SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Crime doesn’t pay in Clarion County.

In addition to court-ordered fines and fees, inmates at the Clarion County Jail often find that there are additional charges, and nothing is free.

Each inmate can have a commissary account and profits from that account are used to pay for uniforms, towels, and clothing.

Warden Jeff Hornberger estimated at a meeting of the prison board this week that the account balance is $19,000.00.

“It’s one thing that taxpayers have never seen a bill for anything like that,” said Hornberger. “The account is kept at the jail and is audited every year.”

The commissary is not actually located in the jail, but prisoners can call in their orders to a company near Altoona, and the items are delivered to them.

“We get 40 percent profit on anything from a Snickers bar to anything else purchased through the commissary. There is a three-page list of anything from hygiene products to snack items.”

The Clarion County Corrections website offers instructions for inmate accounts.

“Friends and family members may place funds on inmate accounts for commissary purchases/telephone usage by using the kiosk in the jail lobby or over the internet by going to https://web.connectnetwork.com.”

Many jails have this type of relationship with companies supplying inmates with permittable merchandise and telephone costs. The prisoner or families pay and the prison gets a “cut.”

It could even be called Amazon for jails with restrictions.