A small act of appreciation was met with a big round of applause near three of Florida's largest, most secure prisons last Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this year the state Legislature designated a section of State Road 16 as Correctional Officers Memorial Highway. A formal dedication ceremony was held Thursday afternoon alongside the two-lane road across from Florida State Prison.
The designation includes the section of SR 16 from the Starke city limits in Bradford County to U.S. 121 in Union County. Large brown signs with white letters identifying the memorial highway were erected by the Department of Transportation Thursday following the ceremony.
The designated section of the highway passes by three of the state's largest and most secure prisons - Florida State Prison, Union Correctional Institution and New River Correctional Institution. Each day the highway carries hundreds of workers into and out of the prisons, which have a combined annual payroll or more than $63 million.
On Thursday afternoon, more than 100 uniformed correctional officers and dozens more in plain clothes attended the brief ceremony in the grassy parking area across from Florida State Prison.
Some officers said the designation by the 2003 state legislature was appreciated because it showed lawmakers realized prison work is often difficult.
County Commissioner John Cooper told the crowd, "Bradford County would not be what it is today without the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Corrections would not be what it is today without you men and women in brown uniforms."
Florida has recorded 35 correctional officers' deaths in the line of duty.