Caddo Sheriff Henry Whitehorn Sr. introduced Friday the re-opening of a 160-bed work-release facility next to Caddo Correctional Center in Shreveport, but it was a businessman who offered a living example of what can happen when inmates begin outside jobs in the transition to life after jail.
Brett Burdges, representing Custom-Bilt Cabinet & Supply, was invited to testify to his employer’s success with hiring incarcerated people on a work-release basis. The company employs seven CCC inmates and has seen around 100 through the years, including some now working there 15 or more years.
Personally, Burdges is a product of what CPSO labeled a transitional work program. He began his job with Custom-Bilt while at CCC. Three DWIs during “a very bad 2017” led him there in January 2018…