Offenders are charged for basic hygiene products in Nevada’s state prisons at a markup.
Disadvantaged prisoners in Nevada’s prisons may struggle with obtaining basic needs due to markups on goods in the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) system. A recent audit by the governor’s finance office found NDOC overcharged prisoners for goods, excessively paid employees for overtime, and inappropriately assigned state-owned vehicles. NDOC made a profit of $10 million from July 2019 to June 2021 by marking up items such as food and clothing as high as 40 percent. The audit also found that offenders were charged $8 for medical copays, more than double the national average, resulting in $10.4 million in outstanding offender debt as of September 2021. The auditors recommend more administrative transparency and accountability, lower medical copays, and developing markup limits on items sold through the offenders’ store.
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