The budget that Governor Perdue signed yesterday restores $1.62 million to the Department of Correction to re-establish 39 Community Work Program officer positions.
With the passage of last year’s state budget, DOC lost 127 officers responsible for supervising community work crews. Many cities, towns, schools and other government agencies relied on those inmate crews to perform all sorts of work - from painting and repair to cleanup and landscaping. Using inmate labor helped these municipalities and agencies achieve considerable savings. When the popular program was eliminated last summer, the letters and phone calls poured in to DOC and legislative offices, asking lawmakers to reconsider.
The Division of Prisons is working now to determine how it will deploy those 39 crews across the state - and we know that many cities, towns and county governments will be glad to have those inmates back on the job.
NCDPS TODAY - A periodic blog regarding the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and its agencies.
