Colorado Revised Statutes Title 17. Corrections § 17-24-121. Venture agreements

(1) The department of corrections, working through the division, is authorized to enter into agreements with private persons for the utilization of inmate labor in the manufacture, processing, or assembly of components, finished goods, services, or product lines within facilities owned or leased by the department. Such agreements shall be subject to the prior review of the attorney general and the correctional industries advisory committee.

(2) The department is authorized to enter into agreements subject to state fiscal rules and the prior review of the attorney general which allow for shared financing by the division and the private contractor for the facility, equipment, raw materials, and operation of industries developed pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(3) Inmates producing goods and services under the terms of an agreement authorized by this section shall be paid on a scale to be determined by the executive director of the department in the best interests of the division.

(4) The division is authorized to market goods and services produced under a venture agreement to any office, department, institution, or agency supported in whole or in part by the state or any political subdivision thereof or to any other state, the federal government, any nonprofit organization, any private sector retailer, or the general public.

(5) The wages of an inmate working under an agreement entered into pursuant to this section with a private person shall be distributed under guidelines established by the executive director in order to offset the cost of imprisonment and incidental expenses, pay court-ordered restitution, make voluntary payments to the victims assistance and law enforcement fund established in section 24-33.5-506, C.R.S., pay the pro rata share of child support cost as established by the department of human services, and establish a savings account to assist the inmate upon release and to offset state costs at the time of release.