Tenn. Prison Industry Benefits Inmates, Taxpayers
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August 24, 2003
ONLY (AP) -- Tennessee's prison industry is training inmates for jobs after they leave prison and save taxpayers some money in the process.
The TRICOR program employs about 1,000 inmates with high school or GED diplomas and clean disciplinary records. They build office furniture and filing cabinets, forge state seals or raise beef cattle.
Another program, the federal Prison Industries Enhancement or PIE, lets state prisons contract with private companies. In Tennessee, inmates in the program inflate footballs, make hockey sticks and weld motorcycle trailer chassis.
TRICOR employees make about $1 an hour, but inmates in the PIE program earn about $6 or $7 dollars an hour.
After deductions for federal taxes, the cost of room and board and contributions to the state's victim compensation fund, PIE inmates get to keep about $2 an hour.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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