Published: July 06, 2008 12:15 am      

New warden on the job at federal prison

Florida native says rehabilitation, not punishment, is goal

As the seventh warden of the Federal Correctional Institution, Jim Whitehead oversees a population of 1,600 inmates housed in its medium-security prison and nearby minimum-security prison camp.

With an operating annual budget of $31 million, FCI is staffed by 292 correctional officers, although it is authorized for 324 correctional officers.

Job openings exist for a number of positions at FCI, which is located at Mexico Farms not far from state Route 51.

“We do have positions available,” said the Florida native who began his career with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons as a communications technician.

Whitehead said there are openings for the four correctional officers, two cook/supervisors, one case manager and one physician’s assistant.

Filling the job openings may be important to Whitehead, but it is not top priority.

“The safety and security of staff, the inmate population and the community is my priority.

“We are here to provide a safe, secure and humane environment for everyone involved here. It’s not our job to punish. It’s our job to provide opportunity to inmates for rehabilitation,” he said.

Inmates are involved in a variety of programs and jobs. With the average stay of an FCI inmate recorded at just over 13 years, inmates must be prepared and provided skills for their productive return to life outside the prison.

The prison’s Residential Drug Abuse Program is an intensive nine-month program that currently enrolls 130 nonviolent inmates. The prison camp conducts the same program.

Upon graduation, the inmate can have up to one year taken off his prison term.

Prisoners at FCI are also employed in Federal Prison Industries where 200,000 pairs of federal license plates were manufactured last year.

Inmates working in those positions may qualify for bonuses and other incentives that can increase their base pay.

The prison also has a Garden Operation where inmates grow vegetables such as tomatoes, bell peppers and squash. Last year, the garden yield totaled 25,000 pounds of vegetables that were tended and harvested by the inmates and then served to the prison population.

The prison is beginning its operations as a cooking oil recycling location where biodiesel fuel will be made to power some of its seven new vehicles. The prison fleet of seven vehicles includes five hybrid gas and electric models.

“We will be producing biodiesel fuel on site from waste cooking oil,” said Whitehead.

The avid fly fisherman and pheasant hunter mentioned various other programs, all with the same goal.

“Inmates return to society and it is our job to see that they return better than when they came in.

“My philosophy is that inmates are better off when they learn and they have a choice,” he said.

FCI became operational in April 1994, housing its first prison camp inmates the following October and the first medium-security inmates in March 1995, according to Stephen Finger, FCI executive assistant.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.