Taking on responsibilities : Inmates have helped the county with various projects
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Sarah Nader Benton County Jail inmates Jessie Carranza, left, and John Kingston worked on installing new ceiling panels at the special-events building at Lake Atalanta on Tuesday afternoon.
BENTONVILLE - Seeing men dressed in black-and-white striped outfits, picking up trash, cutting grass or performing other tasks around Benton County can mean different things to different people.
For some, seeing the inmates working instead of just living off taxpayer dollars in a cell provides a sense of satisfaction. For others, seeing the inmates out and about serves as a reminder to make sure car doors are locked.
Inmate labor means free labor for the county. The inmate crews who are out working provide the county with a means to get more things done without placing a strain on the county's seemingly shrinking budget. Inmates are responsible for working on various projects, including debris cleanup, painting the county jail and cutting grass.
Inmates housed in the Benton County Jail have helped Habitat for Humanity build five homes in northwest Arkansas over the last two years, cleaned up Lake Atalanta in Rogers and built playgrounds for elementary schools, according to Capt. Hunter Petray, who is in charge of the inmate labor program at the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
"(Inmate labor ) is a good deal. It benefits the citizens of the county anytime you can get free labor and cleanup and stuff," Petray said.
The county currently utilizes three crews for various projects. The five inmates on each crew are monitored by a deputy and a supervisor. Each inmate assigned to a work crew must first undergo a screening process that begins when that inmate puts in an application to work. The application details the inmate's work experience and skills, Petray said.
"It is a pretty tough process. We pull their criminal history and make sure they do not have any violent criminal history, and we check all of their past records. Next, we check their health because we want to make sure they can do what they say they can and they are not going to get out there and get sick," Petray said.
"All (of the inmates chosen for work ) are low-level misdemeanors, such as traffic violations," Petray said, noting the primary concern when choosing inmates to work is the public's safety.
After applying for a job and undergoing the screening process, inmates are then matched to projects that fit their skills. From there, the inmates go to work.
"We work them, and we work them hard," Petray said.
Of the three crews, the trash crew works five days a week, while the other two crews -which are assigned to miscellaneous projects - work four days a week. A typical workday for the inmates lasts from eight to 10 hours. As a county policy, inmates do not go out on weekends.
The inmate labor program not only saves the county money; it also makes money for the county. In the last year, the program has been reimbursed by the state for picking up trash along highways. The state pays the county $ 2 an hour per inmate working, with the money going into the county's general fund.
In January, March and May, inmates earned $ 3, 338 for the county through the state's trash pickup program, said Deanna Ratcliffe, Benton County treasurer.
One drawback to the labor program is - in Petray's opinion - that while it does help save the county money, working the inmates does not prevent them from becoming repeat offenders.
"You would think it would be a deterrent to keep them out of jail, but it is not. We kind of see the same faces come in and out, and it is unfortunate," Petray said.
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