Article Contributed on: 4/3/2009 1:20:27 PM
Drive too fast on 10th Avenue in between Johnson Road and Weimer Street in Golden and you may pass something that Jefferson County has which no other county in the U.S. can claim: a rose garden constructed, maintained and funded by inmate workers.
"It's called the Rose Garden," said
Mike Kelley, of Littleton, Jefferson County inmate worker program supervisor. "It was first established in 1993. Everything from the walkways to the benches are all hand crafted; everything is designed by the inmates. And at night, the garden is lit after dark with installed lights."
According to Kelley, every spring, Denver Rose Society horticultural experts will visit the Rose Garden and Jeffco inmates to offer demonstrations on proper rose pruning, general garden care as well as to donate various roses to be transplanted into the soil.
This year, the demonstrations, which are open to the public, will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on April 25 where only the privileged inmates will be able to partake in the annual event.
Only the inmates of minimum restriction, or those of less flight or recidivism risk, are allowed to be assigned to the garden landscaping team and will be on hand to learn from the pruning experts, according to Kelley.
"Last year, (the Denver Rose Society) had a dozen volunteers out here. They showed inmates how to maintain the garden. And because our turnover is so high, they train new inmates annually."
"(The inmate workers) are of minor drug offenses or misdemeanors," added Kelley. "No one of domestic violence crimes or child abuse sex crimes is allowed out there."
In the warmer months, Rose Garden inmate workers will spend a typical eight-hour workday tending to the garden. And, according to Kelley, for every "good" work day an inmate completes, a day is taken off of their sentence.
"If someone is sentenced to a year, they can cut that sentence in half with our day-for-day privilege," he said. "But we don't offer repeat offenders this luxury."
This famed sentence reduction is no secret to inmates. Those of repeat offenses will still attempt to join the Rose Garden team, but Kelley hand-picks his garden crew and maintains it's only for a qualified few.
As a result of the Rose Garden's grandeur, some have gone so far as to secure it for special events.
"People have even come out and have gotten married in the garden," he said. "And no tax dollars go maintaining the garden. It's all inmate sponsored."
One aspect of the garden's sponsorship stems from a sale of the roses where the money earned will then be utilized for garden materials and necessities.
Kelley invites the public to visit the Rose Garden as soon as the bulbs begin to bloom. After all, the garden is meant for public enjoyment.
"This is a public garden. And we're proud to keep it for the public," Kelley said enthusiastically.
To learn more about the Denver Rose Society's yearly workshop with inmates, or to learn more about the Rose Garden, contact the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 303-271-5577.