SPRINGDALE -- Work release inmates will be replaced with janitors to work in the City Administration Building, a move prompted by alleged misbehavior.
"We're going to hire employees to take over that role of maintenance and janitorial services," Mayor Doug Sprouse said after Tuesday's City Council meeting.
At a glance
The council also authorized a lease for two patrol cars for the Springdale Police Department.
Source: Staff report
The City Council voted approved spending $26,820 to hire janitors to work in the building at 201 Spring St., for the rest of the year. Arkansas Department of Corrections inmates housed at Northwest Arkansas Work Release Center in Springdale had been doing the work for more than 15 years, Melissa Reeves, public relations director for the city, said last week.
"We're looking to redistribute them to work somewhere else, possibly in another building," Reeves said. "It's part of an overall strategy to increase security in the administration building."
Reeves said she didn't know of any criminal incidents that prompted the request for a change.
Wyman Morgan, director of finance and administration for the city, said last week there has been misbehavior.
"Basically (the inmates) have proven that their character in the past has not been that great," Morgan said.
There have been incidents in which inmates have hung out in front of the building's front door, which Morgan said doesn't make for an inviting atmosphere to visitors.
"At one time, one of them wrote one of our female employees a letter he was not supposed to," Morgan said. "It was kind of scary for her to get a letter from him."
A correction employee would come by once a day to check on inmates working in the building, Morgan said.
There's also concern that by being in the building, inmates could access to their court records and destroy them, Morgan said.
Inmates who worked in the building did basic janitorial duties, such as emptying trash, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms, Reeves said.
Although the budget change will provide money to hire janitorial staff for the rest of the year, the city would seek to continue hiring janitors five-days-a-week beyond 2016, Morgan said.
It's unknown when janitors will be hired. The city will advertise the position, Sprouse said.
Inmates will still be used to work in city parks, Sprouse said.
NW News on 10/12/2016