by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Following months of planning and research, City Council member Suzanne Jenkins has found a way to potentially green light a prostitution rehabilitation trust fund.
Aimed at reducing recidivism rates among prostitutes and solicitors in Duval County, Jenkins said fines collected by the City for prostitution-related offenses will serve as its primary funding source.
She said the money will help pay for locally based rehabilitation programs where prostitutes are given counseling, treated for various diseases and “taught and trained to reenter society.”
“We’ve been working on this for a while because we wanted to do our due diligence,” she said, “but now that we have something, we’re pushing hard on it.”
Jenkins, who introduced the necessary legislation last week, said courthouse officials and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office have both provided input and reviewed the plan.
“We’re all on the same page now and I think it’s great what we can do with this type of arrangement,” she said. “It’s a positive step toward getting these people off the street and on the path towards being productive citizens.
“They’re still being punished, but we’re also working to rehabilitate them.”
In March, Jenkins said prostitution was “ruining many of the City’s neighborhoods.”
“People typically think prostitution is happening in isolated areas, but it’s not,” she said. “It’s happening everywhere and it’s starting to become a very serious public safety issue. We need to put a stop to it.”
Providing the bill passes, however, Jenkins said a policy change must follow.
“We have to start charging prostitutes and solicitors with violating a municipal code, not a State Statute,” she said.
As part of Article 5 Revision 7 to the Florida Constitution, statutory violations will be directed to the State by July.
“But the fines we collect for municipal code violations will stay here,” said Jenkins.
According to the City’s municipal code, first time solicitors can be charged with a Class D offense and fined up to $500.
There are currently no provisions for second or third offenses, though Jenkins said the current maximum would do for now.
“We’d be happy if the judges would just start fining more than just the court costs,” she said. “In a lot of instances that’s all that happens. I think they would be more likely to impose a higher fine if they knew it was helping fund these kinds of local programs.”