View Full Version : Inmate Labor


ChewiesBaby
07-23-2008, 05:43 PM
This is directly from the Mississippi State Penitentiary website. It details the labor done by the state inmates and revenue, inmate consumption, etc. This facility is dubbed "Parchman Farm".

Agricultural Enterprises

Updated: 06/17/2008



Agricultural Enterprises is a division under the Institutions Division responsible for the farming operations at Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) in Parchman, MS and South Mississippi Correctional Institution (SMCI) in Leakesville, MS. The majority of the farming activity takes place at MSP.

Minimum and medium custody inmates are given the opportunity to participate in the Agricultural Enterprises program each year in planting, harvesting and processing the crops. Inmates plant several kinds of fruits and vegetables which are harvested and processed to feed inmates at MDOC facilities statewide.

Some of the fruits and vegetables grown last year include:


Blackberries Squash
Broccoli Watermelons
Butter beans Field Peas
Cabbage Peppers
Cantaloupe Carrots
Pecans Collard greens
Cucumbers Onions
English peas Sweet corn
Green beans Potatoes
Okra Pumpkins
Mustard Greens Turnip Greens
Tomatoes


* MPAE leased out 8,082.90 acres in Sunflower County and 197.0 acres in Quitman County for a total of $343,116.17. This represents an average rent per acre of $41.44.

* MPAE farmed 5,530.20 acres in Sunflower County of rice, corn, soybeans, wheat and vegetables.

* Soybean production of 39,876 bushels produced $234,504 cash.

* Corn production totaled 95,436 bushels with all bushels being delivered to the feed mill to produce hog and chicken feed at a value of $222,264. This corn will produce approximately 3,340 tons of feed.

* The 2007 fiscal year rice crop produced 42,210 bushels for a cash price of $118,102. Approximately 7,100 bushels of the above bushels were processed for inmate consumption at a value of $20,732.

* The Feed Mill is in operation utilizing corn grown by MPAE and all feed is produced on site for the swine and poultry operation. The Feed Mill operation produced 3,556 tons of swine and 1,343 tons of chicken feed at a cost of $655,303 and $195,800, respectively.

* The Livestock swine operation produced 8,814 hogs and ended the year with a herd of 4,898.

* 1,131 hogs were processed for inmate consumption with a value of $82,771 and 6,318 were sold to outside vendors for $734,988.

* The poultry facility is in full production with a 36,000 layer capacity. A total of 480.050 dozen eggs were delivered to MDOC food service with a total value of $378,687.

* MPAE vegetable operation produced a total of 4,682,770 pounds of vegetables for inmate consumption on approximately 1,205 acres of land.

* MPAE processing received 4,682,770 pounds of vegetables for processing which netted a total of 3,645,627 pounds of vegetables for inmate consumption. The value of these processed vegetables based on the Atlanta market was approximately $1,909,522.

* Total value of food donated for inmate consumption for FY 2007 was approximately $1,995,089.

* MPAE generated cash revenues of $2,601,354 and expenditures were $2,481,314.

* During FY 2007 MPAE averaged working 396 inmates per month which equaled 95,040 man days. Based on 8 hours per day this would equate to 760,320 hours the inmates were not idle.

* During fiscal year 2006 MPAE planted 17.5 acres of blueberry cuttings at the South Mississippi Correctional Facility. These cuttings should start producing a harvestable crop in fiscal year 2008.

Agricultural Enterprises (http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/agricultural_enterprises.htm)

What are your thoughts on this?? I can tell you the population there is extremely low and NO ONE wants to go back there when they get out!!

goldilockz
07-23-2008, 05:43 PM
:thumbsup

MIKOSWIFEY
07-23-2008, 06:12 PM
That is pretty awesome, IMO.

MIKOSWIFEY
07-23-2008, 06:12 PM
I mean, it's either that or Big Brother Slop from where I sit. :D

mossey2000
07-23-2008, 06:15 PM
if it saves us money i say go for it. MS needs all the help they can get.

Joy
07-23-2008, 06:16 PM
I think it's great they are putting them to work :D

VinnysGirl
07-23-2008, 06:18 PM
I think all prisons should include programs like this. It will help keep them from draining money from society and also help "rehabilitate" the inmates as they so often say happens in prisons.

Wicked
07-23-2008, 06:18 PM
It sounds a lot like the prisons in Norway. They also have a low overhead when it comes to how much it costs to incarcerate someone and a very low repeat offender rate. I am all for things like this. There are ways to treat inmates humanely and put them to work.

ChewiesBaby
07-23-2008, 06:24 PM
Do you think that the inmate facilities should provide air conditioning or do you view that as a luxury?

mossey2000
07-23-2008, 06:26 PM
isnt parchman in the delta? i think in the south, they should provide it but up north im not sure.

MIKOSWIFEY
07-23-2008, 06:28 PM
Do you think that the inmate facilities should provide air conditioning or do you view that as a luxury?

I think it depends on where it is and how the buildings are constructed, personally.

If it's a building that would get too hot without air circulation in it, then yes. If it's like the one in AZ where they're in tents then no, because there's fresh air and breezes to take advantage most of the time. Honestly though I think all should be like Tent City :D Prison should SUCK. REALLY REALLY SUCK.

ChewiesBaby
07-23-2008, 06:30 PM
isnt parchman in the delta? i think in the south, they should provide it but up north im not sure.

yeah, Parchman is in the Delta of Mississippi. I'm sure it gets hot but I think it's a luxury. I mean, I have to pay a pretty penny to have my a/c and I know people even in my area who can't afford to run theirs so to me, it's still a luxury.

Joy
07-23-2008, 06:45 PM
If the climate calls for it, yes. Air conditioning is not a "luxury" when someone could die of heat exhaustion.

Ellen
07-23-2008, 06:50 PM
I think that is a great utilization of the prison population. The inmates can take pride in their work - they deserve a chance to work hard and show that they can be productive. Prison should be hard, but I do believe that opportunities like working on these farms and work release are priviledges that should be earned by serving good time and getting back on track. Punshment and rehabilitation. That's the key to a successful prison.

ChewiesBaby
07-23-2008, 06:54 PM
Hmmm... good point on heat exhaustion. The facility is 100years old so it was constructed before a/c was around. Most of the older homes have the high ceilings so that the heat can rise and the tall windows, even my parents' house does, it's about 100years old and it doesn't have central a/c. We never had a/c growing up so it's possible to live without it here.

Miss B Hav'n
07-23-2008, 06:57 PM
I think that is a great utilization of the prison population. The inmates can take pride in their work - they deserve a chance to work hard and show that they can be productive. Prison should be hard, but I do believe that opportunities like working on these farms and work release are priviledges that should be earned by serving good time and getting back on track. Punshment and rehabilitation. That's the key to a successful prison.

:yes
As to the A/C issue - I think that they should provide whatever is necessary (be it A/C or circulation via other means) to maintain a safe working environment. Nothing more, nothing less.

mossey2000
07-23-2008, 07:04 PM
Hmmm... good point on heat exhaustion. The facility is 100years old so it was constructed before a/c was around. Most of the older homes have the high ceilings so that the heat can rise and the tall windows, even my parents' house does, it's about 100years old and it doesn't have central a/c. We never had a/c growing up so it's possible to live without it here.

It's possible, yes but not very healthy imo. Many people here could afford to run A/C's and do other things if they made better choices. Sure, some fall on hard times, but the majority is lack of good choices.

Miss B Hav'n
07-23-2008, 07:07 PM
It's possible, yes but not very healthy imo. Many people here could afford to run A/C's and do other things if they made better choices. Sure, some fall on hard times, but the majority is lack of good choices.

Well, couldn't that also be said of those who are in prison? They could be out where they could choose to have A/C if they made better choices:giggle

mossey2000
07-23-2008, 07:08 PM
Well, couldn't that also be said of those who are in prison? They could be out where they could choose to have A/C if they made better choices:giggle

well yeah :lmao

MIKOSWIFEY
07-23-2008, 07:15 PM
Well, couldn't that also be said of those who are in prison? They could be out where they could choose to have A/C if they made better choices:giggle

:rofl So true

Joy
07-23-2008, 08:24 PM
Well, couldn't that also be said of those who are in prison? They could be out where they could choose to have A/C if they made better choices:giggle


:teehee Good point.