Monday morning the Marshall County Commissioners approved the Inmate Workers Outside Jail Policy.
Sheriff Matt Hassel presented the policy guidelines for the program. Inmates must qualify to participate in the all volunteer program. They must be approved for the program by either the Sheriff, Captain, Chief Jailer or Jail Records Administrator.
There are a number of duties an inmate can do outside the jail but they can only work for a governmental unit or non-profit organization. Inmates will be doing manual labor using only hand tools, no machinery, heavy equipment or vehicles. Some of the permitted jobs will be patching potholes, crack sealing, lawn and garden jobs, cleaning and painting, working along county roadways, ditch banks and in parks. Inmates will also be permitted to do light general maintenance and relief and recovery from disasters. They must also agree to random drug testing.
County departments or organization wanting to use jail inmates will make a request to the Sheriff. Transportation of inmates will be done in county vehicles and the requestor must notify the jail details on the work schedule and location. Inmates will be supervised by the department head or someone from the non-profit organization. They must also provide a lunch for the inmate worker if they are kept over the lunch period.
Marshall County Jail inmates participating in the program will sign a paper with the rules they must abide by. Those rules include: No physical contact with general public; Inmates are subject to searches each and every time they are moved from an unsecure to secure area; They agree to drug testing and should they attempt to leave the premises of property where they are working they will be subject to criminal charges, a level 5 Felony punishable by 2 to 8 years and fines of up to $10,000 upon conviction.
Inmates participating in the Marshall County Jail Inmate Workers Outside Jail Policy will not benefit from a reduction in their sentence nor will they receive any financial benefit from the program.
The Marshall County Commissioners approved the policy and the Sheriff can now begin implementing the new program.
