The program recently proposed by County Sheriff Rick Lisenbe to allow non-violent offenders to work outside the jail on community projects may have hit a snag.
According to recommendations issued Tuesday by the county’s liability-insurance provider, MO-PERM, prisoners assigned to outside work details would need continuous law-enforcement supervision, additional accidental and medical insurance and adequate safety-equipment.
“We’ll have to review what they propose to see whether we can proceed,” Lisenbe said shortly after receiving the recommendations.
“We’re hoping to keep the program. I think the program will benefit the county,” Lisenbe said.
Prior to advocating the program, Lisenbe said the department checked with the state’s Department of Corrections and learned that while DOC work-group supervisory staff accompanies the inmates to other off-site locations, they are not armed.
Moreover, PCSD is prepared to offer the same type of training to custodians who check the prisoners out of jail to work on various non-profit or local government projects, such as litter removal for Phelps County’s “Tough on Trash” Program.
“If it’s working for them, it can work for us,” Lisenbe said of the program, which remains on hold while the liability issues are further investigated.
