Inmates at the Knox County jail may soon be able to buy electronic cigarettes.
Knox County Sheriff David Clague told county board members Monday that he has found Pekin, Illinois-based vendor Newman & Ullman, which has designed e-cigarettes that are safe for inmates. The e-cigarettes can't be broken down and turned into weapons.
Each cigarette will be numbered with a sticker that would be impossible to remove and inmates will have to return them when they're finished, Clague said, according to the Register-Mail in Galesburg.
The sheriff said he hopes offering e-cigarettes will help stop inmates from smuggling in real cigarettes.
The e-cigarettes would sell for $14 and cost the jail $7 to purchase from the supplier.
"A regular pack of cigarettes is $7 and the e-cigs are worth two packs, so we'll charge $14," Clague said.
An official proposal wasn't immediately introduced to the county board because the sheriff does not yet have a contract.
