For about a year and a half, the Walton County Jail has offered inmates workforce training for jobs like welding, HVAC, food handling, and operating heavy equipment.

"They come out of jail knowing how to drive a bulldozer, how to drive a tractor, how to drive a motor grader," Walton County Sheriff Mike Adkinson said. "They get a certificate from the sheriff's office saying they're a safe operator of this, so things that give them opportunity to immediately go to work."

The Triumph Gulf Coast Board recently approved more than two million dollars to go toward job training for inmates.

"It makes better sense for them not to come back to jail," Sheriff Adkinson said. "Morally, I think it's a good decision, but just from a fiscal standpoint, there's a cycle of cost involved with incarceration."

Some of the money will go toward a driving pad for inmates working toward their commercial driver's license. It's a place where they can practice their skills.

When not being used by inmates, Sheriff Adkinson said he wants the public to make good use of the pad.

"Listen, I don't care if they run it 24 hours a day. It does not need to sit idle," Sheriff Adkinson said. "It's in the best use of the public for that to be used as often as possible."

Sheriff Adkinson said they've committed to 350 work-related certificates over the next couple of years.

Some of the Triumph Gulf Coast money will also go toward computer technology certifications for Walton County Sheriff's Office employees.