Rhea County Jail Work Release Program: How It Works, Who Can Keep Working, and What Families Should Know about Earnings

Rhea County Jail became a “Workhouse” in January 2023. In practical terms, that’s what allows the jail to send trustee inmates out to work in the community. For families, this usually signals a focus on structure and accountability: someone is still in custody, but they’re also working. Local leadership has framed the Sheriff’s priorities around the safety and well-being of Rhea County citizens, and work release is presented as one of the tools used to support the community while managing the jail population.

The Rhea County Jail Work Release Program is described as providing job opportunities for incarcerated individuals and transporting them to and from work. That transportation piece matters for your planning: the program isn’t set up as “find your own ride.” The jail’s model is that participants work and are moved between the facility and the job site under the program. If you’re trying to figure out what day-to-day life looks like, this also helps set expectations. Your loved one may be away from the facility for work hours, but they remain under custody and return to the jail after the shift.

S3

• ✓ Master’s Manufacturing (Dayton, TN) - 6 incarcerated individuals
• ✓ TenCate (Dayton, TN) - 6 incarcerated individuals
• ✓ The facility also reports receiving rental income from State offices, in addition to earnings from the work release program

Sometimes the biggest question is whether someone can keep the job they already had. Rhea County Jail has described an example where an incarcerated individual who was employed before incarceration was allowed to continue working through the court system. Treat that as a real-world example, not a promise that everyone can do the same. Work release is still structured around job opportunities and transportation through the program, and whether someone can keep an existing job may depend on what the court approves.

Earnings from work release are handled differently than a normal paycheck you’d take home. The facility describes wages being deposited into an account, and the incarcerated individual receives those funds upon release. For families, this can change how you think about “helping with money.” If your loved one is working, their earnings may be building in an account for reentry expenses after release, rather than being available day-to-day in the way an outside paycheck would be.

1. Ask whether your loved one is eligible for work release - Focus your questions on the program basics: whether they can be placed in a job opportunity and how transportation to and from work is handled.
2. Confirm the current job placements being used - The facility has listed placements at Master’s Manufacturing and TenCate (both in Dayton, TN). If placements change over time, ask what employers are currently accepting participants.
3. Get clear on how earnings are tracked and released - The facility describes wages being deposited into an account that the incarcerated individual receives upon release. Ask what that looks like in practice so you understand timing and expectations.
4. Plan for deductions and obligations - Since wages may be used to pay court fines, child support, and other financial obligations, talk with your loved one about what obligations exist and what they expect to be taken from earnings.
5. Coordinate expectations for reentry money - If your loved one is counting on work-release earnings for housing, transportation, or basics after release, build a plan that accounts for possible deductions and the fact that funds are received upon release.

• ✓ Is my loved one eligible for the Work Release Program?
• ✓ Will the program provide a job opportunity, and how does transportation to and from work work?
• ✓ Which employer placement are they assigned to right now?
• ✓ Are earnings deposited into an account, and when does my loved one receive that money?
• ✓ What deductions can be taken from work-release wages (court fines, child support, other financial obligations)?
• ✓ If deductions apply, how will we know what was paid and what remains for release?