NEAR OCALA, Fla. -- From shoes to uniforms, inmates at the Marion County Jail help deputies look spiffy when they patrol the streets.

The inmates sew intricate stars, logos and names on the deputies' uniforms. Taxpayers are saving big money when it comes to this stitch job, WESH 2 News reported.

Typical inmate work is sandbagging flooded areas, tending to fish on the work farm or feeding chickens.

Now, some inmates behind the barbed wire in Marion County are turning to a new pastime -- embroidery.

Just about any day, big, burly men can be seen stitching away in the jail.

"I like outdoors activities and working outside construction," Marion County Jail inmate Dustin Arndt said. "This is totally out of my character."

The finished product makes the inmates proud, even if they end up sewing the name of the deputy who may have arrested them.

There is some precision required.

"Just lining it up is pretty much the most physical part you have to do other than sitting there and watch and make sure nothing bad happens to it," inmate Billy Weakland said.

When they return to their cells, Arndt said other inmates have some comments for them.

"They call us 'the seamstress boys' but that's the extent of it pretty much," he said.

By doing it in-house, the inmates are saving county taxpayers about $8,000 a year.

 Kathy Marsh

http://www.wesh.com/news/9190910/detail.html