When you are released from prison on work release, what happens to your gate fee and any commissary funds that are left on your account?

They are returned to you upon full release. Sometimes the many is returned to you on "debit card". Be careful as most of these cards carry hidden fees that charge you every time the card is used. If I were advising the inmate, i would go to a bank and get the entire remaining balance at one time to reduce the number of fee charges to only one time. You could then get a rechargeable debit card at any grocery or drug store and they have no fees.