CLEO, short for Corrections Large Language Environment Online, officially launched in April but has already made a significant impact on FDC communications and organization work. Built within a Microsoft Azure Government cloud environment, the tool operates entirely within the department’s network — isolated from external systems and inaccessible via the open Internet. It functions as a secure chat assistant, retrieving policy documents with cited sources and helping clean and organize legacy data systems.
These capabilities are powered by four distinct modules that make up CLEO. The first, known as CLEO Chat, functions similarly to ChatGPT and is designed to respond to general inquiries. Users can ask questions such as how to reduce victimization or recidivism, or how to handle an unruly inmate, and the system will provide straightforward guidance.
“We block ChatGPT when you’re on our network,” Kenneth Kicia, FDC CIO, said. “So, people didn’t have access to a chat generative AI type tool before CLEO.”
The second module, CLEO Library, is powered by a large language model (LLM) specifically trained on FDC’s policies and procedures. It is fine-tuned with FDC policy and procedure documents. It allows CLEO to not only answer user questions but to include an exact citation with a link to the referenced policy, according to Kicia.
“If you ask it a question like what’s a beard and haircut regulation for a correctional officer or can I have a neck tattoo, it’ll give you a summarized response, but it will also give you the specific policy with a link to it,” Kicia said. This capability, known as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), helps certify that responses are accurate and verifiable by connecting them directly to authoritative internal sources, reducing the risk of misinformation or hallucinated content.
The third module, CLEO Data Analysis, supports the department’s data modernization project by identifying and correcting issues in metadata, labeling and tagging within the FDC data warehouse.
The fourth, CLEO Analytics, is currently under development. Once launched, it will allow staff to generate real-time, custom reports based on information stored in the department’s data warehouse.
In the video below, agency leaders briefly explain how they hope CLEO will assist employees.
Agency staff use CLEO to do everything from summarizing lengthy emails and creating test plans to refining the language of use-of-force reports. Human resources staffers use it to structure employee responses, Kicia said, while legislative teams rely on CLEO to generate content with the right tone.
The system has already been instrumental in identifying data entry issues in old mainframe systems — such as mixing up “Region 2” for “Religion” or county names in fields meant for countries, Kicia said, indicating CLEO is being used to analyze large data sets, assess data quality and improve labeling.
Outside of CLEO, the department is also using AI in other creative ways. AI tools are actively used to monitor the department’s massive volume of inmate phone calls — 450 million minutes per year.
“Even if we had an army of people listening to calls, we wouldn’t be able to catch everything,” the CIO said. “This tool listens to the inmate phone calls and we can alert up certain words and certain names. From there, an agent or intel operative can locate and listen to that exact phone call between the period where the inmate made the phone call.”
Officials are also exploring using AI in facial recognition, voice-to-text analysis and surveillance video processing. And the team is already working on adding the Florida Administrative Code, standard operating procedures, and other documentation into its model to increase CLEO’s future depth.
Looking at the broader picture, Kicia said he views AI as a practical necessity for meeting agency demands amidst resource constraints.
“CLEO has got the use cases related to chat, document retrieval, the RAG rounding and then data,” he said. “And then we’ve got other tools that we use for productivity and enhanced decision-making. As I said at the Florida Digital Government Summit, we’re a $5 billion agency that operates on a $3.7 billion budget. So, it’s always about doing more with less.”
