HOT SPRINGS -- The use of inmate labor by the Garland County jail's food service provider may be in violation of its contract and a work release program for state inmates held at the jail, the county said.

The 2015 contract with Trinity Services Group is under review, the county said, and may be amended to explicitly authorize the correctional services provider's use of state inmates as support staff. The inmates are part of the Correction Department's 309 program, which assigns prisoners who would otherwise be serving felony sentences in state facilities to work in county jails and at local law enforcement agencies.

Twenty of the 22 female inmates assigned to the county work in the jail's kitchen, according to the agreement entered into in December. One works at the sheriff's office, and one is the jail's seamstress. The agreement prohibits inmates in the program from being used for private benefit or to supplement or replace government employees.

"State law provides that assigned inmates are allowed to work jobs which directly benefit the jail facility and to perform tasks which benefit governmental entities or nonprofit organizations within the county," Correction Department spokesman Solomon Graves said. "The ADC is continuing to gather information about the contract between Garland County and Trinity in order to ensure the proper assignment of ADC inmates."

Trinity's contract makes it responsible for hiring all employees needed to carry out the contract, stipulating it's responsible for cleaning food service equipment and food preparation and storage areas.

"As in any contract, it could be interpreted in a number of ways," County Attorney John Howard told justices of the peace last week. "There are ways you can look at the contract, and it can be completely within the bounds of it. And the other way you look at it, and it's not in the bounds of what's required.

"Without knowing specifically what [the 309 inmates] are doing, I'm unable to give an opinion whether we are in violation of the terms of the contract or not. But certainly there is a reason for concern and it could be maybe there's not an issue and maybe there is."

Howard told The Sentinel-Record on Tuesday that the contract is under review. Its five-year term expires at the end of the year. The cost rose from $470,730 in 2017 to $510,450 in 2019 based on an increase in the consumer price index. The county pays $1.26 per meal under the rate established in June 2018.

The jail agreed to house state inmates despite a female population that's been on the rise since last year. A one-for-one policy instituted in February requires one woman to be released for every woman booked into the jail. According to a consultant's report the jail commissioned, women in the 309 program are housed separately in the F unit.

The state pays the county $12 a day to house the program's inmates compared with $30 a day for inmates awaiting transfer to the Correction Department. The consultant's report said it costs the county $59.10 to $64.71 a day to house an inmate.

Chief Deputy of Corrections Steven Elrod, the jail's administrator, said fewer resources are expended supervising inmates in the program compared with other inmates, who are under constant direct supervision.

"They are required to be only intermittently supervised, with in-person checks once per hour," he said. "In addition, while at work, these inmates are supervised by kitchen staff. Minimal resources are required to house them."

Elrod said the program's inmates have reduced kitchen maintenance costs by 72% to 99% compared with what they were if Trinity's operations used only county inmates.

"From June 2015 to June 2018, we identified reoccurring issues with county inmate workers in the kitchen, experiencing $6,702 of damage due to county inmates being frequently rotated through the kitchen which greatly affected training on industrial equipment, damage due to abuse and other items," he said. "As a result, sheriff and administrative staff determined to implement the female 309 program in an attempt to alleviate some of our issues."

The state inmates also free up time for county inmates to attend the more than 20 self-improvement programs offered at the jail, he said.

"Before the female 309s worked in the kitchen, we had two shifts of male inmates working in the kitchen," Elrod said. "Because of their long hours, most of them didn't have an opportunity to participate in our programs that will help them learn new skills and resources so they can secure a steady job and become a productive citizen in our community."

Elrod estimated the seamstress provided by the work release program has saved the jail fund more than $7,500 in supply costs since she was transferred in February.

Metro on 05/30/2019