Jan. 10, 2020—An inmate program through the Tehama County Sheriff's Office in Red Bluff, Calif. has inmates working on auto repair through the office's very own auto repair shop, reports KRCR 7.
Up to nine work-release inmates provide over 200 hours of labor at the Tehama County Sheriff's Office auto shop, which opened its doors in 2012 as an alternative to incarceration that could also teach inmates marketable workforce skills.
In Tehama County, inmates that have committed low-level misdemeanors and some felonies are offered the opportunity to trade jail time for time worked at the auto repair shop, according to the report. The auto repair shop is run by a deputy with 18 years of experience as a licensed journeyman mechanic. According to the report, deputies closely monitor the inmates while at work and also with an ankle monitor when they are off the clock.
Since the program's debut in 2012, the auto repair shop has built and serviced 57 police vehicles and according to the sheriff's office, has saved taxpayers in Tehama County more than $285,000.
