Smith visited all 88 inmates on Christmas Day
CARMEL – Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith continued his tradition on Sunday of visiting inmates at the Public County Jail on Christmas Day. He has been doing it for 15 years.
Christmas is a “very special time of the year,” the sheriff said, as he walked through the facility in Carmel. “For those assigned to work on the sacred holiday, it’s important that the officers realize their duty is appreciated and for those incarcerated we want them to become productive citizens and not experience a life of crime consisting of county time or state time,” he said.
Smith visited each of the 88 inmates behind bars wishing them all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a bright future.
One inmate told the sheriff that he appreciated his visiting them on the holiday. “We all screwed up but I want to rehabilitate myself and become a good member of society again,” he told Smith.
One young female inmate told the sheriff she was “going home for good on Monday,” telling him, “I learned by lesson.”
Sheriff Smith’s holiday spirit was not limited to Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, jail cooks prepared a special dinner complete with roast ham and on Christmas night, pie and ice cream were served to the inmates.
