Bucks County inmate work release program won’t be suspended despite rash of escapes

Bucks County Corrections Department officials have no plans to suspend a work release program in the wake of two additional inmates who failed to return after leaving from jobs.

The program, which operates through the county Community Corrections program, will continue while so-called walkaway inmate cases are investigated, Bucks County spokesman James O’Malley said.

Since August, four participating inmates have gone missing from the Doylestown Township jail after they failed to return from work, according to the court docket. They each have been charged with escape, which is a felony offense.

The incidents are the first for the program to occur since 2018.

The most recent incidents occurred Sept. 27 when 35-year-old Joshua Lake of Bristol and 30-year-old Jeremy Ott of Doylestown failed to return to the Community Corrections Center, according to the docket.

Lake was serving a six to 23 months sentence after pleading guilty in June to a felony charge of theft by deception. He was granted work release in July, according to the public docket.

Ott had been incarcerated since August 2024 on charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police and related charges. He was sentenced in December to serve 11 to 24 months in Bucks County jail.

The work release program has been available for at least two decades in Bucks County. Officials have billed it as a key component in reintegrating individuals back into the community.

Participants have the opportunity to earn money to pay restitution, court costs and other debts while serving a sentence.

Inmates are permitted to participate in work release by the courts, and the corrections department assisted in determining inmate eligibility by conducting evaluations, O’Malley said.

Only inmates who are sentenced and classified as “minimum custody” are eligible to participate, according to the county’s website. Participants are required to pay a specific percentage of each pay for room and board, and they are also allocated “sufficient funds” for travel expenses.

O’Malley didn’t provide a response to questions asking how inmates are screened for the program. Additional questions about the specific eligibility requirements, how corrections staff verify work information and how many employers participate were also unanswered.

A Right-to-Know request filed by this news organization seeking records related to the jail work release program is pending.

The number of inmates who are found eligible and who are employed through the program can change each month as individuals are released.

In August, 60 men and five females were classified as eligible for work release and 35 men and four women were employed in the community, O’Malley said.

“Inmates permitted to enter the program are granted a level of trust based on this evaluation and court finding,” O’Malley said. “Those who violate that trust by failing to return are charged accordingly and prosecuted.”