52 Alabama Sheriffs Pocket Inmates’ Food Money

The Morgan County Sheriff pockets over $100,000 in a two-year period due to an “an old law that lets sheriffs ‘help themselves’ to money leftover after feeding inmates.”

Sheriffs receive $1.75 per day from the state to feed an inmate and are allowed by state law to keep any money left over.

The Decatur Daily reports that sheriffs in 52 counties “take excess money from feeding inmates.”

Kevin Kent, a former inmate, says meals at the Morgan County Jail are skimpy and not fit for human consumption.

“I don’t think a dog that has not eaten in days would eat it because it’s pretty terrible,” Kent said. “It’s not fit for humans, but that’s all the inmates have other than snacks from the jail store.”

For some small period of time, I thought maybe I had lost my capacity to be amazed by anything in this state.