SWEETWATER COUNTY — Work crews from the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office’s inmate community service program were kept busy recently cleaning up litter along the interstate near Green River.

According to Deputy Dwaine Shafe, who supervises the program, the inmate work crews collected a total of 95 bags of trash from Interstate 80’s Exit 89 and Exit 91 on- and off-ramps.  After gathering and bagging the trash, maintenance crews from the Wyoming Department of Transportation helped remove the trash by transporting it to the landfill.

The Sweetwater County Detention Center’s Inmate Community Service Program employs screened, misdemeanor-level volunteer inmates in cleanup, snow removal and other community service projects.  The work crews carry out their tasks under the direct supervision of sworn detention officers. 

The program last made headlines when Sheriff John Grossnickle announced his decision to make the work crews available to assist those in need with storm cleanup in the aftermath of a devastating late summer wind and snow storm in September of last year.

“Sometimes people make mistakes. Our community service program is important because it allows otherwise good people who have maybe made a mistake in life to continue to act as productive members of society,” Grossnickle said. “By design, the program instills a sense of ownership for our volunteers and allows them to give back to the community while serving their sentences.”