Honey buns, ramen noodles and buffalo chips are big business in the Hamilton County Jail

photo Hamilton County Jail Commissary Officer Wise makes his deliveries to prisoners inside the maximum security area Friday.
photo A Hamilton County Jail inmate makes a phone call from inside the maximum security area Friday.

Top five sellers, July 1, 2013-June 30, 20141. Freeze-dried coffeeKanku's cost: $3.49Jail cost: $4.552. Honey BunKanku's cost: $.99Jail cost:$1.053. Ramen chili soupKanku's cost: $.69Jail cost: $.754. Hot buffalo wing chipsKanku's cost: $.99Jail cost: $.705. Doritos Nacho chipsKanku's cost: $.50Jail cost: $.70

There is no Ben & Jerry's in jail. No Netflix, no recliners.

Inmates urinate where they sleep. They wait behind metal bars with strangers.

But once a week, these accused men find comfort in the pleasure of individually wrapped, gas station-quality snack food.

On Thursdays and Fridays, officers deliver commissary orders to the Hamilton County Jail's nearly 550 eager inmates, who listen for their names to be called and nudge a bin forward when it's their turn.

"It's like Christmas," said Officer Shelton. Supervisors asked that corrections employees' first names not be used in order to protect them and their families from inmates who might seek retribution.

"Peanut butter crackers. One, two, three, four. Two Milky Ways. Combos; one, two, three," Officer Wise says, while dropping one inmate's items into a plastic bin. Wise checks his papers to make sure the order is right.

Freeze-dried coffee, Honey Buns, hot Buffalo wing flavored chips, and ramen noodles -- especially the chili variety -- are big business in the Hamilton County Jail.

Goods brought into the jail are marked up 35 percent. That's around twice what some estimates say is the average grocery store markup, but seems to place costs closer to a typical gas station minimart.

A Snickers in the slammer costs $1.25. At the Kanku's on Market Street, it sells for $1.09.

In a little more than a year, the Hamilton County Jail commissary netted a profit for the jail of $98,947, Director of Administration Don Gorman said.

That meant $13,386.10 worth of Nutty Bars. Jolly Rancher sales topped out over $10,000. Ramen chili soup, a favorite with $34,606.80 in sales, barely beat out Cajun Chicken but far surpassed plain beef-flavored.

What inmates don't want: eyeglasses, dictionaries and lip balm.

To some, the inflated price of jail goods is almost criminal.

Cedric Bryant, whose friend was recently detained in the jail, said he was shocked by how much it cost to talk to his friend on the phone. He wanted to learn more. He placed a records request with the jail asking them to explain their cost structure, and he shared his findings with the Times Free Press.

"It's just making money off of other people's misery," Bryant said.

On Friday, one inmate received a card he said he was going to send to his 6-year-old daughter, "just to let her know I'm thinking about her." The card, he pointed out, costs significantly less outside.

Phone calls aren't cheap either. For the past five years, a 15-minute phone call cost an inmate $1.50. When the county signed a new contract with Securus Technologies Inc., the cost doubled to $3 for the same amount of time. Inmates pay for calls through a prepaid account.

"The inmates aren't paying for it," Bryant said. "You're punishing the inmate's family and relatives."

The jail's projected profit on phone calls will jump from $180,000 in 2014 to $300,000 in 2015.

Officials say the profit goes toward the cost of running things. Profits from dandruff shampoo and Irish Spring soap and instant coffee each year help determine what they can spend in the next. Sometimes, though not always, the profits help improve quality of life for inmates. Think new televisions or remodeled showers.

Gorman pointed out that the jail's phone rates are actually lower than some area institutions, many of which recently raised their rates after five-year contracts ended and were bid out again, as required by state law.

The Marion County Jail charges $3.44 for the same amount of time, while the McMinn and Sequatchie County jails are only slightly lower at $3.19. In a ruling last year, the FCC set interstate call costs from prisons at $3.75 for a 15-minute call.

So with all that in mind, Gorman said he doesn't think costs are "unreasonably high."

Still, Bryant said jails should rethink their sticker prices. Jail inmates don't get to earn money while in custody, and the financial burden typically falls on the families.

"I don't think they should make money," he said. "They should break even."

Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at 423-757-6347 or cwiseman@timesfreepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.

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