Arizona communities would 'collapse' without cheap prison labor, Corrections director says

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https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/07/14/arizona-cities-would-collapse-without-prison-labor/10062910002/

Arizona communities would 'collapse' without cheap prison labor, Corrections director says

Jimmy Jenkins
Arizona Republic

Arizona Department of Corrections Director David Shinn said Arizona communities would “collapse” without cheap prison labor, during testimony before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Thursday.

Shinn made the statement while answering questions about a Request For Proposal for a contract to run the Florence West prison.

Sen. David Gowan asked Shinn about the nature of the work the prisoners do at the Florence West prison. In Arizona, all people in state prisons are forced to work 40 hours a week with exceptions for prisoners with health care conditions and other conflicting programming schedules. Some prisoners earn just 10 cents an hour for their work.

“These are low-level worker inmates that work in the communities around the county itself, I would imagine?" Gowan asked.

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