The City of Hannibal municipal court system and it's police department have come up with an innovative way for people convicted of a crime to pay off their fine.

It's called city court prisoner labor program.

As Jim Whitfield reports, instead of sitting in jail not being able to pay off a fine, offenders can do community service type work to pay off what they owe.

Drive through Hannibal on any Tuesday through Friday and you might see a group of people wearing yellow vests.

It's not your typical volunteer service club.  What it is, is the city court prisoner labor program.

These people are getting the chance to pay off their fines through working, instead of just sitting in jail and doing time.

For one woman, she likes the program. 

"It's been up and running for the last year and since that time, 89 people have worked at various locations and have given about 42 hundred hours of labor.  The pay equals about $10 an hour and that money comes off what people owe because of their conviction."  said Chief Lyndell Davis.  "It's saving the city money and the people who are working are starting to take ownership of what they've done to help spruce up the city.

"Right now, there are 23 people in the program.  The schedule calls for them to work four hours a day, four days a week so they have the potential to work off about $160 a week on the fines they owe to the city.  If it wasn't for these people, there are some things that might not get taken care of in a timely fashion.  So it benefits not just the people who are paying back society, but it also benefits the whole city of hannibal."

Chief Davis says depending on what the people want to do, they have jobs that accommodate a person's ability to lift and whether or not they can work inside or outside in the elements.

Click here to read more from the Hannibal Courier-Post.

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