What is Site Commission?

A site commission is a payment a vendor makes to a jail or prison, often a share of sales, in exchange for a contract. It is common with phone services and also appears with care packages.

The Prison Policy Initiative reported in 2019 that phone commissions were often a percentage of revenue that, in some contracts, moved close to 100%. Where percentage commissions were banned, payments sometimes shifted to forms like signing bonuses or administrative fees.

The Marshall Project reported that one vendor projected about $95,000 in a year from a 17% commission on West Virginia care package sales. Families who pay for calls and packages effectively fund these payments.

Read more

• Prison Commissary Prices: Why They Feel So High
• Prison Care Packages: How They Work and What's Allowed

Related terms

• Commissary Markup
• Care Package (Approved Vendor)
• Inmate Welfare Fund

Sources

• On Kickbacks and Commissions in the Prison and Jail Phone Market (Prison Policy Initiative)
• The Big Business of Prisoner Care Packages (The Marshall Project)