Prison inmates from Rapid City's minimum security unit and other units throughout the state will help dig out homeowners who are unable to shovel snow.

In the Department of Corrections 'Scoop It' program, minimum-security inmates from the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, the South Dakota Women's Prison in Pierre, Juveniles from the State Treatment and Rehabilitation Academy, and minimum-security units in Yankton and Rapid City are dispatched to clear away snow for homeowners who can't physically remove the snow themselves and can't afford to pay someone else to do so.

South Dakota prison inmates assisted a total of 120 elderly and disabled homeowners throughout South Dakota by removing snow after last weekend's winter storm, according to a DOC news release.

Snow removal is coordinated through community resource agencies in individual cities. Those agencies do a screening of those asking for the assistance and call the prison units with the information and addresses.

A uniformed correctional officer accompanies the inmate crew, comprising nonviolent inmates nearing the end of their sentences.

In Rapid City, residents may call the United Way at 343-5872 to request snow-removal assistance. In Custer, call the STAR Academy at 673-2521. In the Pierre area, residents may call the Pierre/Fort Pierre United Way, at 224-9229, to request the service.