A sheriff’s office located in Mississippi recently donated a truck to a state prison program that prepares inmates for a career in the trucking industry.

The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) donated a 2009 International Commercial vehicle to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for use in a new CDL training program.

The CDL program is part of a push within the Mississippi legislature to help inmates avoid returning to prison by finding gainful employment. The program was able to secure funds for a training simulator but had no truck for use in real-world training.

RCSO explains why they decided to donate the truck:

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey heard [Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain] speak one day about the many reentry programs he wanted to start in the Department of Corrections but was having to start some of them from scratch, like the CDL program. The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Interdiction Team with the assistance of Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett had recently seized a 2009 International Commercial vehicle that was used to transport contraband belonging to Mexican Drug Cartels. God laid it on Sheriff Bailey’s heart that Rankin County should donate the vehicle to Commissioner Cain’s Reentry Program. Bailey approached the Rankin County Board of Supervisors with the idea and received immediate and unanimous approval.

Following the donation of the truck, there was still need for a trailer to kick off the program. Commissioner Cain and Sheriff Bailey contacted KLLM Transport Services based in Rankin County. KLLM agreed to donate a trailer to the inmate CDL program.

“Today, June 30th, 2022 Commissioner Burl Cain along with MAGCOR CEO Bradley Lum were given the keys to the 2009 International Truck and KLLM trailer. This truck and trailer will change hundreds of lives by giving these inmates the necessary training and skills to have a successful career making very good money,” RCSO said in a news release.