Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-81

This is the official text of Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-81, part of Mississippi’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Mississippi, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-81

Official statutory text

(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.

(2) In lieu of the authority to operate an inmate canteen facility under subsection (1) of this section, the board of supervisors of any county, in its discretion, may authorize the sheriff to contract with a private company for the provision of commissary services to inmates of the county jail. Money collected from or on behalf of an inmate for the purchase of commissary items shall be deposited to the credit of the inmate into a special fund in the county treasury to be designated as the “Inmate Commissary Trust Fund.” Money in the special fund may be expended upon requisition by the sheriff for the purchase and delivery of prepackaged items from the company with which the sheriff has contracted. The sheriff shall adopt rules and regulations for the letting of contracts for commissary services, the collection and distribution of commissary items to inmates, and the items that inmates may purchase through commissary services contracts.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.