OC Council approves “Life after Lockup” Program

At their monthly meeting Tuesday night, the Oconee County Council approved a proposal from Sheriff Mike Crenshaw called “Life after Lockup”. Sheriff Crenshaw says this is a mentoring program for selected inmates, to give them work while they’re in jail and guidance on how to blend into society once they get out. “What we have come up with is this ‘Life after Lockup’. You know the old saying, ‘Don’t tell me how to do something until you have walked a mile in my shoes.’ I can talk to an inmate all day long about what they can do to keep from coming back to prison, but let’s face it, these folks get out of prison, they have a criminal record, nobody will give them a job and sometimes they go back to the life of crime. You have been very good to invest on the front end with School Resource Officers and trying to do prevention, but this is kind of something I think we can do on the back end, ‘Life after Lockup.’” The program was unanimously approved by the Oconee County Council. Sheriff Crenshaw plans to use open salary money in his budget to employ a state prisoner as a kennel employee at the animal shelter.