Inmates Going To Work Officials Developing Program Cautiously

The Spokane County Jail is putting its inmates to work, but officials don’t want to step on any toes in the process.

Under a year-old state law, an advisory group is developing an inmate work program in Spokane County.

“It’ll keep (the inmates) from sitting on their duffs all the time,” said the Rev. Greg Smith, who represents the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce on the advisory group.

“Everybody has got an opinion of what inmates ought to do,” Smith said. “But very few people are doing anything to rectify the situation.”

Advisory group members are chosen partly to make sure the interests they represent are addressed.

The group includes crime victims, disabled workers, corrections officials and representatives from labor and business. It met for the first time on June 23 to discuss where and when the inmates should work.

“The purpose is to see minimal impact on labor,” said Capt. Jim Hill, the jail commander. “We don’t want to displace anybody or cause any unemployment because we can provide cheap or free inmate labor.”

The inmate work program will keep inmates busy and help the community, Hill said.

The advisory group is considering assigning the inmates work that other county work crews don’t want to do or have no time to do, such as picking up garbage along roadways, renovating the jail or cooking for the jail, Hill said.

“Our members could be freed from doing (that) and concentrate on larger projects,” said Bill Keenan, a union representative for the Washington State Council of City and County Employees. The council has more than 2,000 members.

Inmates began doing maintenance and body work on cars in the sheriff’s garage in June, Hill said.

The work program presents new opportunities for inmates as well, Hill said. Once inmates work a certain number of hours, they will be eligible for certificates that could help them get jobs when released.

Inmates considered a risk to the community will not participate, Hill said.

Eventually, inmates will be taken out in work crews. But the county needs a van or trailer, equipped with a portable toilet and tools. That would cost about $35,000, Hill said. The group is looking into possible sources of the money.