© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lawmakers To Soon Get New DOC Sec. Input, Also Discuss Gun Bill, Body Cameras

Getty Images

The two criminal justice panels of the Florida Legislature are slated to meet Tuesday to take up a number of issues from the state’s troubled prison agency to a gun bill allowing guns on campus.

Newly appointed Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Julies Jones is expected to brief the Senate Criminal Justice Committee members about areas where the department is lacking and trying to improve.

The department has come under scrutiny for inmate deaths and allegations of abuse by prison guards.

Lawmakers will also hear a presentation by Florida TaxWatch based on their report about Florida’s aging prisoner population, and how that poses a future problem of causing a strain on the state’s budget.

Meanwhile, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee will take up a bill allowing people to open and conceal carry firearms on college campuses. It’s a bill Florida State University President John Thrasher is against.

The panel is also slated to hold a workshop on body cameras for law enforcement officers. A bill has already been filed, and the Florida Police Benevolent Association is against the mandate.

For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.

Sascha Cordner has more than ten years of public radio experience. It includes working at NPR member station WUFT-FM in Gainesville for several years. She's worked in both radio and TV, serving in various capacities as a reporter, producer and anchor. She's also a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications. She is the recipient of 15 awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and Edward R. Murrow. Her award-winning stories include her coverage on the infamous “Dozier School for Boys” and a feature titled "Male Breast Cancer: Lost in the Sea of Pink." Currently, Sascha serves as the host and producer of local and state news content for the afternoon news program "All Things Considered" at WFSU. Sascha primarily covers criminal justice and social services issues. When she's not reporting, Sascha likes catching up on her favorite TV shows, singing and reading. Follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter:@SaschaCordner.