PENNSVILLE TWP. — Members of the board of education are considering whether to take up an offer to use free inmate labor to perform repairs at the district’s schools.

Salem County Sheriff Chuck Miller presented the idea to the board here recently saying the district could benefit by using the Sheriff’s Office’s Inmate Labor Detail. Report by NJ.com.

“Inmates can help with facility work. We have had a conversation two years ago, and we want to go ahead and revisit that possibility and what kinds of work they are doing to facilitate facility renovation,” Superintendent Dr. Mark Jones said.

The inmates would be from the Salem County Correctional Facility which Miller oversees.

According to Miller, the inmates would do free repair work such as painting during off-school hours.

“We’re here in a support role, to work along with any particular project. We take it anywhere from painting to carpentry skills. Any particular project you feel we can help with,” Miller said.

Miller said the crew could be between six and 10 inmates with an officer for supervision.

“We aren’t here to put you into any type of harm’s way or danger,” Miller said, adding the inmates are not hard criminals. “For the most part, the inmates are in jail for things like traffic fines to child support warrants.”

The inmate program has benefited other municipalities, including Elsinboro Township, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Mannington Township, and Alloway Township, the sheriff said.

Board member Lisa Ascali asked about the feedback from other school districts, and if they had expressed any concerns with the inmates working on facility work.

Miller responded that the overall response was positive and the other townships have asked when they can return to do more work.

“The board is receptive to the idea. There is a lot of painting to be done throughout the district. It’s an ongoing job itself,” Jones said.

According to Jones, the next step is to take a look at the types of jobs that can be done and put together a list of the possible work.

“Then we will reach out to the maintenance supervisor that works with Sheriff Miller to arrange jobs and invite the maintenance representative to come out and talk about those possible jobs,” Jones said.

According to Jones, once everything is clarified, the board will try to schedule something that fits the needs of what the inmates can do.

“The major question would be the supervisory,” Jones said. “The board is comfortable with any work they do that would be done when school isn’t in session.”

Miller said the inmates would have direct supervision and would only do facility work during off-school hours.

“We will look at the calendar, and whenever there are breaks in school, when students and staff aren’t there,” Jones said.

Miller said the service is free of charge and the only thing that needs to be supplied is the paint for the paint jobs or necessary costs associated materials for any repairs that are needed.

“This is a service that the county is providing and encouraging all municipalities to participate in. Any church or municipality that needs service, it’s free,” Miller said.

Tammy Inmate Labor, Inmate Programs, New Jersey, Work Programs

The Bartholomew County IN sheriff is utilizing unemployed ex-offenders to help with community cleanup projects, according to the IndyChannel.

Felons on probation or house arrest are being assigned to jail work crews three days a week to help with jobs like picking up roadside trash …  “You know, the economy is bad. They don’t have jobs,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Mark Gorbett. “They have fines to pay and things like that, but at least they’re out here now doing something. If they can’t find a job, they’re picking up trash, at least helping put back into the community.” Officials said it’s also an effort to help the community and motivate ex-offenders to find jobs.”We have some who would just rather sit at home and do nothing and they’re not out even looking for a job,” said Rob Gaskill with Bartholomew County Community Corrections.

vericatrajkova IN Bartholomew County, Inmate Labor

Decatur County GA Prison Warden Elijah McCoy provided The Post-Searchlight with some insight into how the prison functions and the amount of work being done by its prisoners each day.

The prison is a minimum to medium security facility that on average houses between 280 to 325 prisoners. The prison holds 225 prisoners that are brought in from other parts of the state through a contract Decatur County has with the State of Georgia. The county received $20 a day for each of the non-local prisoners, bringing in more than $1.6 million annually. Last year, the prison operated on a $3.7 million budget provided by Decatur County—the difference between the two figures brings the prison’s cost to Decatur County taxpayers to a little less than $2 million each year, according to McCoy.

He explained that the amount of work done for the county, along with funding brought in from contracts with Decatur County cities, surrounding counties and the Department of Transportation, more than covers the $2 million operational cost—making the facility virtually self sufficient.

Each day, the inmates are awakened at 5 a.m., and by 7, between 150 and 200 are loaded onto buses to go to work at the various locations in Decatur County and the surrounding counties. The majority of inmates do grass mowing and agriculture maintenance, road work, janitorial work, maintenance work and cooking (for the prison).  Locations and departments where inmates work include virtually every Bainbridge City and Decatur County facility, from the Bainbridge sewage treatment facility to Memorial Hospital and Manor … Inmates with skills in mechanics are utilized at the county and city’s mechanics shop providing upkeep on various government vehicles, including the school system’s buses …

Inmates have even built an entire building. In addition to doing maintenance and construction work on various Decatur County buildings, inmates actually constructed the entire Blackjack Volunteer Fire Station from the ground up, said McCoy.

There is more background in the Post-Searchlight article.

vericatrajkova Economic Issues, GA Decatur County, Georgia, Inmate Labor

Hundreds of prisoners, evacuated in September ahead of Hurricane Gustav, are scheduled to return next week to the Terrebonne Parish LA jail refurbished after flooding by Hurricane Ike, which occurred during their absence.  This report from The Thibodeaux Daily Comet.

Inmate workers … stuffed soap, toothpaste and other hygiene basics into empty pillow cases Thursday morning, creating hundreds of jail-style welcome bags for Terrebonne’s returning exiled prisoners … The inmate workers, a team of trusties who remained in the parish during the jail’s seven-month closure, have done much of the repair work.  The total cost for repairs is about $730,000.

On Thursday the parish opened the building for public tours, showcasing its newly painted interior, an added 50 beds and security and electronics now placed lifted off the ground, in case of another flood.  The possibility of future flooding was on the minds of many public officials who toured the building, which is just as vulnerable to flooding, they say, as it was a year ago.   “We’re rolling the dice,” said Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois, who staffs the parish-owned building.  Parish President Michel Claudet said an $850,000 ring levee protecting the jail and nearby juvenile detention center will be completed this year, but not before the start of hurricane season …

Hurricane Ike flooded the jail with about a foot of water for two days. Male inmates evacuated to the State Penitentiary in Angola, where they remain. Women prisoners were evacuated to three other prisons in the state.   The Juvenile Justice Center, a parish-owned building, flooded during the storm. It opened in October after repairs, said Jason Hutchinson, its director …

Though inmates will start returning from Angola by bus next week — about 100 at a time — 40 prisoners from the parish Courthouse Jail Annex were shipped to the jail Thursday. The Courthouse Annex Jail has housed many prisoners arrested since the storms before they are ferried to Angola or another detention center.

There is much more detail and background in the article at The Thibodeaux Daily Comet.

vericatrajkova Inmate Labor, LA Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

For years, minimum custody inmates have worked on raising flowers at the Guilford County prison farm near Gibsonville NC.  Story and video from MyFox8.com.

“We do anywhere between $50,000 and $60,000 in April,” said Captain Jack Johnson, with the Guilford Co. Sheriff’s Office. “May is a good month then it falls off and picks back up with our fall flowers.”   Profits from the sale of geraniums, impatients and other flowers go in to the county’s general fund.

vericatrajkova Inmate Labor, NC Guilford County, North Carolina

The Alabama Department of Corrections began in October 2007 charging cities, counties and other governing bodies for labor done by prisoners, such as picking up trash along highways.  That price will go up by 50 percent in October as the department seeks to close a gap in funding, according to the Birmingham News.

This year, there is a $43.3 million difference in the funding the corrections department gets from the state of Alabama and the amount it takes to run the system. The department narrows the gap by charging for inmate squad labor, raising revenue through the prison work release program and other steps.   On Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2010, the rate will increase from $10 per inmate, per day to $15.

For one agency, the Alabama Department of Transportation, the rate has already more than doubled. ALDOT started paying for inmate squads in the spring of 2007, and until recently was paying $20. In February, the rate rose to $50 per inmate per day, Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said … Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen has estimated that the new rates will bring in about $3 million each year …

[In 2007], according to the department’s annual report, inmate squads from 14 state prison facilities performed 103,000 man-hours per month, “equivalent to a labor savings of almost $6 million to government agencies within the state.”  In the spring of 2007, Allen said he got permission from Gov. Bob Riley to begin charging for the work squad labor. He put his plan into operation in the year’s final quarter, when the department asked the state and local agencies to consider paying. More than $15,000 in fees came in … That $15,000 sum was dwarfed by fees earned in fiscal 2008. In that year, Corbett said, inmate squads worked more than 1.3 million hours and generated nearly $1.2 million in fees. If the inmates had been working for minimum wage, the fees would have amounted to more than $6.9 million, Corbett said.  Unlike inmates in work release, who generally keep 60 percent of what they earn in civilian jobs, those on the work squads earn $2 a day.

vericatrajkova Alabama, Inmate Labor

The Becker County MN Board of Commissioners approved renewal of a contract with the Minnesota Department of Corrections for the operation of the county’s Sentence to Service (STS) program. Report from Detroit Lakes Online.

The county will continue to employ two part-time STS crew leaders and a quarter-time shared position with Mahnomen County, which will be more than justified by additional work responsibilities that will be assigned to STS.

As explained by Gordon, in an effort to streamline county operations the STS program will be taking on additional duties for the county’s Parks & Recreation and Environmental Services agencies.   STS will be absorbing grounds maintenance duties for Parks & Recreation that had previously been handled via 12 separate contracts with other businesses. In addition, STS crews will be providing paint separation and paint can crushing duties for Environmental Services.

Altogether, assigning these jobs to STS is expected to save the county nearly $15,000.

vericatrajkova Community Corrections, Inmate Labor, MN Becker County

Graham County and the Arizona Department of Forestry have struck an agreement that will see  inmate labor used to cut trees and clear brush, according to the Eastern Arizona Gazette.

Work crews, provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections, will be paid $2 per hour per crew member.   According to the agreement, each crew will be made up of no more than 20 members, and the maximum number of hours worked per week by the crew will be 40.   The agreement covers a two-year period; however, the county reserves the right to cancel the agreement due to funding limitations.  The Arizona Department of Forestry is required to provide the appropriate number of officers to supervise the crew, the agreement states.

vericatrajkova AZ Graham County, Inmate Labor

A new audit says Minnesota’s prisons should tighten oversight of arrangements with private companies for inmate labor.

The Legislative Auditor’s office says Minncor Industries does a generally good job of running a profitable business and giving inmates something productive to do. But its report says prisoners’ work for private companies such as 3M Co. is less profitable for the state than their work making license plates and running canteens …  The auditor also recommends standard contracts with the businesses and closer monitoring of the profitability of those contracts.

Inmates do everything from making tractors to packaging balloons for private companies. Minncor had its most profitable year ever in 2008, reporting net income of $3 million.

vericatrajkova Inmate Labor, Minnesota

Maine DOC has proposed cutting the inmate population at the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren in half and cutting about 20 jobs, according to Unit Manager Ray Felt.

Felt said the proposed cuts threaten the very mission of the minimum security facility, which is to rehabilitate and train prisoners before transitioning them back into life outside the prison. He said he and the other employees at the Bolduc Correctional Facility are passionate about this mission.  “We want to try to change behavior so they won’t come back,” he said of the prisoners. “A lot of these guys are going to be your neighbors” …

The Bolduc Correctional Facility provides prisoners with opportunities to work, learn job skills, take classes, and deal with emotional and substance abuse problems. The prison farm is minimum security and many of the prisoners are involved in work release programs. Prisoners work jobs and perform a great deal of community and public service. If the proposed state cuts are made, the prison farm will not be able to provide prison workers for community service programs …

Right now, the facility has about 63 employees and 180 prisoners. It has the capacity to handle up to 224 prisoners. If the cuts are implemented as planned, only about 90 prisoners will be left there.  The state has proposed cutting 10 support staff positions and 10 security officer positions.   The prison farm employs 27 corrections officers, six sergeants and one captain to provide security and keep it in operation 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

Felt said that if the cuts are made, some of the prisoners will be sent to county jails and the Maine State Prison, which he said will start double-bunking prisoners, putting more prisoners in each cell …

“When you think of prisons, everyone thinks about the negative,” Felt said. “We do a lot that’s positive.”

The article in the Warren Village Soup is full of good detail.

vericatrajkova Economic Issues, Inmate Labor, Maine, Re-Entry