Botetourt County had over 3,000 pounds of litter sprawled throughout the valley at the beginning of March. However, over the last couple of weeks, the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Work Crew collected that litter. It wasn’t gathered by the Parks and Recreation Department or by a paid collective of clean-up workers. Inmates of the Botetourt County Jail got out and gave back to the community in thanks for a program created by Botetourt County Sheriff Matt Ward.
Last year, the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office implemented an inmate work crew program for the jail. Ward wanted to create the work program as a part of his campaign for Botetourt County sheriff in 2019.
The project is slowly expanding its resources. Recently, the Sheriff’s Office was donated a trailer from the Parks and Recreation Department that the students at the Botetourt Technical Education Center (BTEC) will modify and paint to fit the use of the inmate work crew. Once the BTEC students complete the crew’s trailer, they’ll have a trailer to carry their equipment for extended periods. The Sheriff’s Office has also retained a decommissioned Animal Control truck as the work crew’s transportation.
“Community business partners have supported this program,” Ward stated. “Inmates are carefully screened through the process to be outside of the facility under the direct supervision of the deputies.”
The work crew’s primary focus is currently landscaping projects like their recent tree work, saving the county thousands of dollars. They also mow the courthouse lawn and surrounding areas. Instead of Parks and Recreation sending a crew or contracting other companies to maintain the grounds,, the inmate work crew is now responsible for some of the county’s yard work in Fincastle.
The project officially began in the fall of 2020 with work in and around the jail. The Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) must sign off for inmates to be eligible to be utilized outside of the facility under direct supervision.
“We don’t have as many inmates as a larger department,” Ward explained. “We’re going to have to be creative as they come up. We’re starting small with the roadside litter collection, mowing, various maintenance tasks, and snow removal.”
The feedback from the public regarding the inmate work crew has been very positive. Many citizens have posted positive words about the work the team completed over the past couple of months. Most community service programs like litter abatement came to a halt during the pandemic due to safety concerns. As the world slowly works its way out of the restrictions, Botetourt’s inmate work crew allows other community service programs to focus their projects elsewhere, saving the county money in the long run.
“We want to take on those jobs we can manage so that the county doesn’t have to pay for outside contractors,” Ward said of the inmate work crew project’s plans for the future. “I want to mention VDOT being very supportive in providing signs and vests necessary for the jobs. They do have a program where they’ll supplement hours worked by the supervising deputy. Inmates are not paid, but the deputy can be supplemented based on hours worked on VDOT projects toward assignments. Our gateway to Botetourt County is the 150 interchange. We would like to focus on this particular area at some point, but it’s going to take some time to address more tasks and areas. It’s a big county, and we only have a limited number of inmates that can participate. All of this is dependent on the eligibility of the inmates.”
Ward commended the job the inmate crew has done to keep Botetourt beautiful.
