When it comes to being a jail inmate, comforts are hard to come by. And that’s the point — those who are either convicted or suspected of committing certain crimes, under Washington state law, lose certain freedoms.
But for residents of Clark County Jail’s G-pod, Tuesdays are akin to weekly mini-Christmases.
“The night before we call Commissary Eve,” said Chase Burke, a 24-year-old Vancouver man sporting an orange jail outfit.
Using money that they came in with or funds added to their accounts by family or friends, inmates can order commissary items from a kiosk in the day room of their jail unit throughout the week. The items that can be purchased range from lemon drops to shampoo, reading glasses to playing cards.
But one glance at the bags full of brightly packaged goodies delivered to the cells in troves, and it’s apparent that salty snacks and sugary treats reign.
“It can be kind of crazy in here because they’re all sugared up,” said Cmdr. Kim Beltran.
The top item purchased by inmates last year? Hot and spicy pork rinds.
One inmate explained that even though the bags have about the same amount of food in terms of ounces, they’re more appealing because the bags are bigger to accommodate the puffy fried pig skin.
Roman Melnik, a 25-year-old who has had a few jail stays, said that pork rinds and other spicy chips are also smashed up and used as a spice that’s added to the food served at meals.
“It’s one of the things people look forward to because the food’s not that great,” he said. “Some of the meals have no taste.”
By adding things like hot and spicy pork rinds and Chili Cheese Fritos, the food is made better, Melnik said.
He said that some inmates argue that the three meals given daily to each jail inmate do not contain enough food.
“I think it’s all in the head. You just think you’re hungry but there’s just not enough things to do, you’re bored,” Melnik said. Eating the junk food, he said, “makes our time go by easier.”
Some commissary foods are also combined to make other foods. For example, spaghetti and goulash served by the jail kitchen are saved, mixed with the chips-turned-spice and mashed together with bread to make a burrito of sorts.
For those with a sweet tooth — and there are many with a sweet tooth, judging by the 14,370 Yum Yum cookies purchased in 2014 — there are also varying jailhouse recipes for a treat inmates call a “dope fiend.”
Melnik’s recipe starts with two Grandma’s cookies. He then smashes half of a Snickers bar on each cookie. Next, he takes a marshmallow-based moon pie and mixes it up in his jail-issued cup with his jail-issued spork. Add peanut butter to that mixture and put it between the two cookies: voila, a “dope fiend.”
“The most sugar the better,” Melnik said.
Brian Cozad, 39, said that the commissary is a nice way to sustain cravings.
“It’s a privilege,” he said. “We look forward to every little privilege we can in here.”
And the privilege is one that the jail is happy to provide.
To offer the commissary, the jail contracts with a company called Keefe Group, which provides the ordering and delivery services. Thirty-seven percent of the revenue from the items sold goes back to the jail, offsetting some of the costs that the jail would otherwise accrue, said Darin Rouhier, finance manager for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The money the jail makes from the commissary sales are added to a jail commissary fund, which also includes the commission made from telephone services (provided by a company called Telmate) and other revenues such as co-pays for medical visits and pharmaceuticals collected from inmates who can afford to pay.
The jail commissary fund is about $374,000, according to a five-year average, and is spent on a variety of costs associated with running the jail. The funds are used to help pay for some of the costs of inmates’ pharmaceuticals. It also pays for two commissary employees — a cost required anyway to run an inmate accounting system — law books and library services, as well as inmate recreation.
“Every dollar we can get from the commissary commission through the inmate purchasing goods is one less dollar the taxpayer has to cover,” Rouhier said. “We would be foolish not to put those things in place and get the benefits for the inmates and the taxpayers.”
The Clark County Jail takes about $19 million annually to run.
“Granted, it’s a relatively small portion of about 2 percent, but it covers $375,000 that would otherwise come from taxpayers,” Rouhier said. “There are many other intangible benefits, but that alone certainly makes it worthwhile.”
