Drug Task Force Agents and Covington County Sheriff’s Deputies located the Covington County inmate who escaped from Elba work release on Tuesday afternoon.

DTF Agent Greg Jackson and Deputy Dewayne Ham found information on Friday and went to a makeshift campsite on Block Avenue off of Horn Hill Road in Opp.

“Officers were working a lead in reference to Joseph Butts, an escaped work release inmate from the Alabama Department of Corrections in Elba,” Jackson said.

Jackson said as they arrived at the residence, they saw Butts in the backyard area and approached him. They took him into custody without incident.

The Department of Corrections was notified and Butts was transported to the Covington County Jail.

The vehicle stolen from Elba was also recovered by Deputy Al McGraw under a bridge on Woodall Mill Road.

Butts was convicted here in 2014 on manufacturing of a controlled substance charge.

He was sentenced to serve 12 years and 6 months in jail.