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Nobody is watching Florida’s inmates when they’re released according to a new study. As Matt Galka explains, Florida leads the country in unsupervised reentry, and experts say that puts some on a fast track back behind bars.

Nearly 65% of Florida’s prisoners are coming back into society without supervision.  A study from Pew Charitable Trusts suggests that with no one watching, former inmates are more likely to become criminals again

Mark Schlakman runs FloridaState’s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. He says it only makes sense that offenders who are thrown back into society wind up back behind bars.

“If there isn’t at least some level of transitional support or oversight, it is less likely that the person reentering society would have a successful reentry into society,” said Schlakman.

The study argues that “smart justice” options, like a halfway house, could be better for the end of a prison sentence rather than just letting a prisoner walk away on their own.

When an ex offender ends up back in prison – something known as recidivism – the money it takes to keep them locked up adds up.  Florida TaxWatch’s  center for Smart Justice says repeat criminals hurts the taxpayer.

“We have to re-arrest them, re-try them, and re-sentence them to prison. Lots of public dollars in that, but more importantly, there was a crime that was committed, there is now a victim in Florida,” said Robert Weissert with TaxWatch.

Florida prisoners are required to serve 85% of their sentences.  The legislature passed a bill this past session helping inmates get ID cards upon release – hoping to ease their transition back to society.

The study says that unsupervised inmate releases are up more than 100 percent nationwide since 1990. The state’s department of corrections says about one of every three inmates released returns to jail within three years.