The Yamhill County Work Crew Program

The Yamhill County Work Crew Program is a combination of in-custody inmate workers and out-of-custody community service workers that perform community service work under the supervision and direction of Yamhill County Community Corrections.

For in-custody inmates that are serving time at the Yamhill County Correctional Facility (Jail), the Yamhill County Work Crew Program is designed to allow sentenced inmates to work for county agencies and receive a sentence reduction.  These inmates are housed in the Yamhill County Correctional Facility’s Work Release/Restitution Center and allowed to leave the facility to perform supervised community service projects throughout Yamhill County.  Inmate participation in the work crew program is a privilege that is extended to sentenced inmates by the Yamhill County Commissioners Office, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, Yamhill County Community Corrections, Yamhill County Circuit Court, and the county agencies which are selected to participate by the Board of Commissioners.

Community Corrections’ Work Crew Program also serves as the primary resource for the courts, for referring offenders to fulfill court-ordered Work Crew and community service obligations.  The Work Crew Program also receives a high volume of probation clients with work crew sanctions, as well as a small number of out of county referrals for work crew sanctions.  Community Corrections’ staff will receive and process referrals, schedule the days to be worked with the offenders, track the progress, and report back to the referral source (completion, failure to complete, or removal from the program), as well as the on-the-ground component that includes the scheduling of worksites, allocation of labor, supervision of work performed, training, transportation, and etc.  Depending on labor needs and projects, out-of-custody clients either work with assigned work crews (many times alongside inmate workers) or are placed at partnering agency worksites to work under the direction of authorized staff.

Purpose

The work crew program in Yamhill County is based on a philosophy that work crew is a useful intermediate alternative between confinement and release to the open community.  The program provides stable sentencing alternatives for the court while maintaining a high emphasis toward community safety.

Benefits to the offender:

1. Allows the offender to work in a way that promotes good health through physical and mental exercise;
2. Allows the offender to work time off his/her sentence, as an inmate worker of the Yamhill County Correctional Facility;
3. Allows offender to show his/her potential in the areas of compliance and hard work;
4. Allows offender the opportunity to develop work skills, life skills, and responsible attitudes;
5. Allows offender the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the community;

Benefits to the Court:

1. Provides an alternative sentencing option;
2. Provides evaluation information to aid in the decision making process for individuals involved in the criminal justice system;
3. Provides a monitoring, supervision, and reporting program for individuals involved in the work crew program;
4. Assists in the development of beneficial release programs to the open community;
5. Provides more custody beds in the general population of the Yamhill County Correctional Facility;
6. Provides a tool of community awareness that reflects positively on the Yamhill County Justice System;

Benefits to the community:

1. Provides a community service in that the individual provides work for the County, thus allowing for the savings of tax dollars rather than the spending of tax dollars;
2. Provides a transition of incarcerated individuals to the open community;

Provides a labor force to assist with community events and public lands enhancement  and improvement projects;