POSTED: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 --- 9:45 p.m.

Kidnapping suspect Eldon Weinda was arrested at gunpoint earlier today and he's headed back to jail. It won't be the first time Weinda has faced penalties.

He was already a Dane County inmate out on Huber release when the abduction took place.

It's a pretty common program for the more minor crimes. It's a chance for convicted criminals to leave jail for things like work or school with the understanding that they'll come back. At least that's the way it's supposed to work.

A few hours before his arrest Weinda was already in jail. They let him out to look for a job.

Sheriff Dave Mahoney says, "They fill out a form saying they will be stopping by one or multiple employers to fill out applications, to undergo an interview."

Weinda was out on Huber release, a program that allows inmates to leave jail for things like work or school.

Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard says, "Huber is an extremely common part of a jail sentence in Dane county and frankly most other counties in Wisconsin."

Once the inmates step outside of jail for a short time they're free, just like any other citizen.

It's up to attorneys and judges to weigh the risk.

Blanchard says, "It's very rare that it really blows up on us."

Blanchard can't comment on specifically on Weinda's case but says Huber was designed to be a win win.

He says, "I don't think we could do without it and I don't think we'd be serving victims or the community if we did away with Huber. We really want people to connect up to the labor market, it's key. Someone who is unemployed is hugely more likely to be out committing crime."

But in only the last 6 months law enforcement had to launch searches for at least three Dane County inmates who got out and didn't return. It's an example of the risk.

Blanchard says, "We live with this fear all the time. Sure it bothers us, we worry."

Weinda is the worst case scenario but Blanchard says in many cases the risk pays off.

He says, "We don't base our decisions on one event."

Blanchard says the biggest benefit of the program is getting these inmates out into the labor market. A lot of times they owe financial penalties to their victims and he says it's pretty hard to pay those back when they're sitting in jail not making any money.