wellborn my hometown

The man on the left is Johnny Reid, Assistant Warden of Operation at Suwannee Correctional Institution. He came as a guest speaker for Wellborn Neighborhood Watchers monthly meeting. Major Dennis Crawford, also an assistant warden, shared the story telling. A third warden is expected to arrive in September. A very positive report, assured the WNW that the prison is a state of the art facility whose main purpose is safety, both inside its walls and outside them. The main unit is completely built. 400 workers boosted the local economy during this construction phase.

278 inmates are currently housed in the Work Camp unit where there will eventually be 432 minimum security prisoners who meet rigorous security criteria before leaving the prison for community work. Two five man work crews are already working on Suwannee County roads.
Work crew supervisors phone a report every half hour with a head count and exact location and these details are displayed on a GPS wall map. A system is in place for notifcation in the event of an escaping inmate. An upgrade to this notification would be a reverse 911 which Lafayette county has installed. WNW and commissioner Billy Maxwell volunteered to look into this possibility here. If there is an escapee from a road crew, prison personnel and county law enforcement converge ASAP. When the canine sargent's work was mentioned, both men smiled because the puppy has won the hearts of all 130 prison staff, but in their 25 years of prison work both men have seen success with canines. Classes for employees are also a work in progress in order to meet numbers required at the new prison. Local folks have landed all the jobs so far.

Of Florida 64 prisons this newest is the best and employees consider themselves lucky and are working gratefully and harmoniously.
In September a mock escape is planned as a drill.

Q&A time was followed by foreshadowing another tour of the prison. probably in October.

BILLY MAXWELL ALERTS US TO THE WORK OF ROBERT EYER who teaches CPR: short form(3 hours) or longer form with certification.. Wellborn yearns for an ambulance. People to update their emergency medical knowledge seems like a step in the right direction. Billy Maxwell just completed a course in Falmouth and wishes everyone would.