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Miami-Dade to release 18 jail inmates because of coronavirus

Posted at 11:00 AM, Apr 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-04 11:00:00-04

MIAMI (AP) — Officials say Miami-Dade County is releasing 18 inmates early from its jail as a response to the new coronavirus.

State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced an agreement Friday between her office, the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, an Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida judge and the head of the county jail.

Fernandez Rundle says they hope to reduce the chances that COVID-19 could spread among the officers, staff and inmates.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS

The jail will release the inmates within 48 hours if they have no other holds.

The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department operates the eighth-largest jail system in the country, incarcerating more than 4,000 people on any given day.