CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Department of Transportation’s snow plows are a familiar sight during the winter, but what many residents may not realize is that each vehicle is built by incarcerated workers at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
Ohio Penal Industries, a division of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections that provides job training, and the state transportation department have partnered on a winter service vehicle program since 1968. Through the program, people serving out their sentence at the Chillicothe prison build every ODOT snow plow and salt truck seen on Ohio roads.
About 180 men participate in the program, according to shop manager James Fryer, who is employed with the state corrections department. Incarcerated workers like Jerrino Johnson help build the approximately 140 vehicles that are distributed throughout the state each year…