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Nueces County inmates given an opportunity to give back to local parks

The inmates in the program also have the option to take construction courses provided by Del Mar.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Nueces County Sheriff's office gave a few of their inmates an opportunity to pave a clean path for the future generations to come.

The Sheriff's department over at the Youth Football League Field shared how important it is to clean up different parts of the county and who benefits the most from it.

The inmates clean up different parts of the community every week. Nueces County Sheriff, 'JC' Hooper spoke with 3NEWS and said, "To nonprofits out in the community who need help maintaining the ground."

There has been a lot of work needed to be done after all the rain passed through South Texas. A city park along with the Youth Football Field was the tasks for this week.

The Treasurer of The Corpus Christi Youth Football League Field, Trisha Winston spoke with 3NEWS and said, "Along the fence lines, on the field themselves, underneath the bleachers, everywhere there was just over growth of greenery everywhere."

Not every inmate booked in county qualifies to be in the program. Hooper explained, "We can't bring violent offenders out here. We can only bring nonviolent offenders who don't have any history of running, escaping or violence." He added, "Out of about 1,200 inmates in our facility, we have only about 11 inmates that qualify to do this kind of work out in the public."

Ruining this opportunity is not worth it because this program is a privilege.

An non violent Inmate told 3NEWS, "Cause I know my day of coming to get out soon, so I'm ready to go and come out here and get a real job and start working again."

He usually tackles brush cutting. He gives his all when working out on these fields because back in the day, he played on the field when he was little. "This one, the one we worked on a couple days ago, I played on both of them." He explained.

He only has a few months left behind bars. When he has served his time and is out in the world, that's when he can hit the reset button. "I mean I'd love to come out here and try to coach and be of some kind of help, volunteer or whatever, whenever I get out." He said.

He has high hopes that the kids who play on the fields appreciate the simple things, like playing football with their friends. "Don't go down the same path I did. Stay in the field because being out here, behind the walls isn't fun." He explained.

The inmates in the program also have the option to take construction courses provided by Del Mar. The goal is to offer inmates new ways to be independent after serving their time.

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