Inmate-work programs register a rare loss for year

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 10:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The programs that use state prisoners as workers ran in the red last year. It was the first time in at least seven years that the programs lost money.

John McCuin, chief of financial services for the state Department of Corrections, reported Thursday that the state prisons' industries program posted a loss of $107,169 for the fiscal year that ended June 30. That compares with a $363,805 profit the previous year.

The prison dairy program registered a loss of $233,744, compared with a $51,079 profit the prior year, McCuin said. He told the Legislative Committee on Industrial Programs the loss was due in part to construction and equipment purchases for new programs.

"Most losses were due to decreased sales or expansion into other industries," McCuin said. "Without the expansions we would have had a net profit."

Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, chairman of the committee, said the prison has to look for more industry to put more inmates to work. But he suggested some of the work programs might be scrapped if they do not prove profitable.

"There might be some white elephants," Marvel said.

McCuin replied that prison system officials do not think any of the programs should be discarded now.

The prison opened a garment factory at the prison in Lovelock, where prison uniforms are made. That cost extra money to pay for the equipment, McCuin said.

Jackie Crawford, director of the state Corrections Department, said making only uniforms for state inmates will not keep the garment program afloat.

She said the factory will be contacting county jails and casinos to try to sell inmate clothing to them. The prison also built corrals in Carson City to handle the wild horses rounded up by the BLM, which is paying $2.70 a day per horse for care. The corrals can hold 597 horses and the prison estimates it will be collecting $48,000 a month from this venture, but that it will be offset by cost of feed and inmate pay.

McCuin said the prison license plate factory earned about $1 million in each of the last two years because the state decided to issue new plates. He said annual revenue from that venture normally is $400,000. The boost in that program the last two years helped finance expansions in other areas, he said. More than 700 inmates were employed either in programs run by private industry or by the prison itself. Those working for private companies earn minimum wage; some of the prison programs pay less than that.

The inmates earned an estimated $1.8 million in salaries but had to pay 24 percent for room and board; 5 percent to fund future prison construction programs and 5 percent to pay victims of crime.