Commissary

The Department of Corrections (DOC) may operate a commissary, or "store" system, for the benefit of incarcerated individuals. The commissary will provide incarcerated individuals with the opportunity to purchase personal items that are not furnished by the state correctional facility (DOC 200.210 Prison Commissary).

About

Correctional Industries operates two distribution centers, one located at Airway Heights Corrections Center in Eastern Washington and another located at Monroe Correctional Complex within the Twin Rivers Unit.

Staff and incarcerated individuals who work for the Correctional Industries commissary process, pick, package and deliver orders to living units or other designated areas, where incarcerated individuals receive and sign for the items.

production line

Items for Sale

The items sold in the commissary are stocked based on requests from the incarcerated individuals and review and approval by Correctional Industries staff, Chief of Safety & Security, Chief Medical Officer, Chief of Dentistry, and DOC Policy. The items available for incarcerated individuals to buy are limited by their classification level. Incarcerated individuals in higher security housing units have fewer items from which to choose.

Incarcerated individuals are provided the opportunity to purchase personal items that are not furnished by the facility such as:

  • hygiene items
  • food
  • snacks
  • sodas
  • postage supplies
  • writing materials
  • vitamins
  • health related items
  • other personal items

Product suggestions can be submitted to commissary staff by incarcerated individuals using the kite system.

Incarcerated individuals with money in their accounts may purchase comfort items such as personal care items, food and beverages, while those without funds are limited to basic hygiene and correspondence items sold to them by creating a debt on their account.

Commissary Lists

All Facilities

Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC)

Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC)

Clallam Bay Corrections Center (CBCC)

Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (CRCC)

Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC)

Olympic Corrections Center (OCC)

Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC)

Washington Corrections Center (WCC)

Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW)

Washington State Penitentiary (WSP)

Back to Top

Commissary Schedules

Incarcerated individuals are allowed to make purchases from the commissary on specifically assigned days by submitting an order via telephone, or order form.

Back to Top

Indigency Rate

The current indigency rate is $100.

Individuals are deemed indigent if they have not had more than $100 in their account during the 30 days before a request for funds. Indigent individuals’ accounts may be charged a debt to provide basic hygiene, postage and certain over the counter medical supplies which can be recovered later if the account exceeds the indigency threshold.

Substitute House Bill 2539, concerning inmate funds, increased the threshold for defining inmate indigency from $25 to $100. Additionally, starting July 1, 2029, the bill requires the department to increase the threshold every four years to account for inflation by using the most current seasonally adjusted consumer price index for all urban consumers as published by the U.S. Department of Labor. And, starting July 1, 2027, the department must publish the most current indigent rate on our public website and at each correctional facility in an area accessible to incarcerated individuals, within five business days of July 1st each year.

Back to Top

Resources

Policies

Below are Department of Corrections (DOC) policies that apply to Commissary

Publications

Resource Links

Back to Top