By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

STOCKTON -- When the minimum security prison here is mothballed on April 1, communities and businesses in northwest Kansas won't see it as a laughing matter.

Instead, it very well could be a costly matter for them, perhaps topping the $1 million mark. And that's if they even try to replace the benefit that has fallen to them, thanks to a series of prison work crews that fan out nearly every day of the year.

Those crews perform a multitude of tasks for cities, counties, non-profits and even state and federal agencies that simply couldn't -- or wouldn't -- afford to hire the manpower to accomplish what the prisoners do for a pittance.

In addition, local businesses -- specifically A-1 Plank in Hays and Wilkens Manufacturing south of Stockton -- use prisoners to fill otherwise unfilled positions.

In return for jobs, prisoners pay their room and board and create savings accounts for when they return to life outside the prison. They also contribute to the state's victim's fund, even if the working inmate was convicted of what would be considered a victimless crime.

"It's bad news," said Art Wilkens, owner and manager of Wilkens Manufacturing.

Wilkens has six inmates from the Stockton prison, and for the most part he said he's been happy with their performance.

A-1 Plank has 12 inmates working at its Hays facility. Before it closed, Schult Homes in Plainville had nine prisoners working.

The inmates get a regular wage, Wilkens said. The money goes toward transportation to and from work, room and board, the state's victim's fund and individual savings accounts. The largest share of the earnings are set aside to pay court costs, alimony and child support if those responsibilities exist.

"We give them raises," Wilkens said, "the good ones."

While Wilkens uses the prison labor to fill holes in his workforce, communities and nonprofit groups take advantage of the prison labor to do a laundry list of tasks.

The Kansas Department of Transportation, for example, uses prison labor to trim grass around signs on state highways, including Interstate 70.

County fairs, including those in Ellis and Rooks counties, get free labor to spruce up fairgrounds. The Phillipsburg Rodeo, in fact, virtually relies on labor from the prison to get everything ready.

The list is lengthy, and includes a who's who of northwest Kansas communities.

Inmates from Stockton, for example, in fiscal year 2008, performed 48,606 man hours of work. That would be worth $280,384 at minimum-wage levels prevailing at the time.

From July 1 through the end of December, Stockton inmates performed 19,644 hours of work, worth $125,889.

Closing the Stockton facility is expected to save the Department of Corrections $1.65 million annually.

That's labor that would have to be replaced by the entities, should they decide to continue what inmates have been doing.

To be sure, Stockton isn't the only prison with work crews.

Norton, for example, also has work crews. In fact, they do more work.

In fiscal year 2008, Norton inmates performed 61,275 hours of work, worth $354,322. From July 1 through the end of December, Norton prisoners performed 25,833 of work, worth $165,911.

In that 18-month period, inmates worked more than 115,000 hours. That work was valued at just shy of $1 million.

Statewide, inmates from Stockton, Norton and other facilities have put in about a million hours of work

All of the Stockton work crews will be disbanded once the minimum security facility is mothballed. The number of Norton's work crews will be sharply reduced, if they remain at all.

"We are not doing away with them completely," said Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Miskell, "but they are going to be scaled back."

Part of the logic is that a single guard must be paid to oversee a seven-man work crew. Inside the prison, that same guard could watch over a much larger number.

Work crews from Toronto and Osawatomie, also being closed, will be lost as well.

Prison labor isn't totally free, but it's close. Inmates taking part in the work crews get paid, but that pay scale only ranges from 65 cents up to $1.05 a day.

For Craig Mowry, manager of the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Stockton, the value of the work crew he gets is high.

Each year, he reports to supervisors in Denver on the contributions the crew gives.

While the crew's labors might only be worth $75,000 at minimum wage, if they were federal employees the wages would be double that at $180,000.

"That doesn't include the crew boss," Mowry said.

While Denver has been supportive of the refuge and is even allowing a fourth staff member there, Mowry won't be asking for supplemental funding.

"They do a lot of work for us," Mowry said of the work crews.

Work includes fixing things around the lake, cleaning restrooms, mowing and picking up trash. But they also help pour concrete for boat ramps.

"Just a number of things," he said. "We always keep them busy."

Mowry said he's had a crew from the Stockton facility ever since it first opened.

"It will impact the Kirwin refuge pretty hard," he said, "very negatively."

The same is true over at Webster Reservoir, where another crew regularly helps with mowing, concrete work and keeping the park virtually spotless.

At Wilkens, it's uncertain how those positions will be filled.

"That will throw us in a bind if they should shut down," Wilkens said the workers who come from the prison.

And that leads to frustration with state government.

Money is being waste on unneeded highway projects, Wilkens said, pointing to work north of Hays and in the Marysville area.

"They just need to get rid of some money and they got rid of it," he said. "Anybody would go broke operating the way they do."