There’s a saying which Blount County Sheriff’s deputy Mark Ellis enjoys: “You’re either doing time, or you’ve got time; the difference is your mindset.” It comes from a book written by an ex-prisoner that Ellis uses in his reentry, rehabilitation and recovery programs — programs that just got a significant upgrade thanks to an expansion to the Blount County Jail’s ORIJIN tablet fleet. Some background; in 2022, BCSO was one of three agencies across the state to receive a test batch of ORIJIN tablets, according to spokesperson Marian O’Briant.
Now, more and more state agencies have introduced tablet learning to supplement traditional in-person classes meant to prepare inmates for life on the outside. For BCSO’s part, they’ve increased their initial fleet to almost 200, and as inmate program coordinator for the Blount County Jail, Ellis couldn’t be more excited. “I’m really excited about this because we’ve been working on it for quite a while, to be able to literally run educational tablets 24/7,” said Ellis.
“And now we’re doing it. I can assign a tablet to an inmate, and we work directly with ORIJIN who help us manage and maintain them. And not a single one — out of 193, not a one — has come back damaged from abuse.
” The accountability displayed by inmates with the physical tablets is also reflected in the dramatic improvement seen in recidivism rates among first-time offenders. Ellis pulled data spanning the last three years for recid.
