The Illinois Department of Corrections says the state’s prison inmates won’t have to worry about going without underwear.
Cotton prices have more than doubled in the past six months, and, as a result, the company hired to supply the broadcloth used for inmate boxer shorts has refused to delive, saying it couldn’t make any profit.
But the state found another company this week to supply the cloth, though at a higher price: $183,800, or about $50,000 more than before.
Illinois doesn’t buy boxer shorts for inmates. Instead, it makes them, buying the broadcloth, which is then made into shorts at an inmate labor program at the Sheridan Correctional Center, north of Ottawa.