By Traci Chapman/Staff Writer

In a 10-foot by 15-foot cell, life can be bleak, but for some prison inmates, a chance for a future resides just beyond the gates.

That hope comes in the form of Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ Prisoner Public Works program, which was designed to give inmates practical work experience during their incarceration and at the same time helps city and county governments cut taxpayer costs.

The PPW is statewide with five community centers and 15 work centers acting as the base of operations. In Canadian County, Union City Community Corrections Center is home to the program. The Union City facility provides a total of about 140 inmate workers a day to entities including Union City Public Works, U.S. Forestry Service, Mustang Parks and Recreation Department, District 1 Commissioner Phil Carson and Parkview Hospital.

Across Oklahoma, DOC reports show in August there were 1,825 work crews in operation under the PPW program with participants coming in part from 1,107 inmates housed in community-based centers such as Union City and 1,126 inmates operating out of work centers across the state. That is a fraction of the 56,266 Oklahomans in the DOC system ranging from maximum security facilities to those serving on probation.