Warren judges, who control the program and decide which inmates can be freed for work, insist they're not concerned by the AWOL inmates. They say the program, which allowed 361 inmates to work in 1999 so they could attempt to pay child support and court fines, is a success. A national corrections expert says walkaways are expected in an honor system that relies on inmates to return on their own to jail each day. But he cautions that authorities should take care in whom they let out. In Preble County, which runs its program much differently than Warren's, authorities say they've had only one AWOL worker since 1994.
Judges control the work-release program in Warren County.
They decide which inmates are eligible and order jail staffers to release the prisoners. But prisoners convicted of domestic violence and assault sometimes are let out, too, if a judge doesn't consider them a risk to the victim. An unrelated Warren County program that lets inmates out of a jail for holidays led to tragedy last Thanksgiving. If they don't already have jobs, work-release inmates usually are hired as unskilled laborers through a temporary employment service. They leave the jail at assigned times and are generally expected to return within an hour of the end of their shifts.