Franklin County is feeling the pinch of having no prison inmates to provide labor at the road department and solid waste

Franklin County is feeling the pinch of having no prison inmates to provide labor at the road department and solid waste.

The county relies on inmates from the state prison in Carrabelle for work like mowing grass, picking up trash and maintaining the county's parks.

That labor force has not been available since the the coronavirus pandemic began.

The concern is that the prisoners could contract the virus from county workers and bring it back to the prison where it could spread.

That leaves five county employees to handle all of the roadside mowing in Franklin County.

There are also 5 people at the parks department who are doing all of the maintenance and cleaning at the county's parks and public beach areas – so the work is getting done much more slowly.

Solid waste director Fonda Davis said it is possible that some inmate crews could begin working in the next 2 weeks – but it is not assured.

Franklin County commissioners agreed to write a letter to the Department of Corrections as well as the state prison in Carrabelle explaining how necessary the inmates are in the hopes that they can get crews back to work as soon as possible.

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