Inmates will be working outside jail facility

A Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center program that was abandoned because of lack of staffing is being revived.

Beginning Tuesday, inmates from the jail facility will be providing supervised service to the communities in the county.

"This helps us get the inmates out," Jail Administrator Bobby Reed said. "It gives the a chance to pay back to the community. This is by no means work release or community service."

Inmates will not be compensated for their work. Reed said it is a free service to the community.

The first project for the inmates is to pick up trash at area ball fields the day after games are played. Depending on the weather, their first outing will be to the LaRoche Baseball Complex Tuesday morning.

Reed said he welcomes requests from all cities who are interested in having work done. Besides picking up trash, inmates will be available to paint, planting flowers, weed-eating, or cleaning up ditches.

In the past, inmates have done work around the Bourbon County Fairgrounds and helped set up and tear down for blood drives.

"Cities or other organizations, just call see if you can get on the list," Reed said.

Inmates will not be available for private individual projects, such as projects around homes.

"We've chosen inmates who have proven to administration that they are worthy of going out in the county and helping," Reed said.

He said the inmates' work schedule depends on the weather. They will not be working during extreme hot or cold temperatures, or if it's raining, Reed said.

The work schedule also depends on the available manpower from the jail staff.

That issue is what brought the program to a halt in 2012. Reed said the last time inmates were allowed to work outside the jail was in 2011. After that, the inmate population grew and jail staff were busy transporting inmates to other counties or escorting them to court appearances on the third floor of the courthouse.

"Once the jail is built, I would like to request a couple of more officers," Reed said.

During one public forum prior to the 6.8 million bond issue to fund a new jail passing, Reed told audience members that the number of jail staff will not be increased because of the new jail.

However, he said he would like to increase staff in the future so there will be more opportunities to allow inmates to work outside the facility.