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By DAKOTAH M. DAVIS
Special to the Traveler

This January, the Cowley County Jail will serve up something different to its inmates: meals prepared by a Wichita food service company.

"We've worked many months," on the food service contract, said jail administrator Steve Roberts.

As of Jan. 9, Wichita Canteen Co., a food, coffee and vending machine service provider will begin shipping pre-made meals to the Cowley County Jail. Roberts said the county got a "phenomenal" deal from the company that will keep the jail's food expenses where they are now. A contract unanimously approved and signed by commissioners Tuesday night keeps meals at $1.25 each, or $3.75 per inmate per day. That's the same amount the county currently pays sheriff Bob Odell to shop for groceries and bring them back to the jail.

Porters, or inmate staff, from the Winfield Correctional Facility, will continue to work in the kitchens, the jail administrator said. But now, instead of preparing meals from scratch, the porters will simply reheat the meals that are already placed on the jail's reusable trays.

According to Roberts, the new food plan is one in a long list of things that must change in order to make way for the new jail.

Architects have said construction on the county's new $10 million jail could start this spring. The jail doors are expected to open in summer 2007, and the county's contract with Wichita Canteen will continue until then. After that, things could change.

"When the new facility opens, all bets are off as far as food service goes," said Roberts, "and they understand we will be in a position to put it out for other bids."

Besides turning over food preparations to a professional service, working with Wichita Canteen has other benefits. The company will serve as a consultant for designing the jail's new kitchen, said Roberts.

"We want to be able to have options for the jail that best suit the needs of the jail and the county," Roberts said.

Two years ago county officials came close to signing a food service contract with a different company. But that deal went sour when the company made it clear the county would have to buy its own delivery truck and hire a driver or pay a hefty delivery fee. Wichita Canteen has their own delivery truck and will bring the meals to the jail's doorstep three times each week, said Roberts.

Wichita Canteen has been operating in Wichita since 1959, according to their Web site, www.canteenks.com. The company provides services to other organizations such as the Sedgwick County Jail, said Roberts. The Web site says they also have contracts with Cessna, Bombardier Aerospace, American Red Cross, the City of Wichita and Wichita State University. Roberts indicated Wichita Canteen has its eye on providing meals to Sumner County's new jail and is in the process of contract negotiations with them.

Sheriff Odell said giving up the task of shopping for jail food was "bittersweet." He and his wife have done the job together since he became sheriff in 1985.

"I won't have that obligation and (will have) a lot more free time," said Odell. "It's been one of those things that you have to address every day."

In 2003, former interim County Administrator Jay Newton suggested that working with a professional food service would be a way to better keep track of what the county actually spent on jail food.

The county never required Odell, or previous sheriffs, to provide them with receipts for food purchases. Instead, each sheriff was paid a per-day amount for each inmate.

What the sheriff didn't spend on food he kept as compensation for his time spent shopping. In past years the county spent around $100,000 on its jail food system, annually.

Roberts said Wichita Canteen's meals will provide inmates with 2,400 calories a day, which is above the minimum required by the state.