Inmate Workforce Program Saves County $47,000

CANTON, GA — Nearly two dozen inmates at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center have been been able to shave off their time in jail by helping maintain parks in the county. That's according to Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency, which has released some figures related to its Outside Inmate Workforce Program.

The program, which was implemented as a joint effort between CRPA and Cherokee Sheriff Rank Reynolds, allows the county to use low-risk inmates at the jail to augment county parks maintenance staff. These crews of non-violent offenders work under the supervision of a deputy sheriff and perform duties such as litter control, landscaping and janitorial duties.

According to Cherokee Sheriff's Office Capt. Charles McMahan, since Jan. 1, 20 inmates have participated in the program. These inmates were sentenced to a combined 1,688 days of confinement at the Adult Detention Center.

At $56 per day per inmate, that amounts to more than $94,500 to house, feed and care for just these 20 individuals. Because they participated in the Outside Workforce Program, they were entitled to receive shortened sentences — provided they maintained good behavior and didn’t get removed from the program. The reduced sentences shaved 844 days off their collective confinement, which amounts to taxpayer savings exceeding $47,260, CRPA said.

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"The program is a win-win, helping spare the taxpayers money, benefiting the community, and helping the inmates become more productive citizens upon their release," Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said.

CRPA Director Bryan Reynolds said the goal of the program is to offset the additional maintenance required with the opening of new parks around Cherokee County.

"The additional man-hours put in by the Outside Workforce Program has helped us accomplish maintenance tasks we might otherwise have not been able to do," he added.

For about same cost of hiring three additional parks employees, this program is expected to create almost 40 percent more man-hours of park maintenance over the course of a full year, the county notes.

For questions about the program, you can contact CRPA Parks Division Director Jordan Wood at (770) 924-7768 or jrwood@cherokeega.com. You can also reach out to Sgt. Marianne Kelley with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office at (678) 493-4117 or mkelley@cherokeega.com.

Photo: aerial photo of the new field at Cherokee Veterans Park. Credit: CRPA