Can a Mississippi county sheriff use Inmate Canteen Fund money to buy prisoner uniforms and mattresses?
Plain-English summary
The Inmate Canteen Fund is the special county-treasury account where money from a county jail's canteen operation lands. Under Section 19-3-81, the sheriff is authorized to spend that money on a defined set of things: educational expenses for inmates, equipment, supplies, and maintenance of equipment, all "for the benefit and welfare of the inmates." The statute carves out one specific exclusion: "supplies" do not include items related to inmates' personal hygiene.
The question here was whether prisoner uniforms and mattresses fall on the allowed side or the excluded side of that line. The AG's answer was that they fall on the allowed side. This office said the same thing back in 2000 (Entrekin), and the rule has not changed. Uniforms and mattresses are not personal hygiene items, so canteen funds may pay for them.
What this means for you
For sheriffs and jail administrators
You can use canteen-fund dollars for prisoner uniforms and mattresses. The legal authority is Section 19-3-81 plus the long-standing AG position that these items are not "personal hygiene" supplies. Document the expenditure to the fund as supplies "for the benefit and welfare of the inmates." Keep a clean line on the personal-hygiene exclusion: things like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, razors, and feminine hygiene products are out. Bedding, jail-issued clothing, footwear, and similar uniform/issue equipment are in.
For county attorneys advising the sheriff or board
The Section 19-3-81(b) language is the controlling text. It both authorizes the canteen-fund spend and contains the personal-hygiene carve-out. The phrase "supplies … for the benefit and welfare of the inmates" is broad on its face; the personal-hygiene exclusion is the only express limit. When a question comes up about a borderline item, the analytical step is to ask whether the item is most naturally classified as a personal-hygiene supply. If it is, the canteen fund cannot pay; the sheriff has to find another funding source.
For boards of supervisors
Your involvement in the canteen-fund process is the upstream authorization to operate the canteen and the deposit of canteen revenue into the special fund. Once the fund exists, expenditure decisions belong to the sheriff. This opinion does not create a board approval requirement for uniform or mattress purchases out of the fund; it confirms the sheriff's spending authority within the statute.
Common questions
What is the Inmate Canteen Fund?
It is a special county-treasury account that holds money generated by the jail's canteen operation. Inmates, jail employees, and visitors buy goods from the canteen; the proceeds are deposited into the fund and held there for inmate-related uses authorized by Section 19-3-81. The canteen itself only operates if the board of supervisors authorizes the sheriff to run one.
What can canteen money be spent on?
Education-related expenses for inmates, plus equipment, supplies, and maintenance of equipment, all for the benefit and welfare of the inmates. Section 19-3-81(b).
What is the only thing canteen money can't be spent on?
Supplies related to the personal hygiene of inmates. The statute writes that exclusion into the definition of "supplies." Other categories of authorized spending (equipment, equipment maintenance, education) do not have a hygiene carve-out, but the sheriff has to be able to fit the purchase within an authorized category in the first place.
Are uniforms personal hygiene items?
No. The AG opinion (citing the 2000 Entrekin opinion) treats uniforms as standard issue equipment or supplies, not as items for personal grooming or sanitation. Same answer for mattresses, which are bedding.
Where does funding for personal hygiene items come from instead?
The county's general jail budget, because Section 19-3-81 takes hygiene supplies out of the canteen-fund category. Boards of supervisors typically appropriate for these items as part of the regular county jail line.
Background and statutory framework
Section 19-3-81 is the Mississippi statute that authorizes counties to operate inmate canteens and that creates the Inmate Canteen Fund. Subsection (1)(a) lets the board of supervisors authorize the sheriff to operate one or more canteen facilities serving inmates, jail employees, and visitors. Subsection (1)(b) directs that all proceeds from canteen operations be deposited into a special fund called the "Inmate Canteen Fund" in the county treasury, and limits expenditures from that fund to "any educational related expenses, … equipment and supplies and … maintenance of the equipment purchased for the benefit and welfare of the inmates," excluding "supplies related to the personal hygiene of inmates."
This 2024 opinion does not change the rule. It simply restates what the AG concluded in MS AG Op., Entrekin (Jan. 28, 2000): "prisoner uniforms and mattresses are not personal hygiene items and therefore may be purchased out of canteen funds."
Citations
- Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-81
- MS AG Op., Entrekin (Jan. 28, 2000)
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/R.Shepard-July-31-2024-Use-of-Inmate-Canteen-Fund-for-Prisoner-Uniforms-and-Mattresses.pdf
Original opinion text
July 31, 2024
Robert P. Shepard, Esq.
Attorney, George County and George County Regional Correctional Facility
922 Manila Street
Lucedale, Mississippi 39452
Re:
Use of Inmate Canteen Fund for Prisoner Uniforms and Mattresses
Dear Mr. Shepard:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Question Presented
May the jail use money from the Inmate Canteen Fund, provided for in Mississippi Code
Annotated Section 19-3-81, to purchase prisoner uniforms and mattresses for the inmates?
Brief Response
Yes. The sheriff may use money from the Inmate Canteen Fund authorized in Section 19-3-81 for
the purchase of prisoner uniforms and mattresses.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 19-3-81 provides, in relevant part:
(1)(a) The board of supervisors of any county is hereby authorized and empowered,
in its discretion, to allow the sheriff of such county to operate a facility or facilities
to be known as an inmate canteen facility or facilities, the purpose of which is to
make available certain goods and other items of value for purchase by inmates
confined in the county jail of such county, employees of the county jail and persons
visiting inmates or employees. The sheriff of such county shall promulgate rules
and regulations for the operation of such a facility.
(b) If the board of supervisors of any county authorizes the sheriff of such county
to operate such a facility or facilities as provided in subsection (1) of this section,
any funds which may be derived from the operation of an inmate canteen facility
or facilities shall be deposited into a special fund in the county treasury to be
designated as the "Inmate Canteen Fund." Any monies in the special fund may be
expended solely by the sheriff of the county for any educational related expenses,
to purchase equipment and supplies and to provide for maintenance of the
equipment purchased for the benefit and welfare of the inmates incarcerated in the
county jail. The term "supplies" shall not include supplies related to the personal
hygiene of inmates.
In addition to education related expenses, the sheriff may use canteen funds to purchase equipment
and supplies other than those related to the inmates' personal hygiene. Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-81(b). We have previously said that "prisoner uniforms and mattresses are not personal hygiene
items and therefore may be purchased out of canteen funds." MS AG Op., Entrekin at *1 (Jan. 28,
2000). This remains the opinion of this office.
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:
/s/ Abigail C. Overby
Abigail C. Overby
Special Assistant Attorney General