The program, started three years ago by Henrico Sheriff Mike Wade, is based on a social-recovery model. It combines military-style discipline with the ethics of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Inmates participating in the program are kept in a stand-alone cellblock. From listening to each other's experiences, they learn about the mistakes they made that led them to misuse alcohol and other drugs.

"We're the only jail with an alumni association," said Wade of the 24 former inmates who voluntarily return each week to the program. They attend the weekly meetings to avoid returning to the drug culture.

"You can do everything in this program, but there's no safe environment when they get out. That's when they fall back into it," said Wade.

Currently, the Henrico County program has a waiting list of prisoners who want to join. Wade said the program's $80,000 a year cost has saved the jail money.

The program has received state and national attention. Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore recently toured Henrico Jail East and was impressed with what he saw.

"It's very different from some of the facilities I've toured around the commonwealth," Kilgore said. "It's orderly and it sounds like and it seems like these inmates want to succeed. The more former inmates that leave our facilities, pay taxes and get a job, the better off we are."

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