Inmates To Help Clean Cherokee County Parks

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Two Cherokee County agencies will come together in an effort to assist staff tasked with maintaining parks and recreation facilities. The Cherokee Sheriff's Office and Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency are working to create a program to use inmate work force to "augment" CRPA maintenance staff in county parks.

Under the plan, inmates from the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center will be closely supervised by a deputy sheriff to help maintain county parks, the county said Wednesday. These inmates will perform duties such as litter control, janitorial operations and landscaping duties.

For those worried about safety, signage will be posted to alert the public to the presence of inmate crews while they are performing their duties at parks.

Cherokee Recreation and Parks Agency Director Bryan Reynolds said the goal is to have the program up and running with two crews by late summer.

“We think this program will help offset the additional maintenance that has been created with the opening of the new parks, and will allow our staff to focus on other maintenance tasks they may not have otherwise been able to accomplish," he added.

Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds states the initiative will allow the county to save taxpayer dollars. He also said inmates working in the program would be eligible for early release, which could reduce the county's jail population. For years, the county has been grappling with the rapid growth in its jail population.

“This is good example of looking for multi-dimensional impacts," said Cherokee County Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens. "For example, this initiative helps balance the increased needs from additional parks and full schedules, helps inmates reach early release potential and helps stimulate other resource opportunities.”

District 3 Commissioner Bob Kovacs added he also believed the initiative is a "great move," as it allows inmates to earn extra time towards early release and allows CRPA to "ramp their staffing numbers up easily during times of high workload.”

For any questions, contact Parks Division Director Michael Brantley at (770) 924-7768 or mbrantley@cherokeega.com or Sgt. Marianne Kelley with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office at (678) 493- 4117 or mkelley@cherokeega.com.

Image via Cherokee Recreation and Parks Agency