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WORK PROGRAM SAVES TAXPAYERS $1.1 MIL |
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Written by Tim Gobble, Sheriff
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Thursday, 07 January 2010 |
The Inmate Work Crews continue to exceed our expectations. Their hard work during 2009, resulted in an approximate savings to Bradley County taxpayers of $1.1 million. That’s in addition to the approximately $4.2 million in revenues the BCSO generates for the County Fund each year, and doesn’t include the unspent budgeted money we return to the county each year.
The $1.1 million figure is based on approximate, minimum-wage and/or county salaries that would have been paid or contracted out for the same services had they not been provided by low-risk inmates who volunteer to be part of the work crews.
Breaking it down into approximate figures, the five inmates who work in the BCSO garage, servicing and maintaining our fleet, saved taxpayers $153,700; the eight inmates helping out the Road Department saved $160,000; the five inmates who help out at the Tri-State Exhibition Center saved taxpayers $75,000; and the 16 inmates who help our food contractor prepare meals in the jail kitchen saved taxpayers $275,184. That is an approximate total of $663,884.
In addition to that, the crews that work picking up trash along the roadways and helping with other duties at county schools and qualified non-profit organizations (such as maintenance, landscaping, painting, brick-work, cleaning, etc.) totaled approximately $500,000. That’s $175,000 for the crew supervised by Deputy Jon Parker and $325,000 for the crew supervised by Deputy Ralph Oliver, for an approximate total of $500,000.
Added together, these figures equate to approximately $1,163,884 the county would have had to spend if they had hired the work out, or if county employees had to do it. This is not only a tremendous savings to the taxpayer, but if gives qualified inmates the opportunity to do something productive while paying their debt to society.
• A shooting at a federal courthouse in Las Vegas that left a court security officer dead and a deputy U.S. marshal wounded is a stark reminder that we cannot take court security lightly. The deputies of BCSO’s Judicial Services continue to do a good job of protecting the 13 different courts that operate here in Bradley County.
While we now have good security measures in place at these locations, the Bradley County Courthouse on the square continues to be vulnerable because of the unsecured underground parking area and lack of manpower to operate the magnetometers. We had an opportunity to address the problem of the unsecured garage using grant money to acquire a security gate, but unfortunately the county commission turned the money down, and it was given to Polk County instead. The commission also did not approve our funding request for the manpower needed to operate the magnetometers at the main courthouse on a regular basis.
Protecting 13 different courts with limited resources and manpower is a challenge, but our court deputies have proven themselves capable and professional, and I am grateful for their dedication. The law requires the sheriff to have at least one deputy in the court while in session. And good security practices dictate that all persons entering a courtroom for any purpose be screened outside the courtroom for unauthorized weapons or dangerous substances.
• A BCSO year-end report prepared by our Corrections Division records 2,391 transports of prisoners/mental health patients during 2009; which is 449 more than 2008. Transport means the inmate(s) is moved out of the jail facility by vehicle to another location for court, medical treatment, etc. For the year of 2009, these transports included 707 in-state, 61 out-of-state, 722 federal, 488 Juvenile and Sessions Court, 370 mental health and 43 medical appointments. All these transports went smoothly and without incident, and the Corrections deputies deserve credit for their good work, both inside and outside the jail.
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