FREEHOLD — Monmouth County Sheriff Joseph W. Oxley and the Freehold Borough Little League teamed up recently to prepare the league’s baseball fields for the April 13 season opener.
A work crew from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Labor Program provided landscaping, painting and infrastructure repair to the four baseball diamonds and the Little League concession stand.
In total, work crews of three to five inmates provided approximately 200 hours of service to clean and repair the athletic facilities, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
The volunteers from the Sheriff’s Office Inmate Labor Program cleaned the baseball fields, raked and mowed the lawns and repaired the safety fences. Inmates painted the storage areas, dugouts and concession stand. Public areas were power-washed and broken cement was repaired. The work project took place from March 19-28. Final preparations were completed on April 1-2.
"I am honored to be able to provide needed resources through the Inmate Labor Program that helps children in Freehold Borough to continue enjoying the American pastime of baseball," Oxley said. "With clean facilities, fresh paint and landscaped fields, families and children will celebrate their April 13 opener in a top-notch park."
According to the sheriff’s office, over the past year, inmates involved in the labor program have worked 19,799 hours in 38 municipalities throughout the county, resulting in an estimated savings of more than $101,964 for county taxpayers.
Participation in the program is voluntary. Inmates enrolled in the program participate in the work projects as an alternative to spending their time in jail. Only offenders incarcerated for minor offenses, with records of good behavior, may be enrolled.
Requests for inmate labor teams are made to the program coordinator, Medora Morris, and are evaluated as to the need and feasibility of the project. Then work crews are assigned based upon the scale and scope of the project. Inmate assignments to the labor program are made by the courts.
The sheriff’s office transports and provides for the security of the inmate crews. Inmate labor teams have tackled every type of project imaginable, from painting and carpentry, to restoring a Civil War-era cemetery.