FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on Monday said it has decided to no longer oversee a program that puts inmates on work release _ a move that comes months after accusations surfaced that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had years ago exploited the program.
The program came under fire in August amid allegations that Epstein routinely had "improper sexual contact" with women while he was on work release from the county stockade about a decade ago.
In August, Bradshaw stopped any additional inmates from being placed on work release and directed the county's Criminal Justice Commission, a 32-member panel that studies law enforcement issues, to review the program's policies and procedures.
Earlier this month, a task force under the commission recommended keeping the work-release program under the Sheriff's Office. The panel was set to send its final vote to Bradshaw, who has the deciding power.
Before they could vote on Monday, Chief Deputy Michael Gauger said Bradshaw would end the program effective Monday.
Gauger didn't say why Bradshaw made the decision. In a statement, the Sheriff's Office said he agreed with the commission's findings, and that the decision "saves money."
The work-release program still will exist, but the Sheriff's Office won't oversee it. Inmates instead will be placed on house arrest and will be able to go to work during specific times, PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera said in the statement. Those inmates will need a judge's order for the Sheriff's Office to enforce a work-release agreement, according to Barbera.
The decision "places total control of the decision-making process in the hands of the Court system, and the presiding Judge," the statement said.
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner, who sits on both the Criminal Justice Commission and the Corrections Task Force, said he supports the decision and would like to see the county government oversee and possibly even expand the program.
Referring to the commission's final report, Kerner said: "You can see within it the practical lack of value of having a law enforcement agency oversee the program," he said. "It was a little bit cumbersome."
Kerner, who has a background in law enforcement as a police officer and special prosecutor, said he won't let the program die completely. It'll just be the county government running it, rather than the Sheriff's Office, he said.
"I appreciate the sheriff's perspective and his willingness to be open and transparent to the process," Kerner said.
Bradshaw's request for the review of the program did not cover particular cases or participants, such as Epstein. That's why the nearly six-year time frame covered by the review started in January 2014, well after Epstein was released.
Bradshaw, who has been sheriff since 2004, also has ordered a separate criminal investigation and an internal affairs probe into the handling of Epstein's work-release arrangement. Lawyer Brad Edwards, who represents a dozen Epstein accusers, said lax supervision allowed Epstein to continue seeing women while he was in jail.
