ONLINE EXTRA
View a photo gallery of the items inmates can buy at the Butler County Jail commissary at www.Journal-News.com
Warden Dennis Adams said the Butler County Jail is “not the Hilton,” but it does offer a commissary with a large array of goodies for sale that can make an inmate’s stay more comfortable.
Last year the jail “store” sold 1,250,642 items ranging from Grippo’s Bar-B-Q potato chips — a top seller — to pony tail holders to underwear and puzzle books. Net sales topped out at nearly $958,000, which pays for new stock at the commissary, the employees who work there, televisions in the jail pods as well as board games, basketballs and handballs for recreation periods.
“Everybody knows I run a pretty tough jail,” said Sheriff Richard Jones, who spent the first part of his career a supervisor at Lebanon Correctional Institution. “But the commissary is a humane thing to do … and it makes it easier to manage people who don’t want to be here.”
Inmates receive a toothbrush (finger tip variety), a towel and a bedroll, which includes a blanket, when they are booked into the Hamilton facility. Meals that meet nutrition standards are also served.
“It’s not McDonald’s or Taco Bell or our mama’s cookin,’ but it is nutritious food,” Adams said. For some inmates, jail food alone just doesn’t cut it, so they shop for the spicy and sweet treats offered at the commissary.
“Some people live on this stuff while they are here,” Adams said.
Ron Witt, commissary clerk, opened up a big locked storage unit packed with candy.
“The women just kill this stuff,” Witt said. “The guys like anything spicy.”
Witt said a new offering from Moon Lodge called, “Whole Shebang” potato chips, which is a mixture of bits of varieties in one bag, is a big seller.
Lisa King, who has been working in the commissary for nine years, said the female inmates also use candy for creative grooming.
“They warm up Skittles in their hands and use it for lipstick and eye shadow,” King said. She added she has also seen cocoa used as foundation.
Inmates can purchase items from the commissary twice a week. The maximum that can be spent for one visit is $100. Friends and family can mail in or come to the sheriff’s office to place money in an inmate’s account for “shopping.”
Prices have about a 20 to 30 percent markup, depending on what the supplier charges. Inmates fill out an order form, clerks fill the order after assuring there is enough cash in their accounts and deliver it to the cells.
“Yes they like to see us coming,” King said with a smile. Inmates have access to hot water, so heating up instant soups and hot drinks are possible. Even “creating” hot meals from mixing different items is a popular practice.
Some fast sellers include packets of coffee that sell for $.25 and added up to $61,073 net sales last year; Maruchan Hot Texas Soup at $.75 netted $40,305.75 in 2014; and Honey Buns, which sell for $.50, netted $19,795.50 in sales last year.
Ketchup, mayonnaise and packets of salad dressing are also available to “doctor up” jail food.
Inmates are provided the basics for showering, but extras are stocked in the commissary, including Irish Spring soap, body wash, hair care products, deodorant and lip balm and even acne treatment cream. Underwear is not provided to male inmates and is for sale.
But hygiene products and underwear are not big sellers, Adams said. In 2014, packs of large-sized boxers that sold for $2 only netted $1,090 in sales.
“Food is what is important,” Adams said, noting the less popular items are used as a ploy by inmates to get more cash.
“I get a call from grandma who wants to put money on her grandson’s books for underwear, but she will say she doesn’t want him to buy candy,” he said. “I don’t control how they spend the money. The money is theirs to spend.”
The Middletown Jail, which typically houses prisoners short term, also has a small commissary, stocking about 30 items, mostly food and hygiene products, according to Maj Mark Hoffman. Annually $25,000 is budgeted to run and stock the Middletown commissary.
Honey Buns and hard candy are big sellers, Hoffman said, noting the jail is smoke-free.
The Butler County Jail commissary is self-funding, which means taxpayers are not footing the bill for what some might view as luxuries in the jail, such as televisions.
Jones said commissaries, whether in jails or prisons, help keep inmates occupied and happy.
“You don’t want them to riot, destroy property or fight with each other or employees,” Jones said. “It helps keep them in a state of mind the we can manage them.”
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