TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Leon County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by five Democratic lawmakers who sought entry to a controversial immigrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” The judge concluded that laws governing access to state prisons and local jails do not cover this Everglades-based facility.

Judge Jonathan Sjostrom ruled in favor of Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration on Friday, following a lawsuit that emerged after the legislators attempted an unannounced visit to the center in July but were turned away. The lawmakers argued that this denial breached legal provisions granting legislators access to correctional institutions.

In his five-page decision, Sjostrom clarified that the laws in question pertain to facilities like state prisons and county jails, but do not extend to the state-operated immigrant-detention center.

“The (immigrant detention) facility does not satisfy the statutory criteria for a state correctional institution as it does not house prisoners under the Florida Department of Corrections’ jurisdiction,” Sjostrom explained. “Similarly, it does not qualify as a county or municipal detention facility, given that it’s not run by any county or municipal government or associated entity.”

The state garnered national attention upon inaugurating the center last year at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, as DeSantis and other Republican leaders in Florida backed former President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants en masse. Situated amid the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve, the facility has also sparked separate legal disputes in federal court. The airport, historically, served as a flight training venue.

Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, went to the center on July 3 “to inspect the state detention facility, evaluate the use of taxpayer funds and assess safety pursuant to Florida statutory guidelines,” the lawsuit said.

“The petitioners (the lawmakers) attempted to arrive unannounced so that they could observe the unadulterated conditions of the facility,” the lawsuit said. “The unannounced inspection of the facility falls squarely within the petitioners’ purview and oversight duties as state officers and members of the Florida Legislature.”

After they were turned away, the lawmakers filed the case at the Florida Supreme Court on July 10 seeking what is known as a “writ of quo warranto” directing DeSantis and state Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie to allow lawmakers unannounced access to the facility. The Supreme Court, without offering an opinion about the lawmakers’ arguments, sent the case to circuit court.

Amid the controversy, state lawmakers and members of Congress were allowed to visit the facility, though Democrats said the visit was tightly controlled and left unanswered questions.

In a November response to the lawsuit, attorneys for DeSantis and Guthrie wrote that the laws cited by the Democrats “do not entitle them as individual legislators to enter Alligator Alcatraz at their pleasure.”

“The facility is not a ‘state correctional institution’ because it is not a ‘prison’ or ‘other correctional facility,’” the response said, partially quoting one law. “‘Prisons’ and ‘correctional facilities’ describe facilities that are part of the criminal justice system. … Instead, Alligator Alcatraz is a short-term civil detention facility in which illegal aliens are held under the authority of the federal government and processed for deportation.”

In addition to citing the laws about legislators having access to correctional facilities, the lawsuit also raised constitutional separation-of-powers arguments.

“The denial of the petitioners’ access to the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention facility was an unconstitutional executive overreach because it prevented the duly elected members of the Florida Legislature from exercising their powers,” the lawsuit said. “The petitioners’ denial of entry and access restricted the Legislature’s independence as a co-equal branch of government.”

But in the November response, the DeSantis administration attorneys said the state Constitution gives the Legislature oversight authority and a law authorizes legislative committees to carry out investigations. But the administration attorneys said individual lawmakers don’t have such powers.

“Far from the governor or FDEM (the Division of Emergency Management) usurping the authority of another branch of government, it is petitioners who attempt to usurp the authority of the Legislature and its committees by taking matters into their own hands,” the response said.