By Angie Jackson
MLive.com
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Some inmates at the Kent County Jail were essentially paid to eat snacks earlier this month thanks to faulty programming on several commissary vending machines.
When inmates purchased multiple items from one of the four affected machines, they were only charged for the first item, and in many cases, they were also refunded money they had never spent, Kent County Undersheriff Michelle Young said.
The problem was discovered Nov. 5 after an accountant noticed a discrepancy with commissary accounts. The vendor, Keefe Group, determined a programming error occurred during a software update, Young said. No tampering appears to have been involved.
A total of about $500 was paid to inmates over a weeklong period.
Full story: Vending machines paid Kent County Jail inmates $500 due to programming error