A new method to monitor inmates on a work release program is being implemented at the Koochiching County jail in International Falls.
They will be outfitted with ankle monitors before they leave.
Sheriff Perryn Hedlund says it is the first time they will have used the monitors but feels it will allow them to track inmates on the program better when allowed to leave.
“We can designate certain areas as no-go, and then we’ll get alerts if they go there. We think it’s a really good program, and this is kind of a trial year for us to see how it goes. If it works out, we’ll continue using them,” says Hedlund.
The monitors also work in remote areas and Canada.
A recent test provided regular alerts when a person took a monitor to Dryden during a visit with family members.
The County jail expects two inmates will be eligible for work-release this month.
It has had as many as six to seven at one time.
Inmates assigned to the program pay for their stay in jail.
To accommodate the cost of the ankle monitors, the fee is rising five dollars to $30 per day.
Hedlund says certain requirements a person convicted of an offence must meet before being eligible for work-release.
“We feel it’s important because we do get a lot of folks that have to serve a sentence, whether it’s for a DUI or something else, whether it’s ten days or 20 days or 30 days, and you don’t want them to lose their job if we can facilitate that. That’s why the work release program exists, but there’s liability. We have someone in jail who’s on work release. We have to know where they’re at all times. They have to return to jail. This just increases our ability,” says Hedlund.
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