County Laments Decline of Free Labor
The success of local Community Corrections programs has left Houston County AL without inmates to pick up trash.
For 20-something years Houston County has relied on inmate labor for jobs like picking up trash, mowing, painting and flagging traffic …“We have not had any inmates in three weeks,” County Engineer Mark Pool told county commissioners recently. “The litter pick-up is dead and gone if we can’t get inmates.” And litter is an important issue for local residents. Commissioners are getting complaints about trash along county roads. “We have become dependent on using inmates,” Commissioner Bobby Snellgrove said. “They really keep our roadways cleaned up and that’s a continuous thing. You can always tell where people got through with the chicken box. That’s where they throw it out.”
The problem is that a lot of inmates (pre-trial, State, etc) cannot be put out to work.
Most of those left eligible — those guilty of lesser crimes like bad checks or DUI — are working in the Houston County Community Corrections program. “We have such a successful community corrections program, and that does a lot to alleviate the overcrowding in the jail,” Hughes said. “The program puts inmates to work in a regular job. They are getting our good workers — those eligible to be put out on the road working.”
There are about 160 Houston County, Henry County and city inmates in the community corrections program.
Inmates are paid for their work, with a portion of their earnings going to pay things like child support and restitution. So while they may not be saving the county any money, their dollars are going to the court system and to pay victims. “Since 2003, we have collected over $1.48 million in fines, court costs and restitution for things like car wrecks and worthless checks,” Houston County Community Corrections Director Gary Knight said. Also since 2003, community corrections inmates have logged more than 70,000 community service hours for nonprofit agencies like the Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity.
Read more about this conundrum in the Dothan Eagle.
AL Henry County, AL Houston County, Community Corrections, Work Release