West Valley Detention Center has about two dozen inmate welfare and alternative sentencing programs. Some of the programs include helping them get their high school diploma, substance abuse meetings, culinary classes, earning a Microsoft Office Specialist certification, parenting, family relationship, and living skills classes, Teamsters apprenticeships, and basic construction certifications. Alternative sentencing programs include work release and electronic monitoring of inmates. But managing editor Tami Roleff says two state bills threaten the future of these programs…
Inmates at the West Valley Detention Center have about two dozen programs—ranging from getting their GED, to learning new job and life skills—to help them transition to a successful life outside of jail. The programs are paid for by the inmates themselves; every time they buy something in the jail’s commissary, the profits from the sale go into an inmate welfare fund, which the jail uses to fund the programs.
But Senate Bill 555 may jeopardize the programs by requiring the jail’s commissaries to sell items to inmates at cost. The alternative sentencing programs are funded by inmate fees, which SB 144 proposes to eliminate. Inmate Services manager Chris Martin says if SB555 and SB144 pass, the unintended consequences of the bills would force the county to reduce or eliminate the programs. A county spokesman said the county is deliberating about whether to appeal the verdict.
