The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Inmates spend at on-site stores commissaries essentials, junk food

Commissaries prove to be very important part of prison life.

Inmate escapes sheriff’s car
5/26/12
Cable worker hurt on the job
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Lakota to discuss open enrollment proposal
5/25/12
AD resigns to take job at Kettering
5/25/12
> More headlines

11:08 PM Sunday, January 29, 2012

By Laura A. Bischoff

Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s 50,000 inmates bought $38 million worth of candy, salty snacks, instant soup, beverages and other items from prison commissaries last year, with the profits being pumped back into amenities such as televisions for common areas, recreation equipment, books and other items.

“Our hottest seller probably would be pop — Mountain Dew, followed by Pepsi — and ramen noodles, chicken (flavored) and then chili (flavored). The things that are difficult to keep in stock, depending on the season, are pop and ice cream,” said Fern Boddie, commissary manager at Dayton Correctional Institute since 1987.

The Dayton Daily News began investigating the operation of the commissaries in the state’s 31 prisons after a reader complained about markup on items such as a television she wanted to buy an incarcerated family member through the prison’s online purchasing system. Personal TVs and other electronics sold through the online system are in clear plastic housing so that inmates cannot hide contraband inside them.

The markup on commissary items averages 25 percent, but it is limited to a maximum of 7 percent on stamps, over-the-counter medications and other items.

Taxpayers do not pay for the inmates’ junk food, or even their deodorant. Prisoners earn on average $18 a month working jobs behind bars, and friends and family can add money to the accounts they tap for commissary items.

Big ticket items such as boots, sneakers and TVs can be purchased through the secure online system and shipped to inmates. The biggest sales month is December when families put money on inmates’ accounts for the holidays, Boddie said.

An examination of popular items shows junk food — candy, chips, cookies and soda pop — are big sellers. The $38 million total for 2011 is up from $37.18 million in 2010 and $36.99 million in 2009.

“The Store” at the Dayton prison stocks more than 1,000 items, employs 14 inmates, and moves $59,800 in merchandise each month. But shoppers can’t stroll the aisles, pushing carts and carrying baskets, and pay with cash or credit. Instead, they slip their order forms through a slot in the window, present their inmate identification badges, and the cost of the purchase is electronically deducted from their account balances. No money changes hands.

Prisoners can purchase everything from stamped envelopes to toothpaste to typing ribbons at the commissary. Sales statewide average $745 per inmate per year, but Boddie noted that prisoners who owe court costs are limited to spending $15 a month. She added that there is peer pressure for prisoners with spending limits not to blow it on chips and candy but to buy personal hygiene products such as deodorant and shampoo.

Boddie said the switch from male to female prisoners prompted her to start stocking a wider variety personal care products on commissary shelves. “The men didn’t really care about the numbers and types of shampoo. The women really, really care,” she said.

Boddie estimates that inmates without limits spend $35 to $40 a week at the commissary. The maximum prisoners in Dayton are allowed to spend is $100 a week.

Share this article