Published: August 11, 2009 02:10 pm      

Worth copying — 08/12/09

Success of Greenup County farm spurs similar programs

To say that the new work farm in Greenup County has been successful in reducing the cost of operating the Greenup County Detention Center would be an understatement. In fact, the farm has been so successful that other county jails are considering similar programs.

The farm was launched in April on two acres of county-owned land at the Wurtland River Port. To date, the large garden has produced about $1,500 worth of produce with more than a month of growing season remaining. The produce, which includes more than 900 pounds of potatoes, has been used to reduce the cost of feeding prisoners at the jail.

In addition, the garden program has saved the county lockup about $50,000 by keeping the number of county inmates down, giving the jail room to house state prisoners, for which it receives $33 a day. Within a month after it was started, the program increased the number of state prisoners at the detention center from 12 to 27.

While inmates in the detention center do not work the farm, it provides a place for those sentenced to community service to work their required hours. Without the supervised labor they put in at the county garden, some of those likely would be housed in the jail.

Deputy Sheriff Darrell McCarty said some of those assigned to work at the farm don’t know the first thing about gardening. However, that can be a positive. It’s not too difficult to learn how to till the soil, plant crops and hoe weeds, and those working at the farm are learning skills that could serve them well in the future. They are learning how to save money by planting their own gardens.

Another problem is that workers do not always show up at their assigned times. That’s always a problem with a few are assigned to do community service, and those who fail to put in their required hours likely will spend some time behind bars. That’s an incentive that should encourage most to show up for their unpaid time of gardening.

Greenup County District Court Judge Brian McCloud said the program has accomplished the goal of reducing the cost of the jail to taxpayers. While the gardening season soon will end, McCloud said he hopes the program will continue throughout the winter with those assigned to do community service working off their hours by doing inside projects for the county, its cities or other community organizations.

The success of the Greenup County program has inspired Boyd County Sheriff Joe Burchett to launch plans for a similar program. Since it is too late in the year to be planting a garden, the program will concentrate on having those assigned to community service cleaning up cemeteries and doing other community service projects on Saturdays. One hopes that the county will be able to find the space for its own garden by next spring, so the jail can reduce its food costs. Carter County also is considering an alternative sentencing program designed to save money by reducing its jail population.

Expect other counties to do the same. In just three months, the results of the new Greenup County program have shown that it is an idea worth copying.