OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - James Bay spends his days at Lake of the Ozarks State Park fixing leaks, renovating cabins and clearing debris from the beaches.
But he's not a parks employee. He is a prison inmate.
Bay, 47, is just one of 40 low-risk inmates, housed in cabins onsite, who help maintain the 17,400-acre park.
For Bay, convicted of drug possession, the program gives him a chance to do the construction work he enjoys while learning new skills.
"I love it. I really do," he said. "Being able to do something makes you feel like you're worth something."
But Bay and his fellow inmates may soon be out of a job.
The prison camp - known as Camp Hawthorne - has been targeted for elimination by Gov. Matt Blunt in proposed cuts spelled out last week for the 2006 budget year. Blunt said the closing would save the state nearly $700,000 in program and labor costs. House lawmakers have also recommended to the House Budget Committee that the program be cut.
"It was not done without a lot of heartwrenching. It was a very difficult decision to make," said Rep. Danie Moore, chairwoman of the House Public Safety and Corrections Appropriations Committee that made the recommendation.
But Rep. Jeff Roorda, who serves on Moore's committee, said cutting the program is a mistake.
"Camp Hawthorne is an example of a program that works," said Roorda, D-Barnhart. "Nobody that I have heard has said there is any waste, fraud or abuse in that facility, and that is what the governor said was his answer to the budget problem - cleaning up waste, fraud and abuse."
Missouri has long used prison labor to pick up trash along Missouri roadways and clean the governor's mansion. But Camp Hawthorne is the only program where inmates work in a state park.
The inmates live in brown cabins nestled on a wooded hill overlooking the lake. During the week, the prisoners tackle a variety of projects - ranging from repairing boat launches to remodeling old cabins. The Ozarks Correctional Center in Fordland oversees the program and works with the state's Department of Natural Resources.
To be eligible for the program, inmates must have been sentenced to less than three years and convicted of nonviolent crimes, said Mike Terry, Camp Hawthorne functional unit manager. Prisoners can earn up to $7.50 a day for their work.
The move to eliminate Camp Hawthorne came at the suggestion of the Department of Corrections as a way to avoid more severe cuts to state prisons, Moore said. Her committee had been charged with slicing $10 million from the corrections budget.
"It seemed to be the lesser of the evils," said Moore, R-Fulton.
She added that lawmakers are still working to see if funding for the program could be found - possibly from the Department of Conservation.
Department of Corrections spokesman John Fougere said if Camp Hawthorne is eliminated, the department plans to bus offenders from another prison facility to the park every week to continue the work. He added that the 18 full-time corrections employees at Camp Hawthorne would be relocated to other mid-Missouri prisons.
But Roorda questioned whether spending money on gas to bus inmates to the park would end up costing more state taxpayer dollars than keeping the inmates onsite.
Floyd Lee, natural resources manager for Lake of the Ozarks State Park, said the offenders have played a critical role in maintaining the park's 200 facilities.
"We could not afford to hire and pay as many hands as we have working (now)," Lee said.
The program has also given offenders the chance to learn valuable skills that can help them get a job once they are released, Terry said.
"I've had offenders say, 'I want to thank you guys for giving me a skill. I've got a job and I am supporting my family,'" Terry said.
As he wandered along the shore of Lake of the Ozarks picking up debris, inmate Don Williams said Camp Hawthorne has given him a chance to learn new skills and save up some money. The 48-year-old is doing time for two drunken driving charges and drug possession.
"It's a lot better than being behind a fence," Williams said.
ON THE NET
Department of Corrections: http://www.doc.mo.gov
