The Cascade County jail has room for 12 inmates to work but is slated for an expansion that will allow about 20. With multiple shifts, about 50 prisoners, or a third of the inmate population, could work there. The telemarketing jobs pay minimum wage. Deductions are made for taxes, any court-ordered restitution, and a percentage for a crime victims fund. A portion goes to the prison to offset incarceration costs.
Critics question the morality of such inmate-labor programs as well as their economics.
He was referring to the People's Republic of China, which has long been accused of using forced labor in its prisons. It does nothing to improve the wages and benefits of the people of Montana. He also doubts the usefulness of the skill the inmates learn and scoffs at claims that telemarketers cannot find good workers in today's tight labor market.