Pinellas County Jail form the Inside

A teen currently serving time in the Pinellas County Jail has started a blog about his experiences (he is actually telling somebody on the outside what is going on and they are posting the experiences to his blog).

I think what's interesting about this site isn't just the experiences themselves (he talks about not liking a particular guard, for instance), but watching the range of emotions that an inmate in Pinellas goes through from when they are first received to being sentenced (he has been incarcerated for a year now and is still waiting to find out if he will be shipped off to prison for drug trafficking).

If you want to know more about life in Pinellas in particular, his blog is a great resource. If you want to read other inmate's stories here is a Pinellas County Jail informational site.

Meals in County Jails

One thing I've noticed interviewing county jail inmates across the US is that pretty much everybody agrees that the meals are terrible.

In some jails, however, they have very regular access to commissary which makes the meals almost irrelevant (yes, there are plenty of inmates who don't eat anything that is served to them by the jail). If you have a friend or family member in a jail that offers commissary just make sure to keep some money on their "books" - this is the inmate's account that allows them to purchase things from the jail.

Commissary prices are always jacked way up because the inmate's have no alternative - because there is no free market keeping prices in check they raise to pretty crazy levels. Sometimes you will see something as simple as a pack of Ramen going for $3. Be grateful next time you go to the grocery store...