Allegheny County, PA Allegheny County Jail

For the better employment of the prisoners and improvement of highways of Allegheny County, it shall be lawful to require every able-bodied male prisoner, now or hereafter confined under sentence within the Allegheny County Jail, to perform eight hours of manual labor each day of his imprisonment. Such labor may be performed outside the Allegheny County Jail at the discretion of the Warden, in accordance with the policy developed under the requirements of § 205-21.

For the better employment of the prisoners and improvement of parks, buildings, and other facilities owned by Allegheny County, it shall be lawful to require every able-bodied male prisoner, now or hereafter confined under sentence within the Allegheny County Jail, to perform eight hours of manual labor each day of his imprisonment. Such labor may be performed outside the Allegheny County Jail at the discretion of the Warden, in accordance with the policy developed under the requirements of § 205-21.

§ 205-21 Specific policy.

The Warden of the Allegheny County Jail shall finalize a policy to govern inmate employment outside the Jail itself. Such policy shall include, at a minimum, delineations of necessary security measures for ensuring the continued detention of the inmates, guidelines for preserving the safety of the inmates while employed outside the Jail, minimum standards for transportation security and acceptable inmate-to-guard ratios, factors to be employed and procedures to be followed when selecting projects for inmate labor, and specific guidelines for the classifications of inmates that will be employed outside the Jail under the terms of this article, with such classifications to include only nonviolent misdemeanor offenders. The policy required under the terms of this section shall also provide for payment of any inmates employed outside the Jail under the terms of this article at a rate at least equal to the median rate paid to inmates employed within the Jail, if any such inmates are paid.

Other provisions of this section notwithstanding, no inmate shall be eligible for employment outside of the Jail if he has been convicted of:

(1)

Any offense for which one or more victims were under the age of 18 at the time that the offense was committed; or

(2)

Any offense delineated within 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.1 as a potential predicate for Megan's Law registration within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, regardless of the type of registration that would be required, actual registration, or actual designation as a sexually violent predator for any individual inmate; or

(3)

Any offense under the terms of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Statutes:

(a)

Section 908 (Prohibited offensive weapons).

(b)

Section 2501 (Criminal homicide).

(c)

Section 2502 (Murder).

(d)

Section 2503 (Voluntary manslaughter).

(e)

Section 2504 (Involuntary manslaughter).

(f)

Section 2701 (Simple assault).

(g)

Section 2702 (Aggravated assault).

(h)

Section 2703 (Assault by prisoner).

(i)

Section 2704 (Assault by life prisoner).

(j)

Section 2705 (Recklessly endangering another person).

(k)

Section 2706 (Terroristic threats).

(l)

Section 2709 (Harassment).

(m)

Section 2709.1 (Stalking).

(n)

Section 2902 (Unlawful restraint).

(o)

Section 3301 (Arson and related offenses).

(p)

Section 3502 (Burglary).

(q)

Section 3701 (Robbery).

(r)

Section 4304 (Endangering welfare of children).

(s)

Section 5104 (Resisting arrest or other law enforcement).

(t)

Section 5121 (Escape).

(u)

Section 5501 (Riot).

(4)

Distribution of or possession with intent to distribute any controlled substance, or any violation of the Uniform Firearms Act.

Other provisions of this section notwithstanding, no inmate shall be eligible for employment outside of the Jail if he or she has presented a defense or filed notice of a defense on the basis of insanity or diminished mental capacity.

Once finalized, the policy required under § 205-21A shall be submitted to Allegheny County Council for approval within 30 days of the effective date of this article.

(1)

Such policy shall become effective upon approval by a majority of the seated members of Allegheny County Council.

(2)

In the event that such policy is not approved, Council shall provide a deadline for submission of a revised policy that shall be at least 30 days after the date of disapproval.

Employment of prisoners in accordance with the final approved policy shall begin no later than 30 days from the date of such policy's final approval, provided no conflict to any job or collective bargaining agreement exists.

§ 205-22 Exceptions.

No prisoner awaiting trial shall be required or permitted to perform manual labor under the terms of this article.

No prisoner shall be required to perform manual labor under the terms of this article on Sundays or on legal holidays.

At no time shall more than 10% of the able-bodied male prisoners within the Allegheny County Jail be assigned to manual labor outside of the Jail building under the terms of this article.

At no time shall more than two separate groups of inmates simultaneously perform labor outside of the Jail building.

No County facility, including County parks, County-owned buildings or other real property, County roads or County bridges, shall be maintained or improved by inmates from the Allegheny County Jail for a period of time exceeding two contiguous weeks in any calendar year.