Disability rights group investigating MCSO over treatment of jail inmates

File photo: The Marion County Jail is shown at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

Disability Rights Florida, an agency serving as the state protection and advocacy system for individuals with disabilities, has indicated to the “Gazette” that the agency is investigating the Marion County Sheriff’s Office over its treatment of mentally ill prisoners at the county jail.

Aaron Victoria, a senior advocate-investigator for DRF, said he could not share more details because the investigation is active; however, the “Gazette” has made a public records request to the MCSO for all correspondence and reports received from the agency.

In a March 28 email to Heart of Florida, the jail’s medical provider, Victoria wrote: Disability Rights Florida, Inc. (DRF), Florida’s designated Protection and Advocacy system (P&A), has received a report about the death of Mayra I. Ramirez, an individual with mental illness who was an inmate at Marion County Jail at the time of her death on September 7, 2023. Based on the report, DRF has probable cause to believe that Ms. Ramirez was the subject of abuse and/or neglect prior to her death. The letter addresses our authority to request records held by Marion County Jail. The request is covered by the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Act, 42 U.S.C. § 10801, et seq.

DRF has been designated by the State of Florida … as the state protection and advocacy (“P&A”) system for individuals with disabilities. Under federal law, DRF, as Florida’s P&A, exists to ensure the safety, well-being and success of people with disabilities, and to demand access and accountability in health care, education, transportation, voting, housing, employment, and within the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

The email requested copies of Ramirez’s inmate medical records from Heart of Florida as well as the jail’s intake and booking information for Ramirez.

Nationally, an average of about 1.40 deaths occur annually per 1,000 people incarcerated in jails, according to the National Institutes of Health. Given that the Marion County Jail holds an average of 1,600 to 1,700 inmates at a time, and 32 inmates have died since January 2021, the annual average of deaths in the jail is about 4.4 deaths per 1,000 incarcerated people per year, four times above the national average.

DRF states that it “often takes legal action to protect the lives and well-being of Floridians with disabilities” it has “access authority to any agency, institution, and organization that affects or involves people with disabilities. This is a power that other agencies do not have.”

As previously reported by the “Gazette” just 10 days before Victoria’s email, Ramirez died in custody on Sept. 7, 2023. During her incarceration, Ramirez made at least 33 urgent requests for medical care, often filing multiple requests in one day. Her requests included pleas of “Help me,” “I am in so much pain,” and “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last.”

Ramirez’s death in custody is one of a series of similar incidents that raise concerns about the quality of care inmates receive at the county facility—particularly when emergency medical attention is needed.

The year Ramirez died, post-booking emergency room visits were less than half of what they had been in prior years, and that trend continued for 2024. Thus far, HOF has refused to explain the sharp reduction in ER visits for inmates post-booking in 2023 and 2024, and requests for records to explore the financial motivations that might have been at play have been denied.

As previously reported, a MCSO employee whistleblower filed a complaint against the agency for retaliatory firing. Records show she had raised alarms about dangerous standards of care and Heart of Florida’s lack of compliance with established Florida Jail Model Medical Standards and its contract with the MCSO.

The whistleblower, Mary Coy, had the title of medical services liaison. The job description read: “This is a responsible position which monitors the contract for medical services, monitors inmate medical grievances, and is a liaison between security and medical staff.”

Since MCSO fired Coy in August 2024, the formal reporting she once provided has ceased, and the position has been eliminated.

More recently, records obtained from MCSO regarding Paula Diaz, a physically and mentally disabled person arrested in January 2025 and released seven months later, reflect questionable disciplinary policy for the mentally ill. Diaz was released on July 7 after being deemed not competent to defend herself against the criminal charges.

Records of her time at the jail reflect conflict with other inmates—and with corrections officers.

Cpl. Ann McAfee, an MCSO employee since June 2019, wrote 10 days after Diaz was jailed:

On 01/12/2025, at approximately 2203 hours, while on post in Bravo Pod, I was conducting headcount in Bravo Section. I observed Inmate Paula Diaz laying on her bed in room 217. I ordered her to stand up, to which she replied “I will get up if you help me.” I gave her a second verbal order to stand for headcount or she will be pepper sprayed. Inmate Diaz complied with the order given. After headcount I attempted to counsel with Inmate Diaz. Inmate Diaz stated to me, “I don’t know what headcount is.” Inmate Diaz will be receiving a Disciplinary Report for her actions, Sergeant Wells was advised via phone call of the incident.

According to MCSO use of force policy 4030.30(d), “the use of pepper spray/foam shall be left to the discretion of each individual deputy.”

A spokesperson for Marion County Sheriff, Paul Bloom, wrote of their policy for housing the mentally ill, “Even though special needs inmates may be separated and secured in separate housing, they may still, at times, pose a risk to a deputy. It is difficult to have a blanket response for every individual, and we would not want that. Every inmate is unique, and every encounter is unique. To answer your question about pepper spray, that may or may not be the safest choice for a specific incident, inmate, or circumstance.”