Peoria County approves consolidated food, commissary and tablet contract for jail and juvenile center

Peoria County commissioners voted to award a consolidated contract for jail food service, commissary and inmate tablet services to Trinity after several months of competitive bidding and vendor evaluation.

County leaders said the RFP combines three interrelated services under one vendor rather than three separate contracts, a change they expect will improve quality and safety and simplify operations. "This is going to be an all civilian workforce where we don't have to use any inmate labor," the Sheriff said. "So, this is gonna be much safer, better quality, and it's really not gonna cost us much more."

The contract covers kitchen food preparation for the county jail and food and snacks for the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC), the commissary that lets detainees order additional items, and the tablets detainees use to order supplies. County staff said the county's annual budget for food and supplies is $780,000 and the Trinity proposal came in about $8,000 over that figure. Officials emphasized vendor references and reliability were weighted alongside price when choosing Trinity. "One of the bidders on there is a little bit cheaper price per meal, but they use the current tablets that we are using and we have some really significant problems with these tablets," the Sheriff said, explaining why the county did not accept the lowest bid.

Juvenile-detention staff said the JDC's per-meal cost charged under the new contract will increase from $2.65 to $3.25. The JDC representative noted juvenile nutrition standards require different calorie counts and an additional snack that the jail's menus do not provide; county staff said they budgeted for the increase and do not expect to need a budget amendment to cover it. "They do have a nutritionist that approves those meals. And there's also a snack involved for the juvenile detention standards, that the jail does not have," the JDC Director said.

Commissioners asked whether food preparation would occur at the jail rather than being prepared off-site; staff confirmed meals will be prepared at the jail and transported to the JDC when needed. Commissioners also asked about supplements previously purchased to meet JDC nutritional requirements; staff said those supplemental purchases were to meet nutritionist requirements and will not be necessary under the new contract.

After discussion, the board voted to approve the contract and proceed with implementation. Officials said the change also affects commissary and tablet services because the county is replacing its current tablets and consolidating vendors. The county will incorporate remaining contract impact notes into internal tablet materials and provide further details to commissioners as implementation proceeds.

Details not specified in the public record included the exact vote tally by member and the full name of the vendor contact. The board recorded an affirmative vote to approve the contract.