With warmer weather coming, motorists in Cullman County may notice the return of roadside trash pickup crews, manned by local inmates, while driving on area roads.

For the second year in a row, small crews of nonviolent offenders —  typically four to six people — are hitting local roadsides to collect trash under the supervision of sheriff’s office personnel.

And they’re collecting a ton of it — literally — at a time.

In two days of work last week along County Road 1742 near Holly Pond, inmates on trash detail collected almost 2,000 pounds of litter. Much of it has accumulated over a long period of time, and ranges from the mundane (bottles and cans) to the unusual (truck tires and scraps of tin roofing).

The inmate worker program falls under the direct supervision of deputy Ron Wood, who goes out with the crews and supervises their activity — usually in lengthy shifts that encompass a lunch break and last into the late afternoon.

Wood fills the role of environmental deputy, a position Sheriff Matt Gentry said he instituted to renew an emphasis on litter enforcement while performing a needed service in a cost-efficient way.

“It’s a position we created to clean up our community,” explained Gentry. “We live in a beautiful county, and we want to keep it that way. it helps with economic growth: new businesses and new people who move in can see that we’re invested in our community and take pride in it.

“We’re also hoping that people see this and think twice about littering in the first place. Our deputies are going to be vigilant. If we catch people littering, they’ll probably be receiving a citation. We want people to be proud of what we have in Cullman County.”

What’s in it for the inmates? A break from the gray monotony of the detention center, the chance to be active, and an opportunity to do some good.

“As the sheriff, I would rather these guys be out on the roads, picking up trash and giving back to the community, than sitting in a cell doing nothing,” Gentry said. “Doing this gives them a sense of pride and a sense of accomplishment, but it’s also a deterrent. And, one of my goals is for young people to see these guys out here and say to themselves, ‘I don’t want to make the decisions that they made.’”

Inmates selected for litter pickup aren’t felons. They’re not serving time for violent offenses; many, in fact, are carrying out a sentence for failing to pay child support or other unpaid fines.

“They’re nonviolent offenders. We’re not putting anyone out here who doesn’t need to be,” said Gentry. “These are people who are serving time for things like nonsupport, writing bad checks and failing to pay their tickets. They’re supervised, and they’re searched when they get back to the detention center.

The sheriff’s office has established a new email address for residents to report littered roads in their neighborhood.

“It will take us some time — we have a lot of roads in the county, and some of them need cleaning more than others,” said Gentry. “But the email address gives us a way to hear from citizens about the roads in their area and get them on the list for litter pickup.”

To report a local roadside that needs attention, contact the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office at trash@cullmansheriff.org.