North Carolina Department of Correction news release
Community Work Squads Work 1.4 Million Hours In 1996
JANUARY 17, 1997
RALEIGH -- Inmates in the Governor's Community Work Program worked 1.4 million hours
for North Carolina communities and public agencies during 1996.
If communities had to pay minimum wage for the 1,417,479 hours inmates worked, it would
have cost $6,733,025. But inmate labor is provided free through the state prison work program.
Inmates painted buildings, cleared brush and picked up litter in communities across the state.
"Public agencies have found inmate labor helpful in cleaning up and improving their
communities," said Correction Secretary Mack Jarvis. "Putting the inmates to work is a way of
requiring them to give something back to the community."
During 1996, inmates cleaned up after hurricanes, ice storms and mud slides. After Hurricane
Fran, prison managers increased the number of community work squads at Greene Correctional
Center from nine to fifteen. Inmates worked eleven, instead of seven hours each day.
Supervising correctional officers worked twelve, instead of eight hours.
During September, inmates from Greene worked 22,639 hours. Other inmates worked long
hours during September cleaning up after the hurricane. Inmate squads at Robeson, Sanford and
Bladen prisons worked more than 10,000 hours during the month. Prison managers sent 2,000
inmates through the community work program, road squads and other work programs to assist
eastern North Carolina in the aftermath of the hurricane.
The community work program began with one prison in 1994, expanded to 18 prisons in 1995
and 35 prisons by the end of 1996. The program provides a correctional officer to supervise
squads of up to 14 inmates in short term, manual labor jobs for public agencies.
During 1997, another 714 inmates will be put to work with the addition of 51 more community
work squads.
THE COMMUNITY WORK PROGRAM | ||||
Prison | number of squads | Program Started | Total inmate man-hours | Types of projects |
Alexander C.C. | 1 | 12/96 | 320 | removing debris, cleaning streets |
Anson C.C. | 2 | 1/96 | 16,475 | painting, landscaping |
Bladen Y.C. | 5 | 3/95 | 95,205 | light construction, litter pick-up, fencing, ditching |
Buncombe C.C. | 1 | 11/95 | 10,400 | painting, cutting brush, moving equipment |
Cabarrus C.C. | 2 | 1/96 | 17,178 | painting, fencing, landscaping |
Caldwell C.C. | 4 | 2/95 | 52,932 | Cutting brush, clearing trash, painting public buildings, building nature trails |
Carteret C.C. | 3 | 12/94 | 71,766 | hurricane clean-up, cutting brush, clearing trash |
Catawba C.C. | 2 | 1/96 | 20,107 | painting, clearing sidewalks |
Davidson C.C. | 2 | 1/95 | 48,858 | cleaning up tire dump, wash and wax ambulances, Cutting brush, clearing trash |
Duplin C.C. | 3 | 12/94 | 55,606 | hurricane clean-up, removing storm debris, cleaning up tire dump, cutting brush |
Durham C.C. | 1 | 12/95 | 10,415 | cleaning cemetery, washing buses |
Fountain C.C. for Women | 2 | 2/95 | 31,182 | hurricane clean-up, painting, landscaping, litter pick-up |
Forsyth C.C. | 1 | 10/95 | 12,350 | clearing fence lines, painting, mulching |
Gaston C.C. | 2 | 1/96 | 17,942 | cutting brush, litter pick-up |
Gates C.C. | 1 | 10/95 | 16,277 | painting, clearing brush, cleaning sidewalks |
Greene C.C. | 9 | 5/94 | 165,655 | hurricane Clean-up, Cutting brush, clearing debris |
Haywood C.C. | 1 | 12/95 | 19,802 | Painting, landscaping, street cleaning |
Henderson C.C. | 1 | 12/95 | 23,560 | prepare for fair, litter pick-up |
Marion C.I. | 3 | 8/95 | 61,554 | moving painting, light construction |
Nash C.I. | 2 | 12/95 | 17,981 | Moving, cleaning vehicles, clearing brush |
Neuse C.I. | 3 | 10/95 | 46,422 | Clearing brush, litter pick-up |
New Hanover C.C. | 5 | 11/94 | 93,363 | hurricane clean-up, Cleaning beaches and waterfront, constructing picnic site, landscaping, cutting brush, clearing trash |
Odom C.I. | 1 | 10/96 | 2,605 | litter pick-up, clearing brush |
Orange C.C. | 1 | 4/95 | 24,296 | painting, waxing floors, wash buses |
Pasquotank C.I. | 8 | 12/95 | 35,801 | hurricane clean-up, clearing brush, picking up litter |
Robeson C.C. | 2 | 2/95 | 33,506 | hurricane clean-up, painting, moving |
Rowan C.C. | 2 | 1/95 | 17,310 | painting, cutting brush, clearing trash |
Rutherford C.C. | 3 | 1/95 | 58,332 | Cutting brush, clearing trash |
Sandhills Y.C. | 2 | 2/96 | 50,586 | hurricane clean-up, clearing brush |
Sanford C.C. | 4 | 1/95 | 101,651 | Cutting brush, clearing trash, landscaping |
Southern C.I. | 3 | 1/95 | 74,634 | hurricane clean-up, painting, construction, landscaping, cutting brush |
Stokes C.C. | 1 | 10/95 | 12,329 | Cut brush, painting, litter pick-up |
Tillery C.C. | 4 | 8/95 | 31,187 | clearing brush, trash pick-up, washing school buses |
Umstead C.C. | 2 | 11/95 | 16,002 | painting, cemetery clean-up, landscaping |
Wilkes C.C. | 3 | 1/95 | 53,890 | painting public buildings, landscaping, cutting brush, clearing trash |
1/17/97
DOC pio
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