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.