Correctional Industries Program

Wyo. Stat. Ann. tit. 25, ch. 13

in effect

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-101 Definitions.

(a) As used in this act: (i) "Advisory board" or "board" means the correctional industries advisory board created by W.S. 25-13-102; (ii) "Department" means the department of corrections; (iii) "Inmate" means a person serving a felony sentence in a state correctional facility; (iv) "State correctional facility" means the Wyoming state penitentiary, the Wyoming women's center or any penitentiary honor farm or camp; (v) "This act" means W.S. 25-13-101 through 25-13-107.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-102 Correctional industries advisory board.

(a) There is created the correctional industries advisory board. The board shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the governor. Members shall serve a three (3) year term provided that of the initial board, two (2) members shall be appointed for a one (1) year term, two (2) members for two (2) year terms and three (3) members for three (3) year terms. Membership on the board shall include representatives of organized labor, business, the criminal justice system and the educational community. The director of the department of corrections and the director of the department of workforce services, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the board. (b) The governor may remove any member of the board as provided by W.S. 9-1-202. (c) Vacancies on the advisory board shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. (d) Members of the advisory board shall not receive compensation for their services, but when actually engaged in the performance of their duties shall receive travel expenses, per diem and mileage expenses in the same manner and amount as employees of the state. (e) The department shall provide staff services as the advisory board requires to carry out its duties. (f) The advisory board shall recommend to the governor and to the department policies for correctional industries programs designed to: (i) Offer inmates meaningful employment, work experience and training in vocations that are specifically designed to reduce recidivism and thereby enhance public safety by providing opportunities for legitimate means of livelihood upon the inmate's release from custody; (ii) Provide industries which will reduce the tax burden of corrections and save taxpayers money through production of goods and services for sale and use; (iii) Provide for the effective and efficient operation of correctional work programs which are as similar as possible to those provided by the private sector; (iv) Encourage the development of and provide for the selection of, contracting for, and supervision of work programs with participating private enterprise firms; and (v) Provide advice regarding the use of available funds in correctional industries enterprises and meaningful work programs that will not result in the displacement of employed workers, be applied in skills, crafts or trades in which there is adequate gainful labor in the locality or impair existing contracts for services. (g) The advisory board shall annually review and report to the governor and joint judiciary interim committee the performance of the correctional industries program within the department.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-103 Correctional industries account.

(a) There is created the correctional industries account. The department shall deposit in the account all monies collected under W.S. 25-13-107(b)(iii) and all other revenues or profits that accrue from the operation of the correctional industries program created by this act until the account balance reaches five million dollars ($5,000,000.00). Annually, on July 1, monies within the account in excess of five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) shall be credited to the general fund as reimbursement to the state for costs of incarceration. Interest on funds in the account shall remain in the account. (b) Monies in the account shall be appropriated only for expenses related to the establishment, operation and enhancement of the correctional industries program and vocational programs at state correctional facilities.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-104 Agreements with private employers; leases.

(a) The department, in consultation with the correctional industries advisory board, may establish programs for the employment of inmates by private employers and enter into agreements with private employers under which the employer owns, constructs, leases to or from the department or otherwise establishes facilities to manufacture or process goods, provide services or conduct any other business, commercial or agricultural enterprise and employ inmates from a correctional facility. Facilities established under this section may be located within or outside the exterior boundaries of a state correctional facility property. Construction of facilities by private employers under this section shall not be subject to competitive bid requirements applicable to construction by the state. Inmate labor may be used pursuant to W.S. 7-16-202 for construction of facilities that occurs within the exterior boundaries of a state correctional facility property under this section. (b) If any state correctional facility operates a program involving the use, purchase, training or sale of wild horses, the program shall not use any wild horse which was not initially captured or found within the boundaries of the state or within the boundaries of a bureau of land management herd management area contiguous to the state. There shall be a brand and ownership inspection under W.S. 11-20-203 at the time of transfer of a wild horse to or from any state correctional facility. Not later than November 1 of each year, the department shall report to the joint agriculture, state and public lands and water resources interim committee on any use of or other transactions involving wild horses at correctional facilities in this state. As used in this section, "wild horse" means as defined in W.S. 11-30-115(a).

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-105 Voluntary employment.

An inmate may be employed under this act only on a voluntary basis and only after the inmate has been informed of all conditions of employment.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-106 Application of other laws.

(a) The employer shall contribute to the state worker's compensation fund at the appropriate rate calculated by the worker's compensation division for the work being performed. (b) A nongovernmental enterprise operating on any correctional facility premises under this act is subject to all laws and rules otherwise governing the operation of similar private enterprises in this state.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 25-13-107 Compensation of employed inmates; payment and disposition.

(a) Any agreement entered into between the department and a private employer under this act shall provide that an employed inmate shall be paid wages at a rate which is not less than that paid for work of a similar nature in the locality in which the work is performed. (b) The compensation of an inmate employed under this act shall be surrendered to the department and shall be distributed in the following order: (i) Fifteen percent (15%) of the inmate's gross compensation under the program to the inmate's personal savings account within the correctional facility's trust and agency account, until the inmate's account has a balance of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00). Once the inmate's personal savings account balance reaches two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), this fifteen percent (15%) shall be distributed to the inmate as provided by W.S. 7-16-205(a). Funds in the inmate's personal savings account shall be paid to the inmate upon parole or final discharge; (ii) Twenty percent (20%) of the inmate's gross compensation under the program to be distributed to the inmate as provided by W.S. 7-16-205(a); (iii) Deduction for federal income taxes, medicare and social security appropriate to the gross amount of the inmate's compensation under the program; (iv) Fifteen percent (15%) of the remaining amount to the crime victims compensation account created by W.S. 1-40-114; (v) If the inmate is not obligated to pay child support, the remaining amount to the correctional industries account pursuant to W.S. 25-13-103(a), to reduce the cost otherwise associated with providing the inmate with room and board; (vi) If the inmate is obligated for existing child support obligations, pursuant to state statute or court order, including all support obligations issued pursuant to W.S. 20-2-102, the remainder of the inmate's compensation under the program, shall be distributed toward the child support obligation up to the amount ordered. If the existing child support obligation is less than the remainder of the inmate's compensation under the program, the difference between the actual amount of the child support obligation and the remainder of the inmate's compensation under the program shall be distributed to the correctional industries account pursuant to W.S. 25-13-103(a), to reduce the cost otherwise associated with providing the inmate with room and board; (vii) The department shall provide all inmates employed under this act with the forms necessary for the filing of a petition for support under W.S. 20-2-102 and shall honor new or existing court orders for support up to the amount ordered, including those orders issued pursuant to a petition for support filed under W.S. 20-2-102. (c) The department shall develop the necessary administrative structure to recover inmates' wages and keep records of the amount inmates pay for the costs of incarceration. (d) The earnings of inmates under this act are not subject to garnishment, attachment or execution either in the hands of the employer, the department or any agent authorized to hold and transmit the earnings. (e) If a provision of this act relating to the payment or disbursement of compensation to inmates employed in a correctional industries program conflicts with any other provision of title 27 of the Wyoming Statutes, the provision of this act controls.

Source: WY Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title25.pdfFetched: 10/4/2026