§873. Rate of inmate compensation; source of funding

A. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections may establish various rates of compensation as an incentive to inmates incarcerated in state correctional facilities. The rates shall be according to the skill, industry, and nature of the work performed by the inmate and shall be no more than twenty cents per hour, except that inmates who are assigned to Prison Enterprises' industrial, agricultural, service, or other programs may be compensated at a rate up to forty cents per hour and inmates who are Certified Academic Tutors and Certified Vocational Tutors may be compensated at a rate of up to one dollar per hour, in accordance with rules established by the secretary of the department and adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

B. This compensation may be paid from the following sources:

(1) Inmates who are assigned to any state agency which operates from self-generated revenues shall be paid from those self-generated revenues.

(2) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Prison Enterprises Fund.

C. Inmates assigned to a certified Private Sector/Prison Industry Enhancement program shall be paid by either the private sector company or by Prison Enterprises in accordance with the operational model used. Such wages shall be subject to state and federal taxes and mandatory deductions required for a Private Sector/Prison Industry Enhancement program.

Acts 1956, No. 554, §§5, 8. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 312, §1; Acts 1986, No. 298, §1; Acts 1992, No. 687, §1; Acts 1995, No. 644, §1; Acts 2006, No. 87, §1; Acts 2009, No. 85, §1.