The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office John E. Goode Pre-Trial Detention Facility.
Published on January 17, 2025 at 4:03 pm
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A year after changing medical providers, Duval County jail officials reported a more than 50% decrease in the number of incarcerated people who died in the facility.
Fifteen people died in the jail in 2023, compared with seven in 2024. Causes included preexisting medical complications such as cancer and infections, pneumonia brought on by COVID-19 in one case and two overdoses, according to records obtained by The Tributary through the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the medical examiner.
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The Sheriff’s Office did not return The Tributary’s request for comment, and NaphCare, the private health care provider under contract with the jail, declined to comment.
Wanda Bertram, of the Prison Policy Initiative, said that while the decrease is a positive sign, a year is not enough to determine if there is a marked decline in deaths.
“I think it would be premature to say that the Duval County jail has finally left behind the problems it experienced in previous years from privatizing health care,” she said. “Seven is still a significant number of deaths in a jail.”
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The Tributary reported that deaths in the jail tripled after Sheriff Mike Williams quietly outsourced its medical services to a private provider, Armor Correctional Healthcare. Soon after The Tributary’s reporting, Sheriff T.K. Waters ended its contract with Armor. He signed a new, more-expensive contract with NaphCare, which began in September 2023 and made allowance for additional staff and medical supplies.
T.K. Meneely, director of operations for NaphCare Florida, told Jacksonville City Council members that when NaphCare took over, staff had to purchase additional medical carts and a 25% increase in medications kept on site.
While Waters wouldn’t disclose exactly why he decided to switch contracts, a letter from the Sheriff’s Office to Armor leadership outlined a slew of alleged contract violations.
Among Armor’s listed failings was that it did not maintain national accreditation standards, which resulted in the Sheriff’s Office being placed on probation with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in early 2023, according to records obtained by The Tributary.
Armor also failed to report a 2022 criminal conviction against the company for the death of an inmate in another state to either the state of Florida or the Sheriff’s Office before the city and company renewed its contract. The Sheriff’s Office said the letter did not include a comprehensive list of the deficiencies the agency identified.
It’s also too early to tell whether NaphCare alone is the reason for last year’s improved numbers.
“It’s possible the jail also made changes to ensure people are being seen in a timely way,” Bertram, with the Prison Policy Initiative, said. “Correctional officers play a big role in making sure people are getting the attention they need right away. They have a role to play in making sure that people on suicide watch are adequately protected and that people who have substance abuse problems are not overdosing on drugs.”
Twenty-three overdoses among inmates were reported in 2023, at least four of which ended in death. Nine overdoses were reported in 2024, leading to at least one death.
At a news conference Jan. 7, the Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of a Jacksonville defense attorney accused of smuggling drug-laced paperwork into the jail. Twenty others were arrested in the investigation, but details of those arrests were not released.
The Sheriff’s Office said the lawyer, Nathan Williams, coordinated with inmates and their families to smuggle in the designer drug K2/Spice by soaking it into legal paperwork. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, K2 can produce acute psychotic episodes as well as seizures and strokes.
Nine months earlier, in April 2024, the Sheriff’s Office announced it had arrested one of its own correctional officers and charged him with bringing drugs into the jail. Kobe Collett had been working in the jail for more than two years. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
This story is published through a partnership between Jacksonville Today and The Tributary.
