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Suncoast Pasco News

Pasco Inmates Patch Mattresses, Pillows To Cut Costs

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SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF REPORT

Published: March 5, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Inmates are being kept in stitches through a sewing program the Pasco Sheriff's Office has started.

The program teaches prisoners a vocational skill while cutting costs at the jails by patching mattresses and other items, according to a press release today from Tim Couet, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

Since October, the inmates repaired 50 mattresses and 100 pillows instead of buying new ones, Couet reports.

The prisoners also fashioned 232 pillowcases from scrap materials. Eventually, the jail participants could start making sheets, too.

Estimated savings total $2,054 so far, Couet noted.

More savings are possible since the county's two jails in the past have typically replaced 6,000 sheets and pillowcases each year.

"It's a win for those inmates who want to be productive and a win for Pasco County taxpayers," Sheriff Bob White said in a press release.

In a related move, White announced Wednesday he is disbanding the Sheriff's Office aviation unit and using the money it would have spent to increase road patrol activity by deputies.

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