Work Release Rules Eased In Alabama
The Alabama Department of Corrections expects work-release inmate hires will increase now that a policy requiring their employers to have a business license has been withdrawn. Report from the Montgomery Advertizer.
The policy was imposed during the three-year term of Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell, who left the job in 2006. It virtually ended the day labor option for the only inmates eligible for it — those at the state’s 11 work release centers … At the work-release center in Decatur, about 20 individuals have hired inmates for day labor since the policy was changed. Inmates who do not have full-time jobs can be tapped for the work, said Decatur warden Bettinna Carter. The employer must have proof of homeowner’s insurance, a driver’s license, and provide transportation for the inmate to and from the job. With an hourly rate of $7 for general work and $10 for skilled work, day labor is a bargain, Carter said.