MIAMI (AP) – People sentenced for a Florida crime could someday do their time thousands of miles away.

It’s not likely to happen soon; state prisons officials oppose the idea and so does a union that represents corrections officers. But a law signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in late May would give Florida the option, for the first time, of sending its inmates to out-of-state prisons.

“Out-of-state inmate management is a logical option,” said Louise Grant, a spokeswoman for the nation’s largest private operator, Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, which operates three of Florida’s six in-state private prisons.

Out-of-state housing can be an emergency measure for states that don’t plan for growth and can relieve a state from having to build an expensive new prison, she said. Eight states currently have contracts with CCA to house over 9,000 inmates outside their home state. Another eight have had the company temporarily house prisoners out of state because of overcrowding.

Florida’s prison population topped 100,000 for the first time late last year, making it only the third state in the nation with a six-figure prison population. But the system currently has more prison beds than it has prisoners.

Besides CCA, Florida’s only other private prison contractor is The GEO Group Inc., based in Boca Raton. A lobbyist for the company, Damon Smith, said The GEO Group did not lobby for the out-of-state housing measure but could be interested if Florida ever uses the option. A spokesman for the company, Pablo Paez, said in an e-mail the company does not currently have any out-of-state contracts.

The Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil, however, said in an e-mail statement that he has no plans to move inmates. Moves could take inmates them farther away from their families, and family and community ties make a person less likely to return to prison, according to the department.

The new law requires the department “consider, to the extent possible” the distance the inmate would be from his or her family before moving, but it doesn’t offer any guarantees.

The department likes another part of the law (SB 1722) that would let officials keep prisoners in extra space in city and county jails because it could help keep inmates closer to their families, department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.