As conversations continue concerning the proposed jail expansion, the Marshall County Council looked at what programs are currently available to inmates in terms of rehabilitation efforts.
During a county council work session Monday morning, Sheriff Matt Hassel commented that the Bowen Center staff currently provides Moral Recognition Therapy for inmates who want to take classes as well as Narcotics Anonymous. Job skill training is also available to inmates.
“I hear a lot of inmates tell me, ‘if it’s not going to reduce my time, I’m not wasting my time taking it,’” said Sheriff Hassel.
About 35 people are taking the classes at this time.
Programming is provided by a grant from Marshall County Community Corrections and is supplemented with commissary money provided by the sheriff. Executive Director Ward Byers noted that there is a waiting list of about 20 to 25 people for programs.
“The reason there’s only a small number of people involved in the programs currently, is because there’s not space in the jail to run the programs. When the jail was built years ago, therapeutic communities were not on anybody’s radar and every jail is like that around the state,” stated Byers.
He noted that the inmates are chosen by qualifications.
Byers said ideally, the inmates who take part in the programs need to be segregated from the general population so inmates using tools for pro-social, pro-attitude training can not regress in that training.
Sheriff Hassel said he’s looking to add programs, “We’re looking at adding couple of religious programs. I’ve got people interested in bringing more Christianity into our jail. A lot of these people need to find a purpose in life. They gotta want to make that change”
It was proposed to hire a Jail Treatment Coordinator to assist with programs and a discharge and release process plan, among other duties. A salary for that type of position would be around $100,000 which includes benefits. Council President Judy Stone said she would entertain an additional appropriation request to implement that position.
Byers mentioned that he attempted to get grant money for that position, but the state did not give out any new money for positions or other requests. He said he would have brought the position up in prior conversations if he thought the council would have supported it. He added that he’s happy to see a position like that be implemented at the jail.
If the jail expansion moves forward, what will it cost to operate the new facility? That information will be provided in tomorrow’s news.
