9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Inmates worked at prison employees' homes
9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Inmates worked at prison employees' homes
STERLING - A 9Wants to Know investigation and a
citizen's complaint prompted a Colorado prison
warden to stop a program that allowed prison
employees to hire inmates for jobs at the homes of
employees.
One of the projects violated the state's $2,500
financial cap on inmate projects.
Inmates at the Sterling Correctional Facility worked
for employees doing jobs at a fraction of what a
private contractor would charge.
The inmate projects included building a Corian
counter top, building a sidewalk, delivering
firewood and most recently installing a septic
system, according to prison records reviewed by
9Wants to Know.
That most recent job cost $4,782, well in excess of
the Department of Corrections' policy cap.
Sterling Correctional Center Warden Kevin Milyard
stopped the practice after 9Wants to Know looked i
nto the program and a local contractor complained.
"I saw prisoners out excavating. It was the actual
inmates with a guard watching over them," said
Steve Frank, who called the prison to complain.
Frank owns an excavation business near Fleming,
about 20 miles from the prison. He admits he
wishes he was hired to do the job instead of the
inmates.
"The economy is down," he said. "I'm just upset they
are out there doing the jobs that private contractors
should be doing."
Frank estimates he lost $900 in profit by not being
hired to do what he estimates was a $6,000 job.
Inmates did it for about $4,800.
2 comments:
Heaven forbid that inmates be treated like humans for once. Has Mr. Frank decided that ALL excavation jobs be contracted to his business? Perhaps with the economy as it is, some of these very inmates were enticed into criminal activity because they themselves had no recourse to employment. They couldn't just call 9Wants to Know and whine. A little pride for the inmates may have gone a long way in helping the morale at the prison encouraging others to get involved. That is definitely worth more than $900.
Isnt it strange, inmates can work outside the prison without shackles yet a pregnant inmate giving birth needs to be chained to the bed and DOC needs extra money to guard pregnant inmates?
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