ASHLAND —Eating while incarcerated at Ashland County Jail is getting more expensive.
Ashland County commissioners on Dec. 9 approved a three-year deal with a Florida-based jail food service firm, with meal prices increasing an average of 35 percent no matter how many people are incarcerated.
The increased calculation is based on the average negotiated meal price on a sliding scale, and comparing those figures to previous expired contracts with the same company, Trinity Services Group.
The newest scale includes 16 price categories across inmate population scenarios.
The unanimous vote marks the highest jump in jail food prices since the last time authorities renegotiated prices in 2022.
Commissioners approved a jail food price increase of 3.8-percent in December 2020. The prices went into effect in January 2021. The average price for a meal behind bars at the time sat at $1.95.Â
In 2022, authorities struck a better deal, securing meal price changes of only 1.5 percent, and some meal prices actually decreased depending on the jail’s inmate population.
Food has historically been the jail’s second-highest expense behind employee wages. But it’s the fastest-growing line item, having increased 52 percent since 2021, according to county budget data.Â
Commissioners budgeted $230,000 for food at the jail in 2021 and 2022. They adjusted the allocation in 2023, approving $270,000.
In 2024 and 2025, that number increased to $300,000. But that line item grew to $350,000 for 2026, according to the commissioners’ latest appropriations.
‘It’s all about the economy’
Ashland County Sheriff Kurt Schneider said the sheriff’s office has nothing to do with determining meal prices.
“It’s all about the economy. (Meal prices) can go up or it can go down. We didn’t do anything here to make those prices go up. It’s all Consumer Price Index stuff,” Schneider said.
When asked about the 35-percent increase in meal prices, Schneider questioned the accuracy of the hikes because the calculations are based on contractual sliding scales, which can change based on inmate population.Â
He suggested a better way to look at the data would be to dig into the jail’s actual expenses on food over time.
According to the auditor’s office, the jail has spent $1.3 million on food over the last five years.
| Year | Jail food expense | Difference |
| 2021 | $205,312.29 | — |
| 2022 | $242,618.64 | 18% |
| 2023 | $285,444.98 | 17.6% |
| 2024 | $305,575.69 | 7% |
| 2025 | $319,599.42 | 4.5% |
When seen this way, the increases seem more modest. Nevertheless, expenses related to food at the jail are increasing. The biggest year-over-year increase was from 2021 to 2022, with an 18-percent jump in jail food expenses.
Jail food price expenses increased by 4.5 percent between 2024 and 2025.
Jail food is paid through the county’s “305 fund,” which is funded through sales tax revenue.
How are meal prices determined?
Meal prices, according to the contract, are determined by an “inmate population sliding scale.” It means that meal prices are impacted by inmate population; more inmates means lower prices and fewer inmates means higher prices.
The jail’s food contract with Trinity is locked in for three years with two, one-year renewals.Â
However, Trinity reserved the right to adjust those prices annually, as long as the company notifies the county within 30 days of the anniversary date in June each year.
Schneider said the sheriff’s office can also cancel the contract if Trinity’s contractual increases go up.
“I can say, ‘well, OK, hang on.’ We can cancel it,” he said.