LISBON Official questions extent of inmate labor in courthouse

A commissioner says the work amounts to small jobs.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A union official is questioning Columbiana County's use of inmate labor to perform courthouse chores and projects.
Don Crane, president of the Youngstown-based Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council, said today that if the inmates' work isn't too extensive, he doesn't object to it.
But if inmates are working on projects valued at more than $60,000, then prevailing wage laws apply and should be adhered to by the county, Crane said.
Prevailing wage regulations require government-employed contractors to pay workers an established rate, which for skilled laborers is typically more than $20 an hour, Crane said.
If the $60,000 limit is being exceeded, Crane said he would propose that the county hire the work done and pay the prevailing wage.
"Why not good law-abiding citizens" as workers on courthouse projects? Crane asked.
Remodeling tasks
For months, the county has been using inmates housed at the county jail to perform cleaning jobs at the courthouse.
Recently, inmates skilled as electricians, carpenters or in other trades have been put to work doing remodeling tasks such as renovating the county treasurer's office and preparing space in the courthouse basement for a new sheriff's office.
County Commissioner Jim Hoppel said this morning that the labor amounts to "small, piddly jobs." Hoppel defended the use of the nonviolent, misdemeanant inmates as laborers.
He noted that the county spends about $2.4 million annually to house prisoners. Their labor helps the county recover a small amount of that cost.
County officials have not estimated the value of their work. Hoppel has acknowledged that it probably amounts to hundreds of dollars annually.