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Class D Felon Work Program
As a cost savings measure, the Street Department utilizes 10 to 15 Class D Felony inmates from the Calloway County Jail to provide additional manpower to perform unskilled labor tasks through the Inmate Work Program.
Class D felons are non-violent offenders and are typically incarcerated for drug or alcohol related charges. Inmate workers can be identified by the hats and/or safety vests they wear while out on the job.
The only cost to the city for these workers is the the personal protective equipment the city provides them. Personal Protective Equipments consist of items such as safety glasses, hard hats, work gloves and steel toed work shoes.
Felons working in the work program are not allowed to operate vehicles or heavy equipment, but may operate equipment such as chainsaws, lawn mowers and weed-eaters.
Department employees are trained annually in cooperation with the Calloway County Jail by the Department of Corrections in the do's and don'ts of inmate supervision. Inmates are not allowed to communicate with the public or enter any public place, except in the performance of their duties.
While these workers are invaluable in the cost saving they bring the city, they also benefit as they often learn skills through this valuable program that can help them to become more productive citizens upon their release from incarceration. While the Department of Corrections may only pay these inmates 63 cents per day, however, each day they work in the program gains them credit toward the time they must serve in incarceration.
