May 20—BURNS — At Burns Cemetery, five inmates from the Laramie County Jail helped clean the grounds Monday and prepare for the expected increase in visitors on Memorial Day.
The work is part of a new Laramie County Sheriff’s Office program that allows inmates to leave jail while giving back to the community.
These efforts are the first of what Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak hopes will be many to allow inmates to volunteer in the county as part of the new Inmate Work Crew Program. The program is available to inmates and is not mandatory; Most, however, are eager to participate, prison officials said.
Sergeant Robert Perkins, who oversaw the crew Monday, said all inmates eligible to volunteer showed interest in helping. However, because they only had five GPS ankle bracelets available, they had to limit the number of prisoners who volunteered to five.
Perkins said inmates who are non-violent offenders and do not pose a risk to the safety of the community are eligible to volunteer for the prison’s Inmate Labor Program. There are currently about 16 inmates in the program, which typically cleans and prepares food for the inmates.
“They’re hired, but they don’t get paid. It’s just an alternative place to stay and live and just work instead of watching TV or doing nothing at all,” Perkins said.
Because LCSO expects to receive five more ankle bracelets to allow up to ten inmates to volunteer in this program, the Inmate Labor Program will be short-staffed on the days the Inmate Work Crew Program events occur.
Back at the jail on Monday, those who didn’t go to Burns had to take on some of the extra work, and Perkins said they will be rewarded with root beer floats.
To address this shortage in the future, he said he hopes the prison can recruit more inmates into the Inmate Labor Program so they can host larger and more frequent volunteer events. The opportunity to get outside and give back to the community is an incentive to recruit more people into the program.
“It’s nice to get out and do some work instead of doing the things we do in prison,” said inmate Timothy Duke, who volunteered at Burns on Monday. “…It’s been a while since I’ve seen the sun.”
Duke spent about five months in jail and said this was his first chance to leave the facility and work outside. If he hadn’t been in Burns on Monday, he said he would have spent the day doing laundry in the jail.
Manuelito Lovato, another inmate who volunteers at Burns, works in the kitchen. He said this is the first opportunity he has had like this since he was incarcerated in October, and he hopes to continue doing similar volunteer work.
“Giving back to my community and cleaning up. I appreciate this opportunity to leave the facility for the day,” he said.
Kozak said he hopes to continue expanding the program and working with local organizations and nonprofits. One of his goals is to recruit enough inmates to volunteer to help remove and cover up some of the graffiti in Cheyenne and Laramie County.
For the mowing, weeding, weed clearing and trash pickup at the Burns Cemetery, all LCSO asked of the City of Burns was that they cover lunch for the inmates. On Monday, Burns Mayor Joe Nicholson provided the five inmates with lunch from Subway.
Those with a project that they believe could benefit from the services of this program are encouraged to contact Deputy Eric Wiltanger at 307-633-4745.
The public will know when a work crew is in the area as large orange signs will be posted nearby that read “SHERIFFS WORK CREW AHEAD.”
Noah Zahn is the local government and business reporter for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
