Prince William County jail officials want to offer inmates a new incentive to serve their sentences at home: The chance to earn “good time” credits for being a model prisoner, without actually being in prison.

The county is expected to ask the General Assembly next year to pass a law giving low-risk offenders who follow their sentencing guidelines the same opportunity jail inmates have to reduce their sentences for good time.

Officials are concerned that eligibility for early release might keep some of their lowest-risk inmates from entering the program.

“It gives people the incentive to be in the program. Up to this point, they could spend less time in jail than they would on home arrest,” Superintendent Peter Meletis said.

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Although jail officials say there have been only limited cases in which inmates prefer to spend their time in lockup as opposed to their own beds, they want to remove any obstacles to expand a program that gives the best candidates for electronic monitoring surveillance a way out of the overcrowded jail.

“You want them to go in with better attitudes. You don’t want them to have a reason not to go,” said Dana Fenton, the county’s legislative director and vice chairman of the jail board.

Inmates booked at the Manassas jail who are released during the day to attend work are often able to chop   time off their sentences, freeing space in the overcrowded facility, Meletis said.

The county currently has 20 inmates on home arrest and the equipment and staff to track 10 more. As county growth continues to put pressure on the jail population, safe methods to reduce the populations are under review, Meletis said.

State lawmakers would have to approve the change.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com