The Welsh Police Department has been approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to house Department of Corrections offenders under a waiver status.

Police Chief Marcus Crochet said Tuesday that the town jail has met the standard requirements to safely house non-violent DOC inmates, many who are repeat offenders.

Crochet has been working with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections officials since February to make changes to the jail and update the department’s policies to allow for housing of DOC inmates. The policy includes procedures addressing hunger strikes, hurricane evacuation, inmate clothing and more, he said.

“There were a lot of things that had to be done to get it up to specifications,” Crochet said.

Ivan Guillory, who is currently a dispatcher, will serve as warden and oversee the inmates on work detail.

The police department last housed DOC inmates under a previous administration, but the agreement was pulled in 2012 after problems were found with the program, including an inmate which was allowed to take a city-owned vehicle. Those problems have been corrected, Crochet said.

Under the new plan, the department was approved to house up to eight inmates, but Crochet said he plans to only house four inmates. Two inmates are already being housed.

The state will pay the town $26.39 per inmate per day, which is $105 a month or $38,529 annually, Crochet said. The town will pay approximately $9 a day to feed the inmates with meals provided by a local nursing home, he said.

The town will not be responsible for any medical care, he said.

“If they have to go to the doctor and we get a medical bill, there is a form we fill out and we send it to DOC and they pay for it,” he said.

Inmates will be selected by the police chief with priority given to those inmates with skills, such as carpentry or mechanics, that can help the town.

No murderers or sex offenders will be considered as DOC inmates.

The inmates can stay 5-10 years, depending on their sentencing.

Crochet said the inmates will save the town money by assisting with auto repairs, litter pickup, grass cutting and other services which the town has to pay employees for.

“This will bring in the yearly revenue for housing the inmates and if the town is spending $3,000 a month on a yard crew to cut the park, that’s an additional $3,000 the town can save on top of having the inmates doing trash detail, going down our streets picking up litter after events, etc.,” he said. “And if we can get a good mechanic we can do all our vehicle maintenance in-house saving money on our fiscal budget. There are a lot of things you can do.”