Work Crews
The goal of the Department of Corrections (DOC) community work crew programs is to provide the opportunity to develop good work habits, expand work skills and abilities, work off ordered community restitution, and provide a service to the community.
AHCC inmate assisting with a controlled burn for Kalispel Tribe.
Types of Crews
Community Restitution
The Class V: Community Restitution Programs are subject to supervision by the Department and designed and managed to enable individuals on community supervision to work off all or part of a community restitution order as ordered by the sentencing court or the Department (DOC Policy 700.000 (pdf), RCW 72.09.100).
Community Service
The Class IV: Community Work Industries off-site work crew program is operated by the Department and designed and managed to provide services in the community at a reduced cost. The services are provided to public agencies or nonprofit organizations (DOC Policy 700.400 (pdf), RCW 72.09.100).
The crews typically provide services in farming, reforestation, wood-cutting, land clearing, processing of foods in state canneries, forest firefighting, forest fire suppression and prevention, stream clearance, and watershed improvement. Crews also provide services in the development of parks and recreational areas, and work to conserve the natural resources and protect and improve the public domain and construction of water supply facilities to state institutions (RCW 72.64.050).
Inmates in this program reside in facilities owned by, contracted for, or licensed by the Department. A unit of local government provides supervision services without charge to the state and pays the inmate's wage. Inmates who work in off-site work crews do so at their own choice and receive a gratuity which does not exceed the wage paid for work of a similar nature in the locality in which the industry is located (RCW 72.09.100).
Community Partnerships
The off-site community service program uses contracts to create partnerships with federal, state, county, city, and community government and non-profit groups to employ the inmate work crews. Currently the following facilities participate in off-site work crew partnerships: Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC), Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC), Larch Corrections Center (LCC), and Olympic Corrections Center (OCC).
Dept. of Natural Resources Work Crews (May 2018) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prison | Fire-Season | Off-Season | ||||
| AHCC | 4 | 4 | ||||
| CCCC | 11 | 9 | ||||
| LCC | 9 | 7 | ||||
| OCC | 9 | 7 | ||||
Quick Facts
- Each work crew consists of 10 inmates.
- The fire season is April thru September. During the fire season there are approximately 330 inmates working on 33 crews.
- The off-season is September thru March. During the off-season there are approximately 270 inmates working on 27 crews.
Current Community Partners
Salvation Army
- Work Crew Services: Litter pick up, habitat restoration, landscaping, warehouse work, and snow removal.
- Facility Partners: AHCC
Center for Natural Land Management
- Work Crew Services: Prairie restoration
- Facility Partners: CCCC
Chelahatchie Prairie Railroad
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping and planting
- Facility Partners: LCC
Cities of Camas, Ridgefield, and Washougal
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping and clean up
- Facility Partners: LCC
Clark County Food Bank
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping and gardening
- Facility Partners: LCC
Clark County Public Works
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping
- Facility Partners: LCC
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
The DNR Correctional Camps Program was established by the Legislature in 1939 (Chapter 220, SHB 242 (pdf)). Corrections has established contracts with DNR to provide inmates to assist in forest firefighting, fire suppression and prevention, and other incidents and significant events. The inmates that work on DNR crews receive training and job skills in firefighting, chainsaw operation, silviculture practices, sew shop skills, as well as machine and auto mechanics. DNR operates crews at four state prison facilities.
- Work Crew Services: Litter pick up, habitat restoration, graffiti removal, landscaping, and fire fighting, suppression and prevention.
- Facility Partners: AHCC, CCCC, LCC, and OCC
- In the News:
- 2017 Wildfires, DNR inmate fire crews
- Airway Heights Corrections Center crew finds firefighting rewarding on several levels
- Anatomy of a Department of Corrections wildfire base camp
- Correctional Camp Program Has a New Tool to Help Firefighters
- Correctional Crews Provide Vital Services to Washington’s State Forests
- DNR inmate crew build Mima Falls East bridge
- DNR inmate fire crews fight brush fire in Capitol Forest
- Emergency Crews Prepare For Major Flooding Throughout Okanogan Valley
- Labor programs aim to help inmates stay out of custody
- Low-Risk Offenders Schlep Through Mason County Mud
- One-Time Offender Graduates with High Honors in Forestry; 8 Years Clean After Incarceration
- Oregon and Washington Corrections Centers Discover Common Practices
- Report from the Field: Mission Creek Corrections Center Partnership - Jefferson Land Trust
- Revamping Rock Creek Campground shelter in southwestern Washington
Department of Transportation
- Work Crew Services: Litter pick up, debris removal, garbage cleanup, filling sand bags, hand shoveling debris, landscaping, prune trees, pull weeds, cut back brush and cut grass, sweep sidewalks/parking lots.
- Facility Partners: CCCC, LCC
Hoh Native Tribe
- Work Crew Services: Trail clearing and sandbagging
- Facility Partners: OCC
Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group
- Work Crew Services: Salmon habitat restoration
- Facility Partners: LCC
Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition
- Work Crew Services: Habitat restoration, rechanneling streambeds, planting trees alongside streams/rivers, distributing salmon carcasses to promote stream health, and sandbags.
- Facility Partners: OCC
Pomeroy Living History Farm
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping and planting
- Facility Partners: LCC
Port of Olympia
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping, prune trees, pull weeds, cut back brush and cut grass, sweep sidewalks/parking lots.
- Facility Partners: CCCC
Quileute Native Tribe
- Work Crew Services: Trail clearing and sandbagging
- Facility Partners: OCC
Thurston County Fire Departments
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping, prune trees, pull weeds, cut back brush and cut grass, sweep sidewalks/parking lots.
- Facility Partners: CCCC
Thurston County Parks
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping, prune trees, pull weeds, cut back brush and cut grass, sweep sidewalks/parking lots
- Facility Partners: CCCC
Town of Yacolt
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping, trail maintenance, park clean up and blackberry removal.
- Facility Partners: LCC
Washington State Parks
- Work Crew Services: Landscaping, prune trees, pull weeds, cut back brush and cut grass, sweep sidewalks/parking lots.
- Facility Partners: CCCC, LCC
Inmate Work Crew Program Reports
Per RCW 72.09.100, the two inmate work classes cited below require statutory reporting:
Class III Correctional Industries Quarterly Detail Statements 700-SR001
(3)(b) The department shall prepare quarterly detail statements showing where work crews worked, what correctional industry class, and the hours worked.
Class IV Community Work Industries Quarterly Detail Statements 700-SR002
(4)(b) The department shall prepare quarterly detail statements showing where work crews worked, what correctional industry class, and the hours worked.