On Tuesday the Alabama Senate approved SB228, sponsored by Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), which seeks to close the loophole that currently allows county sheriffs to personally pocket surplus funds for feeding prisoners under their care. The bill passed 31-0.

“This has been a problem, especially over the last year, and I’m glad the Senate has stepped forward with a solution. I appreciate the sheriffs working with us to update the law and end this archaic system where county sheriffs are held personally liable for the money to feed prisoners,” Orr said. “As we have seen over the last year, that creates all sorts of perverse incentives. The vast majority of sheriffs in Alabama have acted honorably, but there have been some bad actors who have taken advantage of the system.”

“It is also crucial that we slightly increase how much we spend on prisoners for their food rations—it has been decades since the formula was adjusted and inflation and food costs have risen quite a bit since it was last revisited, and that puts the local jails in a bind,” Orr continued.

Heath Taylor, Sheriff of Russell County and President of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, thanked Orr for sponsoring the bill.

“We greatly appreciate Senator Orr and the Alabama Senate for assisting us in fixing this issue. They have been very supportive and diligent in their efforts,” Taylor said. “Over the last several years the Alabama Sheriffs Association has sought repeatedly to make this change, but to no avail. Our hope is that the House of Representatives will bring closure by also passing this bill and allowing us to continue protecting our citizens and making our society a better place to live.”

Under existing law, county sheriffs receive an allowance of $1.75 per day for each inmate from the state to feed prisoners, and sheriffs are allowed to retain any surplus funds after the costs of food service have been paid.

In March 2018, AL.com reported that then-Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin had personally pocketed more than $750,000 in excess food funds.

Orr’s bill forbids sheriffs from pocketing any food funds, increases the allowance paid to the sheriff by the state for feeding prisoners from $1.75 to $2.25 per day, per prisoner, (increasing by 2 percent each year to account for inflation) and places the liability of feeding prisoners on the state, removing the burden from county sheriffs.

Sonny Brasfield, Executive Director of the Association of the County Commissions of Alabama, praised Orr’s leadership.

“For as long as I have been involved in county government, everyone has agreed that we should do something about the feeding of inmates in Alabama jails. Our sheriffs and Sen. Orr developed a bill that ensures transparency with public audits, makes it clear that public money can never be converted to private use and that the public will never hear another story about the conversion of jail money into a personal account,” Brasfield said. “We look forward to the passage of this bill in the House and to it being signed into law as quickly as possible.”

“Counties are grateful for the leadership of Sen. Orr and for the sheriffs who were dogmatic in their commitment to put this issue behind us — once and for all,” Brasfield said.

The measure also creates the Prisoner Feeding Fund in the office of the sheriff of each county into which all food allowances would be paid. The fund is earmarked exclusively to feed prisoners; at the end of each fiscal year, 25 percent of any remaining balance may be used for jail operations or law enforcement purposes only.

“We appreciate Senator Orr’s bold leadership on this bill and the willingness of the Senate to find a legislative solution to the harm created by sheriffs who put personal profits over humane treatment for Alabamians in their custody,” said Carla Crowder, Executive Director of the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. “No one deserves to be fed spoiled or insufficient food, but that is what we and others have documented for years. We are hopeful that this bill will provide a long term solution to an embarrassing chapter for some law enforcement in our state.”

Senate Bill 228 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.