I agree with odat1967. DOC inmates at Avalon, our Halfway house has inmates that are close to release and need to have a job to stay at this "below minimum" security prison. They only need minimum wage, and they only get half of that pay and the rest goes back to the prison facility for their room and board. Or the ones in Riverside halfway house which houses the inmates who couldn't find jobs. They would only receive, through the state, $.47 / day. Talk about cheap labor. Why hasn't our Mayor Kathy Taylor thought of this idea before? Everyone wants to cut spending, yet they have over 25,000 resources available for labor and it's all just going to waste. She should contact DOC's Justin Jones and set up some kind of contract for inmate labor for Tulsa. It also gives those guys some direction and will help them become integrated back into society. This is a WIN / WIN / WIN opportunity for not just Tulsa, but the entire state. It would also help the prison budget, which has been short for decades.

I still don't understand why they can't utilize county/DOC inmates for this work?? other municipalities/states do this - use DOC trustee inmates to help do work with state/county entities as well as doing work for individuals (such as mowing, snow removal for elderly, etc). Don't have to pay much for "wages" and it gets them out doing something productive to "give back". Or use those needing "community service" hours.... use the surplus to allow city employees back to work instead of mandatory without-pay "furloughs." I don't know.... maybe it just makes too much sense for Oklahoma to use inmate labor....