BEDFORD – During the commissioners; meeting this morning, Lawrence County Sheriff Greg Day presented the last six months of the commissary report.
“We had some big expenses and were able to fund them with commissary funds, saving taxpayer money,” added Sheriff Day. “These funds are self-generated, raising more than a quarter of a million dollars to help fund department needs that did not come from tax money.”
Some of those projects included $14,000 to replace 22 outdated life-saving bulletproof vests, $59,000 to purchase police vehicles and outfit them with needed equipment, and $6,000 to buy a new canine.
A prison commissary or canteen is a store within a correctional facility from which inmates may purchase products such as hygiene items, snacks, and writing instruments. Typically, inmates are not allowed to possess cash; instead, they make purchases through an account with funds from money contributed by friends or family members or earned.
Money made from the commissary is then placed in the commissary fund. It can be used to purchase merchandise for resale to inmates through the commissary, pay expenses to operate the commissary, special training for law enforcement employees, equipment, including vehicles, computers, software communication devices, office machinery and furnishings, cameras, and photographic equipment, canines, and canine training and equipment, for activities to maintain order and discipline among the inmates of the county jail, including substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, drinking and driving and juvenile delinquency.
The sheriff reported 86 inmates in the jail this morning; of those, 70 were males,16 were females, nine were Department of Correction holds, one was parole hold, and three were Level 6 felons.
