Snap, crackle and prisons

CARSON CITY -- Prisoners might have to eat cornflakes for breakfast instead of pancakes or eggs under a bill being introduced in the Legislature by Assemblyman James Settelmeyer.

The Republican from Gardnerville said Monday that he is proposing a bill that would do away with the practice of serving hot breakfasts in Nevada prisons and local jails.

He figures the correctional institutions could save $1 million or more a year if they did not serve hot breakfasts. With the state in a revenue crisis, he said, all ways to reduce costs should be considered.

"Prison is supposed to be a punishment, not an enjoyable place," Settelmeyer said.

In visits to jails and prisons, Settelmeyer said, he has seen hot breakfasts being served to inmates. There are no laws mandating hot breakfasts for inmates, but too many jails and prisons act as if there is such a requirement, he said.

Greg Smith, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Corrections, said all state prisons serve hot breakfasts, but he added that the department spends an average of just $2.17 per day for food for each inmate.

Breakfasts generally include scrambled eggs and hot cakes but no pork products such as bacon and sausage. Pork is not served because some inmates refuse to eat it for religious reasons.

"I suppose we could get it under $2 (the average daily cost for food)," Smith said. "But we have one of the lowest food costs in the country. We don't do eggs to order."

A 2003 study showed that it cost $8.50 a day to feed the average American. At that time, California and Florida came under fire because they were spending only $2.45 and $2.32 respectively a day on food for each inmate.

Settelmeyer, a rancher, said that inmates should be served nutritious breakfasts, but that dry cereal may be less expensive and more nutritious than eggs and pancakes.

He added that former Washoe County Sheriff Richard Kirkland earned the nickname "Cornflakes" in the 1990s when he discontinued hot breakfasts at his jail and started serving cereal to inmates, which he got in bulk through a deal with Kellogg's.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.