Troubled Largo Halfway House to Trim Population

WTSP is reporting that the number of inmates at a troubled Largo work-release center – the largest facility of its kind in the state – will be capped at 200, after one man was accused of rape and another killed two people.

The Largo Residential Re-Entry Center, operated by Goodwill Industries, now has 300 inmates. But state lawmakers are preparing to mandate that Florida work-release centers limit their populations to 200 because of problems at the Largo facility and others like it.

Goodwill recently improved security cameras, added lighting, and tightened the inmates' curfew at night. It also installed razor wire in back of the facility to keep inmates from jumping the fence to enter the neighboring Embassy Mobile Home Park.

State Sen. Jack Latvala,  R-Clearwater, sponsored an amendment to the state budget that passed in the Senate Wednesday and now heads to the House. It is expected to be approved.

He told WTSP: "I think they dropped the ball when they allowed this to be put there, but we just have to try and make the best of it." Latvala said he will push to close the facility if problems persist after the cap is in effect.

At issue at the Goodwill center in Largo are incidents in which an inmate from the facility was charged with raping a teenager at a bus stop, and two people were killed by another inmate who had escaped.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, former Largo inmate Michael Scott Norris confessed to killing two men in St. Petersburg, after escaping from the facility.

Former inmate, Dustin Kennedy faces charges of raping a 17-year-old girl near the work release center last December.

The population limits are expected take effect July 1.

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