CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - The state's human-services chief was ordered to pay $80,000 for keeping mentally ill inmates in jail, a fine that came a week after she was charged with criminal contempt.
Judge Crockett Farnell imposed the sanction against Department of Children & Families chief Lucy Hadi on Thursday during a hearing on the status of seven Pinellas County jail inmates found incompetent months ago but only recently moved to mental health facilities.
Under state law, the inmates should have been moved sooner, and Farnell charged Hadi last week with indirect contempt of court.
The agency will appeal the fine, spokeswoman Al Zimmerman said. ``We'd like to work with the court in solving this problem, not against the court,'' Zimmerman said.
As of Monday, 237 inmates in the state's jails have been declared incompetent and have been in jail longer than 15 days, Zimmerman said.
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