TALLAHASSEE — More than two years after being deployed amid a major staffing crisis , the National Guard is set to leave Florida prisons after this month.

Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 announced a plan to use the National Guard to help the understaffed state prisons , which were short more than 5,000 correctional officers. To fill the gap, the Department of Corrections was shelling out millions of dollars in overtime pay.

DeSantis reauthorized his order putting the Guard in state prisons four times. The latest order and authorized funding for the Guard will end this month, meaning about 400 Guard members authorized to staff correctional facilities will soon leave. Already, Florida prisons have been winding down the number of National Guard members they’ve been using.

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