Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Drugs and industyry
During a Monday session of the Cocke County Criminal Court,the audience was told drugs are continuing to have a major negative impact on our community. Judge Ben Hooper said a local plant recently lost a $7 million contract because it couldn't find employees who were reliable. "We are going to see if we can help that company by using inmate labor," the court said. Later on Monday Sheriff Armondo Fontes told the Corrections Partnership Committee that is looking at a ways to reduce the jail overcrowding by putting inmates to work. "I'm looking at a new program to put some inmates back to work with a local company. This local industry has told us, 'We can't find people in this county to work because there is not a work base here.' The sheriff went on "too many people are getting a check, too many people are getting free things and so people don't want to work. This is an industry that is 15 people short and they can't find people to work. So the problem is drugs and laziness, and so they are contacting me and we are trying to to look at a way to start a work release program." The sheriff said he wants to rehabilitate inmates "by putting them back to work."


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