Upon taking office as sheriff in January 2023, the Kosciusko County Work Release Center was averaging around 50 inmates at the Center.
I remember early on in 2023 having a meeting with, at the time, Assistant Director of the Work Release Jerrad Jones about the number of inmates at the Center. I shared my vision of expanding the number of inmates being housed at the Work Release Center with Jerrad and we talked about what that would like in terms of qualifiers, and disqualifiers, as it related to offenses of the inmates. I remember Jerrad telling me that there are some offenses that are just simply a non-starter when talking about whether someone should be awarded the opportunity to go to Work Release to serve their sentencing.
It did not take me long to realize that Jerrad was the person that needed to be the director at Work Release, and we at KCSO are truly fortunate to have him leading the way at the center. Jerrad, along with two assistant directors, Josh Gonzalez and Travis Nichols, help lead a team of staff members and an average of 75 inmates (men and women).
With the expansion of the number of inmates at the Work Release Center, it decreased the number of inmates at the county jail. It increases the number of folks able to be employed, to assist them with an easier transition into the community once released entirely, and has proven to be an important piece in the step-down theory of one’s sentencing (jail, work release, community corrections, probation).
I often get asked what the process is for an inmate transitioning from the jail to the Work Release Center.
Every inmate requesting to participate in Work Release first has to fill out an application either on their jail tablet or on paper. The assistant directors then run a background check on the inmate’s criminal history, along with jail incidents, and current charges to determine if they can be accepted into the work release program.
Once the inmate is completely sentenced on all charges, and has no outstanding warrants or charges outside of our county, they are transported to the work release facility. Initially, offenders work as trustees within the facility, usually in the kitchen for roughly a month, and then are allowed to look for outside employment to fully participate while incarcerated.
As I speak with different sheriffs across the state, I find that it is less common for Work Release Centers to exist and, for the ones that do, often times, they are not part of the sheriff’s office. I appreciate the fact that our sheriff’s office has the Work Release Center as I certainly see the benefit in having it be part of our department as it plays an important role on the corrections side of the house.
As sheriff of Kosciusko County, I am truly proud of the great work our director, Jerrad Jones, and his entire staff do for not only KCSO but for all of Kosciusko County.