By GALE M. BRADFORD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
WEATHERFORD – At this furniture manufacturing shop, saws buzz, sanders hum and routers whirr as they grind away on wood.

But the finished products here won’t go to stores, and the workers wear orange uniforms that read “Parker Co. Jail Trusty.”

The woodworkers are in an inmate education program, and they’re building furniture for the benefit of the county and nonprofit organizations. They’re also learning a trade that they can use when they get out of jail, county officials said.

“Working out here sure beats sitting in a cell all day,” said David Simmons, a jail trusty and program participant.

The county is taking advantage of a state law that allows free inmate labor to be used to benefit the county, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said. Participation in the woodworking shop is voluntary.

Recently, the law was expanded to allow work to benefit nonprofits and charities, and trusties have done work for the Hope Foundation, Grace House and others, Fowler said.

Fowler, who took office last year, said he inherited a jail and offices that were in disrepair. Since then, the jail’s administrative offices have been redone, complete with Western-heritage furnishings, he said.

The work includes Fowler’s desk, a large oak piece with the county’s logo and rope trim that he said shows great craftsmanship.

Larry Jergins, who heads the program at a cabinet shop in Weatherford, said he’s taught woodworking to more than 25 trusties since the program started. He estimates that it saved the county $160,000 the last two years.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Fowler said.

In Parker County, only two trusties have ever walked away from work details. One was gone nine hours before he was picked up, and the other was missing three hours before he was rearrested, Fowler said.

The operation started with a bare-bones carpenter shop, but now it’s a full-blown furniture manufacturing facility including professional-grade saws, sanders and routers and a paint booth. The facility has produced work for the newly restored courthouse, the district courts building, the sheriff’s office and other offices.

Experience is helpful but not necessary, said Jergins, who had a construction business before working for the county.

“Once they learn, I supervise, but I like for them to make some of their own choices, like what kind of wood to use and design,” Jergins said. “I give them dimensions for what is needed and allow them to be creative. That gives them a sense of pride and ownership.”

Simmons, 36, a trusty who is headed to prison for burglary and family violence, said he likes the work.

“First I worked in the laundry room, and I know I’d rather be working with wood,” he said.

Trusty Allen Notware, 45, is serving time for possession of marijuana. He said he learned to frame houses from his father.

Jergins “tells me what he wants, and I put it together,” he said.

Jergins, a certified precinct jailer, picks the men up at 8 a.m. each weekday. The crew works all day and doesn’t mind overtime, he said.

“The worst part of the day is heading back to jail,” Simmons said.
Parker County labor

There are 35-40 trusties

They work in the wood shop and local animal shelter and on precinct work details

Work benefits the county, Weatherford and nonprofits

SOURCE: Parker County Sheriff’s Department