Eligible inmates from the Daviess County Detention Center provided more than $1.7 million worth of labor to the community during the past fiscal year, according to Jailer Art Maglinger. He said the crews completed 172,596 hours of service and removed nearly 59,000 pounds of litter from roadways across Owensboro and Daviess County.
The Community Service Program allows inmates to contribute to public agencies and nonprofit organizations at no cost, performing a wide range of tasks including mowing, litter pickup, vehicle washing, and facility maintenance.
“It’s a really good program — for the inmates and for the community,” Maglinger said. “They’re staying productive, they’re outdoors, and they’re doing valuable work that often wouldn’t get done otherwise.”
Two full-time road crews operated during Fiscal Year 2024-25: one assigned to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the other dedicated to county agencies and nonprofits. The program had to rebuild after a pandemic-related pause that reduced staffing and released eligible state inmates, but it has returned to full strength in recent years.
Deputy Chuck Mattingly leads the county crew and returned to duty in January after briefly retiring. Deputy Chris Isbill, who oversees the state crew, was named Kentucky’s Deputy of the Year for his and his team’s quick response to an incident on the Natcher Parkway earlier this year. Together, they supervise the teams that maintain dozens of sites across the county.
Mattingly’s crew is responsible for helping maintain places such as Whitesville Park, Greenwood Cemetery, and the Daviess County Courthouse, among others. The road crews also support special events, such as the Owensboro Christmas Parade, and handle tasks for fire stations, city departments, and community centers.
“You’ve got cemeteries nobody else is taking care of, and they’re doing it,” Maglinger said. “They’re dependable, they’re hard workers, and they’re filling a need.”
Inmates benefit from the program through work credit, which helps reduce their sentences, as well as a small state-set stipend paid into their commissary accounts. But Maglinger said the opportunity to get outside the jail and stay productive is often the biggest motivator.
“Some say it’s ‘slave labor,’ but most of these guys want to be out there,” he said. “They don’t want to sit in a cell all day doing dead time. They’d rather be outside, working, making a difference.”
The work has made a noticeable impact on local roadways, according to Maglinger. Between the county and state road crews, more than 58,985 pounds of litter were collected over the year. Litter detail included major highways such as KY 54, KY 431, and KY 144, as well as rural roads like Pleasant Valley and Thruston Dermont.
“It’s always going to be a challenge,” Maglinger said. “You clean it up, and it blows right back. But the amount they’ve picked up — it’s staggering. And it’s making a difference.”
