Section 42-5-60. Hiring out of inmates; participation of inmates in programs of volunteer service; sale of products produced by inmates; disposition of proceeds; payment to inmates for services

   (a) (1) The board shall provide rules and regulations governing the hiring out of inmates by any penal institution under its authority to municipalities, cities, the Department of Transportation, and any other political subdivision, public authority, public corporation, agency, or state or local government, which entities are authorized by this subsection to contract for and receive the inmates. Such inmates shall not be hired out to private persons or corporations, nor shall any instrumentality of government authorized by this subsection to utilize penal labor use such labor in any business conducted for profit, except as provided in Code Section 42-5-59; provided, however, that:

      (A) Inmate trainees enrolled in any vocational, technical, or educational training program authorized and supported by the department may repair or otherwise utilize any privately owned property or equipment as well as any other property or equipment in connection with the activities of any such training program, so long as the repair or utilization contributes to the inmate's acquisition of any desired vocational, technical, or educational skills; and

      (B) To the extent authorized by the rules and regulations of the board, inmates may be allowed to participate in programs of volunteer service as authorized by this subparagraph. The rules and regulations of the board shall prescribe criteria for nonprofit organizations eligible to receive volunteer services. Such criteria shall require that any participating nonprofit organization be qualified as exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and shall give consideration in determining eligibility to the nonprofit organization's history of service activities and the length of time for which it has been in existence and providing such services. Any such volunteer service program shall include elements whereby the volunteer inmates provide services of benefit to the community while receiving training or work experience suitable for their rehabilitation. The board may authorize such voluntary inmate participation, notwithstanding the fact that the nonprofit organization may receive direct or indirect payment as a result of such inmate participation; notwithstanding the fact that the services rendered may provide some degree of benefit to private individuals or organizations or both; and notwithstanding the fact that some inmate participation may take place outside the confines of a penal institution.

   (2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection, any private person, organization, or corporation with whom the commissioner has contracted for the land acquisition, design, construction, operation, maintenance, use, lease, or management of a state prison or for any services related to the custody, care, and control of inmates as authorized by Code Section 42-2-8 may utilize penal labor in the same manner as any such labor may be utilized by any other penal institution operated under the authority of the board. Agreements made pursuant to Code Section 42-2-8 for the land acquisition, design, construction, operation, maintenance, use, lease, or management of a state prison or for any services related to the care, custody, and control of inmates shall factor the value of penal labor such that the state is the only financial beneficiary of the same.

(b) No goods, wares, or merchandise which have been manufactured, produced, or mined, wholly or in part, by the inmates of any state or county correctional institution operated under the jurisdiction of the board shall be sold in this state to any private person, firm, association, or corporation, except that this prohibition shall not apply to:

   (1) Sales to private colleges and universities;

   (2) A sale to a private contractor of goods, wares, or merchandise for use in the completion of a publicly funded project; or

   (3) Sales to privately owned correctional facilities that house inmates from the State of Georgia.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to forbid the sale of such goods or merchandise to other political subdivisions, public authorities, municipalities, or agencies of the state or local governments to be consumed by them or to agencies of the state to be in turn sold by the agency to the public in the performance of the agency's duties as required by law. This subsection does not prohibit the sale of unprocessed agricultural products produced on state property.

(c) Funds arising from the sale of goods or other products manufactured or produced by any state correctional institution operated by the department shall be deposited with the treasury of the department. The funds arising from the sale of goods and products produced in a county correctional institution or from the hiring out of inmates shall be placed in the treasury or depository of the county, as the case may be. The department is authorized, pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the board, to pay compensation of not more than $25.00 per month from funds available to the department to each inmate employed in any industry.

(d) Any superintendent, warden, guard, official, or other person who violates this Code section or any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, relating to the sale of goods or products manufactured or produced in a correctional institution or the hiring out of inmates, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(e) The department or any state correctional institution or county correctional institution operating under jurisdiction of the board shall be authorized to require inmates coming into its custody to labor on the public roads or public works or in such other manner as the board may deem advisable, including without limitation any labor authorized under Chapter 15A of Title 17. The department may also contract with municipalities, cities, counties, the Department of Transportation, or any other political subdivision, public authority, public corporation, or agency of state or local government created by law, which entities are authorized by this Code section to contract with the department, for the construction, repair, or maintenance of roads, bridges, public buildings, and any other public works by use of penal labor.

(f) Any provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, any inmate of any state or county correctional institution operated under the jurisdiction of the board may sell goods, wares, and merchandise created by such inmate through the pursuit of a hobby or recreational activity. The proceeds from the sales shall be distributed to the particular inmate who created the goods, wares, or merchandise. The board is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations governing the sale of such goods, wares, and merchandise and the distribution of the proceeds from the sales. All goods, wares, and merchandise created by an inmate must be sold within the institution or on the institution grounds during visiting hours or when on off-duty assignments.

Ga. L. 1956, p. 161, § 22; Ga. L. 1957, p. 477, § 4; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1092, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1399, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 1971, p. 581, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 577, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 651, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 42; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 42; Ga. L. 1993, p. 629, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 851, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1584, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1090, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 252, § 4.