Posted on 07/11/2018 7:52:04 PM PDT by Theoria
Alabama’s governor has begun to cut off a gravy train for the state’s sheriffs: the unspent money for prisoners’ meals that the sheriffs have long been allowed to keep for themselves.
The practice, born of a bickered-over ambiguity in a state law, has let sheriffs pocket tax dollars that over the decades almost certainly ran into the millions. To curtail the practice, Gov. Kay Ivey ordered in a memorandum to the state comptroller that payments of certain funds related to jail food “no longer be made to the sheriffs personally.” Instead, the governor wrote, the money must be paid to county general funds or official accounts.
“Public funds should be used for public purposes,” Ms. Ivey, a Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday. “It’s that simple.”
Critics of the practice welcomed the governor’s action on Wednesday but said it resolved only part of the problem because it did not apply to every type of payment related to jail food.
Even so, the move is sure to infuriate sheriffs in at least some of Alabama’s 67 counties, and the governor’s order may be tested in the courts. Economic disclosure forms filed by sheriffs suggest that many do not take the leftover money, sometimes because of local laws. But some do: Records show that the sheriff in Etowah County, in northeast Alabama, for example, has taken more than $670,000 in recent years.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Obscure law allowed Alabama sheriff to LEGALLY pocket at least $750,000 in taxpayer funds [tr]
“Every cop is a criminal” are song lyrics, not an instruction manual.
Just wow. Bread and water for all and the sheriff gets to pocket the rest.
That is one of the most preposterous laws I’ve ever heard of.
This has probably been done since the concept of prison was first enacted. You see old TV western plots about this, where some saddle tramp was passed off as a wanted criminal for the money to supposedly imprison him. It’s pretty grim when you consider if the folks who work in the justice system would want high or low recidivism rates. And what kind of conditions for the incarcerated would achieve higher or lower recidivism rates.
Freegards
Alternatively, it is not a gladiator school where they can go to “bulk up” before returning to their lives of crime.
Calorie/protein intakes by prisoners should be strictly monitored. They should be on maintenance diets
There should be a complete accounting of every dime spent on the prisoners. Any excess funds should be returned to the taxpayers.
I guess the sheriff’s will have to find other more covert ways to pocket the money. It will happen.
They're pocketing the gun license fees too.
No coffee???? The horror!
40 years ago our local sheriff left office and paid cash (quarter million) for a bar. Died the drunk’s life he lived years later. Yes, many keep the money.
Conflict of interest much?
Sounds like it is perfectly legal to do. So where’s the crime.
What is the point of having a “kosher beverage” with a bolona sandwich that almost certainly is not kosher?
Throw them in jail on bread and water.
Never understood why we wanted bulked up prisoners to go ape on guards and then be released onto society.
We don't but the ACLU (American Criminal Liberties Union) thinks it's a great idea. /s
I wondered about that as well. The troubling part is that now that "kosher" is catered to, they can't turn down "halal" requests - probably already instituted.
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