Work release inmates fill holes in Russellville departments

RUSSELLVILLE — Shannon Wilson said it’s extremely difficult for the city to find laborers, which is one reason inmates from the Hamilton Work Release Center are so valuable to the Street and Sanitation Department.

“We pick up state inmates from Hamilton Work Release Center each day and they work within the city,” Mayor David Grissom said.

The mayor said there are 11 work release inmates, one who works with the Police Department, two in the Parks and Recreation Department, and eight that work in the Street and Sanitation Department.

“This is something we’ve done in the city of Russellville for years,” Grissom said.

He said they primarily work as laborers in the three departments, performing whatever tasks need to be done.

“We couldn’t get by without them,” Wilson said. “In the workforce now, it’s hard to get laborers. Nobody wants to do labor. They do a real good job.”

Wilson said the inmates help maintain the city’s six cemeteries, mowing and running string trimmers. They help put up and remove the roughly 200 veteran banners the city displays during Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day.

“We put a lot of Christmas decorations out,” Wilson said. “It takes us a lot of time and they help us do that.”

The majority of the work, however, is labor type work in the summer.

“We’ve finally got us a pretty good crew,” Wilson said. “We’ve had these same guys for several years.”

Police Chief Chris Hargett said his inmates work around the police station.

When he first became police chief, Hargett said they had “trustees,” who were inmates in the city jail.

They would work around the police station, but he sometimes had trouble with them smuggling drugs into the jail.

The work release inmates, he said, help clean the police station, wash cars, “pretty much what we ask them to do.”

“About a week and a half ago, we borrowed one more from Shannon and they painted our whole jail,” Hargett said. “We just had to buy the paint and supplies. They’ve been a great help for us.”

He said the inmates are good workers who are very polite.

“We haven’t had any issues with them,” the chief said.

Parks and Recreation Department Director Donnie Flanagan said the two inmates he has are hard workers.

“We have one that’s been with us two months now, and the other one about three years,” Flanagan said. “They’re very good guys and good help.”

Flanagan said the inmates maintain the city’s ball fields and cut grass. He said their presence helps free up department employees for other tasks.