If you live in Camden County, Georgia, get ready to hold on to your wallets.

Literally.

Faced with a change in how property insurance (ISO) rates are computed, the county's commissioners can either do nothing and allow its residents to pay the increased fees or hire more sworn firefighters and bring their already small department up to the number the new regulations require to keep property insurance rates the same.

The latter will require the commissioners to redirect funds from other county functions. Either that, or increase in property taxes.

And not wanting to raise property taxes especially in this political climate, at their next meeting the commissioners will be voting on a proposal that would increase the number of "firefighters" to the level now required to maintain current property insurance rates ... through the use of Georgia prison inmates.

Instead of finishing their time behind bars for theft or drug use, these "carefully selected" prisoners would be housed 24/7 at a few of the fire stations, under the supervision of firefighters who have received corrections training.

Don't worry about the inmates being left unattended when the firefighters go out on a call. The plan calls for the inmates to ride along with the sworn firefighters and help them put out the fire!

This might make sense to you in terms of saving taxpayers's money, but it sure doesn't to me.

A few weeks ago, my house filling with smoke, I grabbed Old Dog and my cell phone and headed out the door. Within minutes men I'd never seen before or met were filling my house.

A few months before that, a family member feeling faint, within minutes of my call my house was filled with complete strangers.

In what other profession do we have such complete and total confidence that without question or hesitation, we open our homes or entrust our lives or the lives of those we love?

I don't live in Camden and while I support the idea of job training to reduce the recidivism rate of ex-cons, I don't invite complete strangers who are still serving time for felony convictions into my home.

If Camden County's commissioners vote to approve this proposal, you who live there will be doing just that.

Good luck. You'll need it.

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2011-10-09/story/camden-coun...