by the office as an appropriate
subject of an investigation.
(b)A department employee or contractor who believes that
he or she has been terminated or otherwise discriminated against
by any person in violation of this subsection may, within 30
days after such violation occurs, file a complaint pursuant to
the state’s whistleblower or wrongful termination laws, or both.
(7)FEDERAL CLAIMS.—A complaint or lack of complaint to the
office or any action or lack of action by the office on a
complaint made pursuant to this section may not be deemed an
administrative procedure required for exhaustion of remedies
before bringing an action pursuant to the Prison Litigation
Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 1997e.
(8)RULES.—The department and the office may adopt rules to
enact this section.
Section 3. (1)Spending on the Office of the Department of
Corrections Ombudsperson to carry out the activities in this act
must equal an amount between 0.5 percent and 1 percent of the
Department of Corrections’ annual appropriation.
(2)Beginning with the 2026-2027 fiscal year through the
2031-2032 fiscal year, the recurring sum of $1.5 millionis
appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of
Corrections to implement this act.
Section 4. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2026.

Creating the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsperson within the Department of Corrections; establishing the Corrections Oversight Committee; authorizing the office to subpoena department records, employees, or contractors; requiring the office to conduct periodic inspections of department facilities; requiring the office to create an electronic family form and make it available on the office's public website for a specified purpose, etc.

Sponsors

Sen. Carlos Smith (D) sponsors S 1710 alone.

Carlos Smith

Sen. · D–17 · Sponsor

History

S 1710 has taken 4 actions since Jan 9, 2026, the latest on Mar 13, 2026.

ChamberAction
Mar 13, 2026
Senate
Died in Criminal Justice
Jan 22, 2026
Senate
Introduced
Jan 16, 2026
Senate
Referred to Criminal Justice; Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; Fiscal Policy
Jan 9, 2026
Senate
Filed

Votes

S 1710 has not gone to a roll call.

Source: flsenate.gov · legiscan.com