Sheriff looks to expand Erath County’s Inmate Workforce Program

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FLASH STAFF REPORT

ERATH COUNTY (June 21, 2017) – The Erath County Sheriff’s Office and Erath County Jail have added a work truck to their Inmate Workforce program. Before the jail staff used the jail transport van and ran into scheduling issues.

Now, with the truck and a trailer, the staff can transport the inmates and their equipment wherever they are needed in the county, said Chief Deputy Heath Crossland.

The program, which currently offers participating inmates a chance to leave the facility to help with various projects throughout the county, allows offenders who are classified as low level and non-violent to participate voluntarily. According to Erath County Sheriff Matt Coates, the inmates have constant, appropriate supervision from Sheriff’s Office employees.

Coates said the inmates have mowed for the county in numerous places as well as “probably every cemetery in Erath County.” In addition, they have also worked with the city of Dublin as they were preparing the city pool to be opened.

“They’ve got all the equipment needed and can go just about anywhere in the county they are needed,” Coates said. “When they were in Dublin, they pruned the trees and mowed and ran the weed eater, but those aren’t the only things inmates in our program can do. We’re here to help. Any school or government entity who needs assistance, just needs to contact us. We’ll be glad to help as the program’s schedule allows.”

Coates also said he hopes to grow the program in the near future.

“I hope that someday soon, we can do things like mow everywhere the city of Dublin needs mowing, or anywhere else,” he said. “Right now we don’t have a lot of time, but I’m glad to see the program using all 20 hours almost every week. As we get back to full staff and expand the program, hopefully we can do even more.”

The current crew consists of three inmates who are awaiting trails, and as of Wednesday, the program is limited to 20 hours due to the limited jail staff (the jail’s full staff is 29 and currently there are only 25 employees), Coates said. However, in the near future, he hopes to expand the program to 40 hours a week and even a second crew to work 40 as well.

“We would like to expand the program to allow certain offenders with sentences of less than two years to stay in Erath County and participate in the program, eventually,” Coates said of the future of the program in Erath County. “This would reduce the time we spend on training and allow offenders to hone skills that will better prepare them for jobs when they are released. It also would allow offenders to be housed closer to their families, which is almost always a good thing with these kinds of offenders.”


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