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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995                   TAG: 9503130046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Medium

PRISONERS GOING TO WORK TO PAY WAY THROUGH JAIL

Prison inmates in Virginia soon will be put to work for private companies, earning wages that will be used to reimburse their victims and pay for their incarceration.

The ``factories-behind-fences'' program will fulfill a 1993 campaign promise by Gov. George Allen. The administration received federal approval for the program this week and is beginning negotiations with interested companies.

``We share the philosophy that prisoners should not lie around their bunks and sit around their cells and watch TV all day,'' Public Safety Secretary Jerry Kilgore said. ``We think they should be put to work.''

The prison industry idea is intended to duplicate the real-world work environment. Companies that contract with Virginia will set up production facilities at state correctional centers - perhaps as early as January - and pay inmates either the $4.25-an-hour minimum wage or a higher prevailing industry rate for 40 hours of work a week.

Typically, about 20 percent of inmates' pay is deducted for taxes, 20 percent goes to compensate crime victims, and another 20 percent is collected for housing costs. Child support or other legal obligations also may be withheld, but under federal rules, inmates must be allowed to keep at least 20 percent for their own use.

Several lawmakers normally critical of Allen's prison policies cautiously embraced his latest plan, saying such voluntary work could provide inmates with badly needed job skills and a small nest egg for when they are released.

``That would be very useful, because what happens now is they get out with $25 and a bus ticket,'' said Del. Marian Van Landingham, D-Alexandria.

Virginia prisoners now have limited work opportunities, such as making wooden toys or producing cleaning supplies. But the products go to government and charities, and inmates are paid about 25 cents an hour for what critics complain is make-work.

The Allen plan is focused on more commercial enterprises. Kilgore said he has been approached by companies that make eyeglasses and office machine parts, recycle used tires, assemble furniture and perform data-entry operations. He stressed that they will not compete with existing Virginia businesses.

According to the American Correctional Association, 21 states have similar prison industries, though most are smaller than what Allen intends.

by CNB