Allegheny County Jail

How expensive is the commissary? Is there a list of what is available and how much is a reasonable amount for the inmates books?

The commissary is very expensive!! Jail functions almost like a for-profit corporation. The inmates are fed very little so that they are hungry and forced to pay a lot of money at the commissary. And since they have no other options, the commissary can charge as much as they want. So when possible, help out your friend/family when they say they need money on their books.

The commissary is very expensive and is run by Keefe Commissary. To give examples, a raman noodle package (there brand is by Maruchan) that you can get for about .10 to .25 cents from your stores cost .90 cents off of commissary, candy bars, all regular size are $1.10, a cheap toothpaste they call Coolwave is $2.06 (couple ounces), a little travel pillow that they give you free on the airlines is $6. The only thing I can say is not too bad is for about $60 you can get a pair of decent tennis shoes from commissary. An inmate can order up to $150 a week in commissary excluding shoes. An inmate should not need to get that much all of the time. If the inmate is going to be there for a while (sentenced) then $150 for the first week (startup costs excluding tennis shoes if needed)is OK. After that it depends on the inmate, but about $30 a week should do it, but like I said, some individuals who are bigger may need more, like about $50 a week. If an individual needs to eat a lot and does not have the money to get sufficient commissary and your bond is less than $100,000 or you are not on floor 4 or above, apply tfor the kitchen, they do not pay money and you will workd 7 days a weed, but you will eat like a christmas turkey.

Good information, do you know if there is a committee or group that is already formed that voices its concerns regarding this issue...?