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Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.


The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.


I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the 'Tent City Jail':
He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights Cut off all but 'G' movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

dmd52 says:
Now that's my kind of sherrif
Posted: June 22, 2008 1:49PM EDT
pinkfink says:
This is the first article I've read about him but he's got my vote!!
Posted: June 20, 2008 10:58PM EDT
dillieg says:
I HAVE READ SEVERAL ARTICLES ABOUT THIS JOE FELLA,,WE COULD USE MORE LIKE HIM!
Posted: June 20, 2008 10:49PM EDT
pinkfink says:
Thank you for your input.
Well that's a crying shame!!
I think the ACLU needs to be dismantled as it's a hinderance instead of an aid!
I'd personally like to clone Joe and install him in every single city jail from coast to coast!!
Posted: June 20, 2008 4:09PM EDT
jc2gether63 says:
Hi Pink,

I live in Casa Grande, AZ, and I am familar with him and agree with Sheriff Joe 100%. I am originally from PA and we had a facility there were the prisoners had gardens and grew all their own food. The did jobs that helped offset the cost of housing the prisoners. That is until the ACLU got involved and everything changed. Now the prisoners just sit in their cells all day and the costs have skyrocketed. I don't know who the ACLU thinks they are helping, but it is not the prisoners or the community.
Have a Great Day! Carol
Posted: June 20, 2008 2:12PM EDT
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Added: Jun 20, 2008
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