CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County inmates are hungry.
They bought $2.2 million worth of items from the jail’s commissary in 2022, records obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer show.
Some of those purchases were for comfort items, like hygiene products or over-the-counter medications, but most of the time, inmates bought meal foods, snacks and candy.
Records of their purchases highlight a growing concern in the jail that the daily meals are so poor that inmates are having to supplement their nutrition with food from the commissary. Inmates, corrections officers, a former Newburgh Heights mayor and even a Cuyahoga County Councilwoman have criticized the jail’s food service for being bland, inedible, unrecognizable or simply “awful.”
Cleveland.com recently learned that the jail’s main food service provider, Trinity Services Group, is owned by the same parent company, TKC Holdings, as its commissary provider, Keefe Commissary Network. The relationship has raised concerns about whether their monopoly over the jail’s food could incentivize Trinity to provide low-quality meals so that Keefe can profit from the commissary items inmates buy to supplement their diets.
Topping the list of most-purchased items last year were meal foods, snacks, sauces commonly used to help season food, and protein sources:
- 157,000 packages of hot and spicy or chicken ramen noodles
- 136,000 containers of Jalapeno Squeeze Cheese
- 100,000 bags of Nacho Cheese or Cool Ranch Doritos
- 74,000 containers of ranch dressing
- 72,000 “fish steaks”
- 55,000 bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
- 50,000 “mackerel fillets”
- 44,000 packages of tuna
- 41,000 packages of turkey summer sausage
- 38,000 cinnamon rolls
Ranking near the bottom of purchases were non-food items, like medications, hairbrushes, shampoo and lotion.
Most of the least purchased items represent things inmates should already be getting from the county for free.
When booked into the jail, every inmate receives two uniforms, a pair of underwear, a pair of socks, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a pair of shoes, a towel, a face cloth, two blankets, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a small bar of soap, a small deodorant stick, a plastic cup and a plastic spoon, according to information provided by county Spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan. Women inmates also receive feminine hygiene products “as needed,” she said.
Anything beyond that – or replacement items, if soap and toothpaste run out during an inmate’s time there – must be purchased from the commissary.
A current order form shows a toothbrush costs $2.75. Deodorant costs $2.60. A 5-inch comb costs 22 cents. Three ounces of Irish Spring soap costs $1.30. And a box with an unspecified number of tampons costs $19.34.
Inmates also have the option to buy additional undergarments, undershirts and warm layers from the commissary for up to $10 each, depending on the item. Cleveland.com previously reported that inmates used to receive only one uniform while in custody and were sometimes forced to sit in their underwear – or naked – on wash days. Following the story, the county mandated every inmate receive two uniforms.
The county does provide indigent inmates with a free basic necessities package, which includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, lotion, deodorant, 4 stamped envelopes, a pen and four sheets of paper. An inmate is determined to be indigent if they have less than $1.00 for seven days, with no deposits, the county explained.
The commissary gave away 1,680 of those care packages in 2022, records show. They cost the county 95 cents each, leading to a total $1,596 expense.
Today, Keefe sells them for $9.18.
Indigent inmates can also accrue debt for any other purchases they make at the commissary during their time in jail. At least 50% of that debt is due if any money is later deposited in their account, the county said. The balance is owed at the time of the person’s release.
“Debt will not be forgiven,” Madigan said.
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