14-03-2025
‘Shocked': Lawmaker bristles at where funds come from to bury Nevada's indigent prisoners
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Sometimes it's the details that get under your skin.
As state lawmakers went through a minor part of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) budget on Thursday, Democratic Assem. Howard Watts heard something he just didn't like.
Prison stores do a good business, with close to $15 million in sales projected this year. That funds most of the budget for the 'Offenders' Store Fund,' and the standard markup for the items that are sold is between 50% and 60%. Vending machines bring in another big chunk, adding up to almost $200,000 last year. Inmates don't have a lot of other things to spend their money on.
And there are currently 10,800 inmates in Nevada prisons.
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Some of the money from the Offenders' Store Fund gets funneled to another budget, the inmate welfare account, which provides things that indigent inmates get for free. One of those things: burial when they die.
The budget presentation continued, and Watts heard NDOC's requests for a weight bench, two stationary bicycles and a new scoreboard for the Lovelock prison.
'Recreational equipment, scoreboard for the basketball facility. To me, those are things that really benefit the welfare and provide benefits to the inmates,' Watts said.
'Frankly, shocked that markup on commissary items is being used to cover burials and cremations for inmates who pass away in our care,' he said.
State budgets are complex, changing dramatically as leadership changes and government agencies tighten their belts. A past practice of paying for four positions out of the store fund is ending this year, and officials are trying to break even despite a big loss of revenue from phone commissions, something the federal government ordered. With the constant shuffle of how the government pays for things, budgets can become very strange.
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Any suggestion that the state profits on the backs of inmates is hard for some lawmakers to stomach. They asked questions about how state money is being spent on everything presented Thursday by NDOC officials.
Republican Minority Leader Sen. Robin Titus, a doctor, wanted more information on the state's effort to treat hepatitis C in the prison population, and she wanted assurances that female inmates were getting the medical care they needed.
Democratic Sens. Rochelle Nguyen and Angie Taylor, along with Democratic Assem. Natha Anderson asked questions about how much prisoners were allowed to keep out of the wages they earned from prison jobs. They learned that 24.5% goes for room and board, 5% goes back to victims' funds, and other funds are directed for various other uses. There's a maximum cap of 50%, according to Bill Quenga, who runs NDOC's industrial programs.
For inmates who do earn wages while they're in prison, the state takes part of that to pay for their burial.
'There's every incentive to do nothing,' Nguyen commented. With no wages, you get your room and board for free, she said.
Wages can go as high as $14 for welders, and other inmates make minimum wage. All participation in the state's prison industry program is voluntary.
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