The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office John E. Goode Pre-Trial Detention Facility.

A year after changing medical providers, Duval County jail officials reported a more than 50% decrease in the amount of incarcerated people who died in the facility. 

Fifteen people died in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office-run jail in 2023, compared to seven in 2024. Causes included pre-existing medical complications such as cancer and infections, pneumonia brought on by COVID-19 in one case and two overdoses, according to records obtained by The Tributary through JSO and the medical examiner. 

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not return The Tributary’s request for comment and NaphCare, the private healthcare provider under contract with the jail, declined to comment. 

Wanda Bertram, of the Prison Policy Initiative, said that while the decrease is a positive sign, a year is not enough to determine if there is a marked decline in deaths.

“I think it would be premature to say that the Duval County jail has finally left behind the problems it experienced in previous years from privatizing health care,” she said. “Seven is still a significant number of deaths in a jail.”

The Tributary reported that deaths in the jail tripled after Sheriff Mike Williams quietly outsourced its medical services to a private provider, Armor Correctional Healthcare. Soon after The Tributary’s reporting, Sheriff T.K. Waters ended its contract with Armor. He signed a new, more-expensive contract with NaphCare, which began in September  2023 and made allowance for additional staff and medical supplies.

T.K. Meneely, director of operations for NaphCare Florida, told Jacksonville City Council members that when NaphCare took over, staff had to purchase additional medical carts and a 25% increase in medications kept on site.

While Waters wouldn’t disclose exactly why he decided to switch contracts, a letter from JSO to Armor leadership outlined a slew of alleged contract violations. 

Among Armor’s listed failings was that it did not maintain national accreditation standards, which resulted in the sheriff’s office being placed on probation with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in early 2023, according to records obtained by The Tributary. 

Armor also failed to report a 2022 criminal conviction against the company for the death of an inmate in another state to either the State of Florida or JSO before the city and company renewed its contract. JSO said the letter did not include a comprehensive list of the deficiencies the sheriff’s office identified. 

It’s also too early to tell whether NaphCare alone is the reason for last year’s improved numbers.

“It’s possible the jail also made changes to ensure people are being seen in a timely way,” Bertram, with the Prison Policy Initiative, said. “Correctional officers play a big role in making sure people are getting the attention they need right away. They have a role to play in making sure that people on suicide watch are adequately protected and that people who have substance abuse problems are not overdosing on drugs.”

Twenty-three inmate overdoses were reported in 2023, at least four of which ended in death. Last year, nine overdoses were reported in 2024, leading to at least one death.

At a Jan. 7 press conference that The Tributary was not invited to, JSO announced the arrest of a Jacksonville defense attorney accused of smuggling drug-laced paperwork into the jail. Twenty others were arrested in the investigation, but details of those arrests were not released. 

JSO said the lawyer, Nathan Williams, coordinated with inmates and their families to smuggle in the designer drug K2/Spice by soaking it into legal paperwork. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, K2  can produce acute psychotic episodes as well as seizures and strokes.

Nine months earlier, in April 2024, JSO announced it arrested one of its own correctional officers and charged him with bringing drugs into the jail. Kobe Collett had been working in the jail for more than two years. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Overdoses have declined by 61% year-to-year.

Nichole Manna is The Tributary’s criminal justice reporter. You can reach her at nichole.manna@floridatrib.org.

Nichole Manna is The Florida Trib's Senior Investigative Reporter. She has been with the organization since 2023 and has covered the criminal justice system for more than a decade.

Nichole has extensively covered conditions at the Duval County jail and in 2024 received first place from the Green Eyeshade Awards in online investigations for her reporting of medical neglect at the facility. That series of stories was recognized with awards at the local, regional and national level. She took home the first place prize for a feature story in a small newsroom from the Online Journalism Awards in 2025 for her series, ‘Cold-Blooded’, which dissected a 1993 death penalty case and questioned whether the defendant received a fair trial.

Prior to joining The Trib, Nichole was an investigative reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas where she was a Livingston Award finalist for a series of stories about a neighborhood with the lowest life expectancy in the state. Her work helped get residents access to free pop-up clinics and they continue to receive help with food disparities.

She is currently working with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network to produce an investigative project.

You can reach her at nichole@floridatrib.org.