Corrections director fired after HR probe
Officers uncomfortable with commands
Volusia County Corrections Director Mark Flowers was fired Friday after several staff members and correctional officers said they felt uncomfortable with his leadership and treatment of people jailed in Volusia County.
Complaints of a hostile work environment, filed in the county’s Human Resources Division last May, prompted an internal affairs investigation, according to the notice of dismissal sent on Friday.
Interviews with at least 20 employees of the county’s corrections division and a review of more than 15,000 text messages sent and received by Flowers found that he continuously violated policy, made staff uncomfortable in performing their duties and treated certain incarcerated people improperly.
Inmates were held in a behavior modification unit, unit 10A, without disciplinary referrals or beyond the time period allowed in the referral, according to several sworn statements and disciplinary documents included in the investigative report.
One contention among many of those interviewed include an alleged direction by Flowers to tie an incarcerated man face down on a concrete slab for at least one day, possibly longer.
The jailed person, Shaquille Lynch, reportedly had a reputation for attacking officers and staff members. Court records show Lynch was arrested in 2020 for possession of illegal drugs, armed burglary and assault.
Another prisoner, who had been ordered by a jail hearing officer to spend 25 days in unit 10A, was kept there for 182 days, according to sworn statements. A crayon and paper was given multiple times to another man in unit 10A as a means of communicating with his attorney.
Employees said Flowers would not give an explanation to staff for his actions, according to the investigation.
Flowers’ attorney, Kelly Chanfrau told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the county unfairly suspended Flowers after he tried to report misconduct.
In April, Flowers filed a complaint about an excessive use of force incident regarding five correctional officers striking a prisoner who was not resisting. The State
Attorney’s Office in the Seventh Judicial Circuit has since reviewed the complaint and concluded there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges.
Chanfrau could not be reached for comment.
Flowers has been on administrative leave with pay since August. He was hired in 2014 and was promoted to corrections director in 2017.
His attorney told multiple news outlets on Friday that Flowers plans to appeal the termination and will meet with the county Thursday morning.