2008
OFFENDER POPULATION JUNE 30, 2008
INMATES: 98,192
SUPERVISED: 158,079
INMATES: 98,192
SUPERVISED: 158,079
WALTER A. MCNEIL NAMED NEW SECRETARY OF CORRECTIONS
Secretary Walter A. McNeil
January 15, 2008
Governor Charlie Crist today appoints Walter A. McNeil to serve as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections. Immediately prior to this appointment, McNeil was Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice for a year.
“Walt is an excellent leader and has done a tremendous job working with community partners to address the challenges within our juvenile justice system,” Governor Crist said. “I am honored that he has agreed to transfer his leadership to the Department of Corrections, and I am confident he will continue the good work we have accomplished there.
Before joining Governor Crist’s administration, McNeil served as Tallahassee Police Chief and was known throughout the state for being on the cutting edge of the law enforcement profession. With 28 years of law enforcement experience, McNeil has worked in virtually every area of police leadership, management, and supervision. McNeil also served as the Fifth Vice President for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and St. Johns University in Springfield, Louisiana.
McNeil replaces Colonel James McDonough, who has headed the agency since February 2006. Prior to becoming Secretary, McDonough served as the director for the Office of Drug Control Policy.
Longtime Tomoka Correctional Institution Correctional Officer Officer Donna Fitzgerald, 50, is stabbed to death on June 25, 2008 by an inmate who was working in the prison's PRIDE program. The inmate, Enoch Hall, uses a knife he made from sheet metal scraps to murder Officer Fitzgerald. Hall, 39, is already serving two life sentences for rape and kidnapping. He faces first-degree murder charges and is moved to Florida State Prison in Starke. Fitzgerald had worked at the prison for 13 years. On Friday, January 15, 2010, Hall is sentenced to death for Officer Fitzgerald's murder. He is still on Death Row in May 2023.
Correctional Officer Donna Fitzgerald
Donna Fitzgerald
Wakulla Annex opens. It houses close custody male inmates.
