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How old is too old to be in prison? A watchdog group says some older inmates may be costing the state a bundle and doing little for public safety. Releasing some older inmates is just one idea Florida Taxwatch is floating to cut the cost of incarnation.

Florida is housing just under six thousand inmates over the age of 60  Make no mistake…some are violent murderers or child molesters, but others are not. 80 year old Barbara Dunn was sentenced last year to ten years for DUI manslaughter.

82 year old Eva Verner is more than halfway through her 15 year sentence for Fraud.

Now, Morgan McCord from Florida Taxwatch is suggesting that keeping some elderly behind bars may not be financially sound.

“When we implement some sort of elderly parole option, it’s allowing some of these non violent offenders to really get out of a prison system that is not providing a positive return on investment for our communities.”

Taxpayers spend an average of 17 thousand a year to keep someone in prison. The elderly can cost two or three times as much.

State lawmakers have limited what latitude judges have through sentencing guidelines. Now Taxwatch Research Director Rob Weissert says there needs to be an alternative.

“We’re talking about a revenue…eh, a cost estimating tool. Something that would provide not only what the cost of incarnation would be, but the cost of alternatives are”.

McCord says taking 10 percent of the inmates out of prison and putting ankle bracelets on them would save 120 million a year. “That’s a 120 million a year that can be reinvested in our communities, to be given to education, student performance.”

Florida will spend 280 million dollars on prison health care this year alone. The entire system costs two billion a year to run.

There are 102,000 inmates in Florida prisons. Health care costs are expected to go from 280 million this year to 369 million next year.