FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans that could reform the criminal justice system last week.
The list includes changes to the death penalty, cracking down on fentanyl, and strengthening bail laws.
Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith said the legislation is vital and necessary.
“One of the things I’m really excited about is some of the other states have done away with bail and he’s a proponent of not doing that and I think that’s important because you can’t just have people being arrested and released,” Smith said. “We’re seeing now where people have lengthy criminal histories and they are given probation, pretrial release and if you were just to release them with nothing, it would be terrible.”
DeSantis also wants to minimize the number of jurors it takes to carry out the death penalty.
Plus he is addressing the fentanyl crisis.
DeSantis is allocating $20 million in local support funding for law enforcement agencies.
“Enhanced penalties for fentanyl, which we’re seeing more fentanyl deaths,” Smith said. “I think that’s important as well, so all this stuff he’s doing, I think is very timely and very important to keep our community safe.”
Last year DeSantis approved a program that gave officers who moved to Florida a $5,000 bonus.
Smith said the incentive helps them attract experienced law enforcement officers.
“We’re really small and we really didn’t anticipate using it. But lo and behold, we hired a guy from Georgia and he received his $5,000 bonus. So, I mean, what a great incentive to attract good law enforcement officers,” Smith said.
DeSantis is also hoping to combat human trafficking in the state, to read more on his Law and Order Legislation click here.
