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Snags Shackle Inmate Labor Proposal

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: September 5, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - County officials and the Sheriff's Office remain at odds over how best to use inmate labor on county projects.

Several weeks ago, the County Commission discussed using prisoners from Pasco jails to mow tall grass and clean up yards at foreclosed houses that are being neglected.

Inmates, however, might be better used to help clean county roads and maintain medians, Sheriff Bob White suggested today.

That could free up county staff from road detail for other jobs such as mowing lawns, White said at today's Pasco Public Safety Coordinating Council. Besides, he argued, inmates dressed in jail uniforms with broad black and white stripes mowing neighborhood lawns might scare residents.

County inmates already work on road crews along state highways in Pasco, but no such contract exists for county road maintenance, White noted.

A conference to discuss options has been tentatively set for Monday, Sept. 15. White, County Administrator John Gallagher and Commissioner Michael Cox are slated to take part.

Cox suggested inmate labor to clean up yards at foreclosed homes and he still believes the concept could work.

Inmates released for day work often wear alternative, less scary-looking, uniforms, Cox said during a telephone interview this afternoon.

Only nonviolent offenders would be used for yard-cleaning details, Cox said. Jails already screen prisoners as candidates for trusties who earn privileges such as outside work.

Trusty candidates typically are, for example, drunken-driving offenders or inmates who wrote bad checks, Cox said, adding, "These are not hardened criminals."

The "down side" to using inmates on county jobs, the sheriff said in an interview after the safety council meeting, is that a deputy would have to supervise the crew. That could entail the use of a patrol car plus transportation for the inmates. Perhaps a county truck could be used to ferry the inmates, he suggested.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand, the Public Safety Council chairwoman, raised the issue of inmates cleaning yards again today.

Because of budget constraints, the county is looking at options for yard maintenance at foreclosed houses, Hildebrand said. The county shells out the money to hire the contractor to mow tall grass and then places a lien on the house. The lien has to be paid before the house can be sold.

Problem with liens, Hildebrand said in a follow-up phone interview, is all too often "we don't get the money back and that's where the big rub is."

Some of Hildebrand's neighbors in Gulf Harbors recently complained to the commissioner about trashy yards at abandoned houses in the New Port Richey area water-front community.

In addition, Hildebrand said, the Gulf Harbors area has derelict docks and neglected swimming pools containing brackish water.

Often it falls to the county to fence off an abandoned pool, Hildebrand said. If the county simply drained the water out of a neglected pool, it could be liable for damages from cracking or other problems that might arise, she said.

Gulf Harbors residents confirmed what the sheriff had pointed out – they would be nervous about inmates on yard details in their neighborhoods.

"I think the sheriff might have some legal issues" with prisoners mowing lawns, Hildebrand said.
Pasco budgeted $79,000 during its 2008 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, to mow lawns at neglected houses, according to Richard Ortiz, Pasco's code compliance manager.

It's hard to say how much of that amount is repaid to the county since the figure constantly fluctuates, Ortiz said.

The county hires a contractor to mow the lawns, Ortiz explained. If the sheriff goes along with inmate road crews, perhaps county staff now on road detail could be used to mow lawns, Ortiz said.
Then the county wouldn't have to hire a contractor, Ortiz added.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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