Wisconsin DOC Is Not Tracking Work Release Data
Most jobs within Wisconsin prisons are paid in cents as minimum wage laws don’t apply in lockups. But the state also has work release programs that allow certain prisoners to earn a rate that’s the same as non-incarcerated employees. Unfortunately, as Wisconsin Watch recently reported, Wisconsin prisoners say there are not enough work release jobs for those who are eligible–and the state Department of Corrections (DOC) isn’t even keeping track of how many people are currently enrolled.
Wisconsin was the first state to create work release programs in 1913; today, some form of it exists in nearly every state. Research has shown that work release reduces recidivism, with one recent study conducted by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority suggesting that participants were 37% less likely to be reincarcerated. That said, work release in some states often comes without many workplace protections and, in Alabama, led to prisoners working for years in fast food restaurants while consistently being denied parole.
In Wisconsin, where ten of the state’s 16 minimum-security facilities are dedicated to work release, a qualified prisoner must have permission and be in the lowest custody level. According to Wisconsin Watch, prisoners regularly wait months for an opening and, as one prisoner estimated, less than a third of eligible prisoners secure one. The jobs that are available are only through one of the DOC’s partner employers.
While the DOC tracks prisoner demographics and relays that information on its website, work release numbers are not included. The latest numbers that Wisconsin Watch could find were from 2024, when a DOC research team, in response to a legislative request, calculated that 781 people were in work release programs.
Source: Wisconsin Watch
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login