County Prison Board votes to double inmate workers’ pay
For the first time in nearly a quarter century, the Washington County Prison Board, at the behest of the new warden, voted unanimously to increase jail inmate’s pay to $3 a day from $1.50.
The previous pay raise was instituted in 1996, according to Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, who is also in charge of the prison board.
Warden Jeffrey Fewell, who left a similar position in Kansas after being hired as the top administrator of the Washington County jail last month, also received permission to install a key system with GPS capabilities to track the devices, which record when doors are locked and unlocked and by whom.
Inmate welfare funds, not taxpayer dollars, will be used to purchase a nacho cheese dispenser and warmer. Inmates will be able to use the machine as a reward for good behavior.
Approved by both the county commissioners and the prison board was a month-to-month extension of a contract with Washington Physician Hospital Organization Inc. for medical services at the jail. The service costs $17,126 per month.
Fewell reported Wednesday the jail was housing 256 inmates, down 27% from a year ago because of the novel coronavirus; law enforcement conducting fewer stings and sweeps during this time of year; and judges heeding pleas for leniency that criminals not be incarcerated during the holidays.
Male prisoners outnumber females about 3 to 1.
Fewell introduced jail Chaplain Michael Pierson to pray an invocation at the start of each prison board meeting.