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Sheriff, County Officials Differ On Inmate Cleanup Duties

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By CARL ORTH The Suncoast News

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County officials and the sheriff's office remain at odds over how best to use inmate labor for county projects.

County commissioners proposed several weeks ago using prisoners from Pasco jails to mow tall grass and clean up junky yards at foreclosed homes that have been neglected.

However, inmates might be better used to help clean county roads and maintain medians, Sheriff Bob White suggested.

That could free county staff from road detail for other jobs such as mowing lawns, White said at a recent Pasco Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting.

Besides, he said, inmates mowing lawns in jail uniforms might scare neighbors.

Prisoners already serve on road crews for state highways, but no such contract exists for county road maintenance.

A discussion has been planned for Monday with the sheriff, County Administrator John Gallagher and Commissioner Michael Cox.

Cox first suggested inmate labor to clean up trashy yards at abandoned, foreclosed homes, and he said he still thinks the concept could work.

Other uniforms have been used in the past for inmates released for day work, Cox said during a phone interview.

Only nonviolent offenders would be used for the work-release program to clean yards, Cox said. Jails screen prisoners to be trustees, who can earn privileges such as outside work. Such candidates probably would be drunken-driving offenders or inmates who wrote bad checks, Cox said.

"These are not hardened criminals," he said.

Cox added that he had inquired within the past few years about using inmate road crews on Pasco roads. However, the county didn't pursue the idea because of stipulations such as buying a new truck and other gear.

The downside to inmate crews on county jobs, White said 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. He said perhaps a county truck could be used to ferry the inmates.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand raised the issue again as chairwoman of the safety council.

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

The problem is, Hildebrand said in a phone interview, all too often "we don't get the money back from liens, and that's where the big rub is."

Gulf Harbors residents last month spoke to Hildebrand, who lives in the area, about problems from trashy yards at abandoned homes.

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

"I think the sheriff might have some legal issues" with prisoners mowing lawns, Hildebrand said.

Pasco had budgeted $79,000 in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, to mow lawns at neglected homes, according to Richard Ortiz, Pasco's code compliance manager.

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

Currently, the county hires a contractor to mow the lawns, he said. 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.

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