The article is devoted to a little–studied aspect of the history of the prison department - measures to financially stimulate the activities of the lower ranks of the prison department in the context of the modernization of the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire. It is shown how, through the mechanism of monetary provision, the state sought to strengthen the stability and manageability of the prison system. The results of the work complement the understanding of the social policy of the imperial government and reveal the economic roots of the professionalization of prison staff in the pre-revolutionary period.