Inmates repair one pothole after another in Taylor County
Faced with delays caused by the Texas Department of Transportation and city road construction, the Taylor County Jail has taken a proactive approach to repairing the county’s roads – one pothole at a time.
The tracks of the road workers could be seen for miles before they were even seen. On the small country road in the community of View, they had already repaired numerous potholes on Tuesday.
The sun was shining, there were lots of puffy clouds and the bright orange overalls were a real eye-catcher. Each of the men wearing them had a big smile on their face as they patched up potholes like the ticking hands of a clock.
One man would clear the hole of debris with the blower, the next two men would each load a shovelful of fill material into it, and the last man would rake it smooth.
Instead of getting only three hours of sunlight a week in the Taylor County Jail, these lucky few work outside in the fresh air and sunshine four days a week, and they seem to take enormous pride in their work.
Show work ethic
The inmate work program had previously been suspended when there were staffing problems at the Taylor County Jail.
But Sheriff Ricky Bishop said operations were able to resume in early May of this year.
At any given time, only eight of the prison’s more than 600 inmates are eligible for the program.
According to correctional officer Rene Ybarra, these men must be non-violent offenders who are considered low-risk.
Inmates must apply for the program, attend an interview, and hope the waiting list is short.
The four members of the work crew made it clear that they were extremely grateful for the sunshine and breeze that day in View.
One man, Anthony Trevino, had not yet been charged, but was proactively working toward an expected prison sentence.
“I want to show Abilene some of my work ethic and show that I’m not a bad person,” Trevino said.
Another inmate, Jeremy Fowler, said: “It’s all about the scenery and the fresh air.”
The four inmates all agreed: working for the city simply makes them feel good.
Trevino also said what means the most to him are the compliments he receives from neighbors and women who stop to pray with the crew.
“It’s really special for us,” he said.
“Protect our boss”
The trust between Ybarra and the four-man crew was palpable. Ybarra was the only prison employee present with the four men in orange suits.
They would “protect our boss with our lives,” Trevino said. He said if one of the men tried to run away, the other three would catch him.
Being a work crew member is worth its weight in gold for enjoying the fresh air, and the work crew takes this very seriously.
If inmates perform unpaid road work for the city of Abilene, their prison sentence will be reduced by a ratio of three to one, Bishop said.
In short: none of the men in the crew want to risk their place on the team just because it brings them a step closer to freedom.
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