SHERIFF WANTS INMATES TO EARN KEEP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993                   TAG: 9303070139
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
SHERIFF WANTS INMATES TO EARN KEEP
Money earned by jail inmates could be used to help pay for the cost of incarcerating them and to repay crime victims under a proposal by the Arlington sheriff.
The jail's 400 inmates each cost the county about $50 a day, said David Bogard, director of corrections.
The Jail Industry Program, expected to start this fall, would provide jobs for interested inmates, said Sheriff Tom Faust. The prisoners would keep a percentage of their earnings, but turn over the rest to authorities.
Faust said his office still is working out details, but he also wants to set up a system to compensate crime victims with some of the inmate wages.
Inmates not released within a few days typically spend six months to a year behind bars, Bogard said.
"For most of the inmates, we have time to train them for the jobs," he said.
"It's an excellent idea as long as security is maintained," said county Board of Supervisors member William Newman Jr.
Since 1985 the sheriff's office has had an inmate work program that puts non-violent offenders to work painting, picking up trash on roadways and similar tasks. The best-paid of these workers, aides in the jail kitchen, earn $1 a day.
But the proposed work program would pay more, because the jail will solicit employers from government agencies, nonprofit organizations and others outside the jail.
Inmates also will work at the new county jail building when it opens this fall, Faust said.
Jobs inside the jail would be open even to violent offenders, Faust said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB