NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Norfolk Sheriff’s Office is launching a new, online food ordering program for inmates inside the Norfolk City Jail.
‘811 Marketplace‘ is scheduled to begin taking orders on Aug. 11, where friends and family members of inmates can place meal orders online. Food deliveries to inmates will begin Aug. 17. Inmates are not allowed to order food.
“We are proud to offer an option for friends and family members to send meals to their loved ones in jail, and at the same time, the new online cafe will generate revenue for the Norfolk City Jail,” said Sheriff Bob McCabe. “In tight budget times, we are always looking for ways to cover our expenses without using additional tax dollars.”
Visitors of the website start by using the inmate search tool. Users can search for an inmate by name and date of birth or by an ID number, such as a booking number. Search results bring up mugshots of inmates, and from there, users select their inmate and order from the menu options.
The layout of the website as of Aug. 6 has a picture menu showing seven different lunch options, typical of American lunch cuisine or what one might find in a grade school cafeteria. From Sunday to Saturday, the lunch combos feature, in weekly order, a chicken sandwich on Sunday, chili dog, hamburger, hot wings, pizza, philly steak sandwich and club sandwich on Saturday. Each meal selection, with a soda, costs $9 including tax.
Only one meal option is available per day, but inmates are allowed to receive two meals from this program per day. Orders placed before 8 a.m. can be delivered to the inmate the same day.
The Norfolk Sheriff’s Office said the new meal program is similar to those offered in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
The website is 811Marketplace.com.
