Lawmakers approve change to jail food funds

Published 9:12 am Wednesday, May 1, 2019

MONTGOMERY (AP) — Alabama lawmakers have voted to end a practice that allowed some sheriffs to pocket leftover jail food funds.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday night voted 102-0 for the bill that changes the flow of jail food funds.

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An old state law allowed sheriffs to retain any leftover jail food funds. The practice led to scandals and concerns about whether inmates were being adequately fed.

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 for feeding prisoners. However, a House committee stripped a provision that would have built in automatic increases to the daily rate.