 dakotayii says: When Etowah County Sheriff James Hayes died in October, thousands of dollars in jail food money went to his estate because it was kept in his personal accounts. His successor, Todd Entrekin, said he and his wife took out a personal loan for $150,000 the day he took office to purchase jail food until his first state payment came through. According to legislative researchers, the $1.75-a-day-per-inmate system in Alabama dates to 1927, back when sheriffs and other county officeholders in many states were paid fixed fees for services performed and were allowed to keep whatever was left over. All but 12 of Alabama's 67 county jails remain on the fee system, with the state paying a total of $5 million to 55 sheriffs last year. The $1.75 fee was fairly generous at the time, with a reasonable profit built into it for the sheriffs. Besides the $1.75, sheriffs get additional state payments of as much as $11.25 a day for the entire jail. But in a jail with hundreds of inmates, that works out to just a few extra pennies per person for food. By comparison, the government pays schools $2.47 for serving a single free meal under the National School Lunch Program for low-income students. Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said he has figured out how to feed prisoners on $1.75 a day and still turn a little profit, and he doesn't get complaints about the grub. He said he is constantly on the lookout for good deals on food, pays two cooks and supplements their work with trusty labor, and wastes nothing, turning today's leftovers tomorrow's soup. Blakely, the Limestone County sheriff, said he searches for deals on fresh vegetables, eggs and milk. Prisoners get three meals on wee... Are they sheriffs or cooks? They are businessmen/politicians. |
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