The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office operates a commissary program at its detention facility. Because inmates at the facility are not allowed to possess cash money while in custody, they maintain commissary accounts through which they purchase items such as personal hygiene products, snacks, and stationery supplies from the commissary. Family members and friends may contribute to the inmate accounts as well as order commissary items online to be included in the weekly order. The objective of this RFP is to obtain proposals from experienced commissary operators, particularly operators of correctional facility commissaries, who can furnish, install, operate and manage an off-site commissary program using experienced personnel that are professionally trained for working with correctional facilities. The selected vendor will regularly deliver a variety of approved items to the facilities. Proposals are requested for “bag-in” deliveries, in which the items are pre-sorted and bagged for individual orders. The County of Tehama will employ one full-time position to assist the contractor with deliveries inside the facilities and will receive hourly compensation for such assistance, billed at the end of each month. Any other personnel needed to fulfill the conditions of the contract will be the sole responsibility of the contractor. The Sheriff is not seeking operational income but is seeking a vendor who will assist in controlling the cost of goods for the inmate population. The selected vendor will: • Establish an open, collaborative relationship with the administration and staff of the Sheriff’s Office. • Implement a written commissary program with clear objectives, policies, procedures and annual evaluation of compliance. • Maintain standards established by the Sheriff’s Office. • Provide 24-hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in-house support. • Provide families and friends of inmates with reliable, secure methodsto deposit funds into an inmate’s personal fund account at no cost to the County. Methods will include: o Secure website for debit/credit card deposits o Toll-free telephone for debit/credit card deposits o Cashiering kiosks for cash and debit/credit card deposits o Any fees charged for these services will be approved by the County
