Lawmakers Approve Change to Jail Food Funds
Alabama lawmakers have voted to end a practice that allowed some sheriffs to pocket leftover jail food funds.
The Alabama Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill that changes the flow of jail food funds. The bill now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.
An old state law allowed sheriffs to retain any leftover jail food funds. The practice led to several scandals. A federal judge in 2009 briefly jailed a sheriff nicknamed “Sheriff Corndog” for feeding inmates corndogs and little else.
The bill requires the food allowance to go into a separate account that can only be used for feeding prisoners. It also provides more money to cover those costs. However, a House committee stripped a provision that would have built in automatic increases to the daily rates.
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