(A) Recognizing the need for labor to perform work for the county government around the courthouse and county-owned or county-leased properties, and recognizing inmates convicted of crimes may be willing to perform such labor as a form of work release while they are incarcerated in the County Law Enforcement Center, there is hereby created an Inmate Work Program subject to the conditions set out below.
(B) The Inmate Work Program will be supervised by the County Maintenance Director, who will have the authority to screen potential inmates and select offenders he or she believes will be suitable for the labor to be performed. The inmates must be on work release through the County Law Enforcement Center on crimes other than crimes of violence, and must follow all rules of the Inmate Work Program or their work release shall be revoked. Prior to their acceptance into the Inmate Work Program, all inmates must also be approved for the Program by the County Sheriff’s Department, Prosecutor’s office, and County Circuit Court.
(C) Prior to beginning work in the Inmate Work Program, all inmates will complete a waiver of liability form as to the county and all other paperwork necessary for the program. The county shall maintain liability insurance in case of accident or injury on all inmates in the program.
(D) As consideration, all inmates participating in the program shall not have to pay the customary work release program fees of the County Law Enforcement Center, and shall receive one day additional good time credit for every day of work for the county that they successfully complete. Unless changed by the Board in the future, inmates shall not be paid for their work for the county, as it is considered part of their punishment for their offenses, and the program allows them to obtain work release status without having actual employment outside the work in this program.
(E) Because the County Inmate Work Program is a condition of the inmates’ sentences, inmates can be charged with felonies for escape or failure to return to lawful detention if they leave their designated work release site and fail to return to the County Law Enforcement Center. Other less serious violations can be acted on as violations of the conditions of work release in the county, and their work release can be revoked by the County Sheriff’s Department and they can be required to serve straight jail time without credit.
(F) The County Sheriff’s Department, the County Prosecutor’s office, and the County Circuit Court are in support of this program, and have approved the basic terms set out in this section.
(Ord. 2005-04, passed 4-7-2005)