A biweekly newsletter about the education during and after incarceration. Written by Open Campus national reporter Charlotte West.

This week's issue of College Inside comes from our partner newsroom Wisconsin Watch, where Natalie Yahr reports on an incarcerated man's push for more work release jobs. Wisconsin pioneered the century-old program that lets prisoners earn real wages, but jobs are scarce and officials don't track participation numbers.

A century after pioneering work release, Wisconsin corrections officials don't track how many prisoners participate

By Natalie Yahr, Wisconsin Watch

Most of the jobs available to Wisconsin prisoners are paid not in dollars, but cents. Minimum wage laws don't apply behind bars, so some people scrub toilets for less than a quarter an hour.

But one type of job lets people leave prison for the day to earn the same wages as anyone else.

Wisconsin was the first state to offer this opportunity, known as work release. The century-old program matches the lowest-risk prisoners with approved employers, who are required by law to pay them as much as any other worker. In some cases, that's more than $15 an hour.

Through those jobs, prisoners boost their resumes, pay court costs and save up for their release. Employers find needed workers. And taxpayers save money, since work release participants must pay room and board.

Ten of the state's 16 minimum-security correctional centers are dedicated to work release. But prisoners at those facilities say there aren't nearly enough of those jobs to go around, and officials at the Department of Corrections say they're not keeping count.

One prisoner told Wisconsin Watch he believes less than a third of those eligible at his facility have such work release jobs. Prisoners routinely wait many months for the opportunity, he said, and many never get it at all.

"Having that money saved up to, say, get an apartment or get furniture, or even money for transportation?" said Ben Kingsley, 47, who wrote to Wisconsin Watch in August from Winnebago Correctional Center, a work release center in Oshkosh. "These guys know what's at stake … They want to go out to work."

Only prison officials can add more positions, and he questions whether they're trying. This summer, he began lobbying prison officials and lawmakers to expand the opportunity.

Work release jobs are scarce, prisoners say

To qualify for work release in Wisconsin, a prisoner must be classified in the lowest custody level and have permission from prison officials. In Wisconsin, people approved for work release can work only for one of the Department of Corrections' partner employers.

"Placements cannot be guaranteed for all eligible inmates," reads Winnebago Correctional Center's official webpage. "Work release and offsite opportunities are a privilege, not a right, and are provided at the discretion of the center superintendent and warden."

About 70% of eligible people incarcerated at Winnebago don't have work release jobs, Kingsley estimates. Of the 295 people incarcerated at Winnebago at the end of October, 224 had the lowest custody status, which is required for work release, according to the Department of Corrections. By Kingsley's calculations, just 67 have work release jobs. That's less than one in three.

"Oh gosh, it's a huge concern," Kingsley said.

Officials offer explanations. Not everyone who's eligible wants a work release job, said Department of Corrections spokesperson Beth Hardtke. Some are in education, therapy or substance use treatment programs that don't allow them to work full time. And those who seek work release must first work at least 90 days in a prison job, followed by a stint on a "project crew" supervised by Corrections staff, before getting permission from the warden or superintendent.

"The capacity of the work release program is not just about the number of jobs available," Hardtke said. "The program must be limited to the number of individuals that DOC staff can safely support and in settings where we can safely support them."

Officials and prisoners tout benefits

Work release got its start in 1913 when the Huber Law, named for Progressive Republican lawmaker Henry Allen Huber, created the opportunity at Wisconsin's county jails. It later spread to state prisons and to nearly every state in the country.

More than a century later, Wisconsin prison leaders continue to extol the virtues of letting people leave prison and return at the end of their shifts.

"Work release gives the men and women in our care the opportunity to feel like they belong to something, to feel like they're part of a positive contribution to the community," said Sarah Cooper, then-administrator of the Division of Adult Institutions, at a virtual presentation for prospective employers in 2022.

Research suggests people who participate in work release programs are less likely to return to prison. A study of former prisoners in Illinois from 2016 to 2021 found those who had held work release jobs were about 15% less likely to be rearrested and 37% less likely to be reincarcerated.

Work release also offsets some of the taxpayer costs of imprisonment. Each participating prisoner must pay $750 a month for room and board, about 20% of the roughly $3,650 a month the state pays to incarcerate each prisoner in the minimum-security system. They must also use their wages to make any legally mandated payments, including child support and victim restitution.

For men in Wisconsin prisons, work release jobs are usually in manufacturing. For women, there are jobs in food service or cosmetology too. They're "low-level, intensive labor jobs," Kingsley said, but people are eager for the chance to start saving, especially since a criminal record and gaps in work history could make it tough to find work when they get out.

"When you get locked up, you lose everything," Kingsley said. "The benefit (of working) far outweighs the negatives."

No statewide data available

How many prisoners participate in work release statewide? Corrections officials don't consistently keep track, Hardtke said.

The department's public data dashboards show prisoner demographics, recidivism rates and enrollment in educational or treatment programs, among other things. Employment numbers are not included.

The latest numbers Wisconsin Watch could find are from 2024: 781 people had work release jobs in July 2024.

Asked for a current figure, Hardtke said "that number is not something we have readily available."

Officials also don't track how many people are eligible for work release. As of Oct. 31, 2,778 Wisconsin prisoners were at the department's lowest custody level.

Several neighboring states routinely track how many people have work release jobs or are eligible for them. Of the 11 other Midwestern states Wisconsin Watch asked, seven responded, and most said they track participation numbers.

Prisoner pushes for more jobs

In July, Kingsley wrote to Warden Clinton Bryant, who oversees the men's minimum-security centers, asking him to add 100 more work release jobs. Adding those jobs would generate $75,000 a month in room and board payments, along with state taxes, he wrote.

Bryant responded that Winnebago Correctional Center "collaborates with community employers on a daily basis" and that prison officials can't require employers to hire anyone.

When Kingsley contacted Bryant again, urging the department to establish minimum job placement rates for work release centers, the warden ended the conversation. So Kingsley took the issue to the State Capitol.

As of publication of this story, Kingsley has yet to receive a reply.

Read Natalie’s full story. 

This story is part of our partnership with Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit newsroom focused on government accountability and quality of life issues in Wisconsin.

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Please connect if you have story ideas or just want to share your experience with prison education programs as a student or educator. You can always reach me at [email protected] or on Bluesky, LinkedIn, or Instagram. To reach me via snail mail, you can write to: Open Campus, 2460 17th Avenue #1015, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.

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