Bill introduced to stop food bonuses for sheriffs
Published 2:17 pm Thursday, February 19, 2009
A bill has been introduced in the Alabama Legislature that would prevent county sheriffs from keeping unspent money that was allocated for feeding prisoners.
Rep. Allen Treadaway of Morris on Thursday introduced a bill that would throw out a 1920s era law that allowed sheriffs to keep profits generated by the jail kitchen.
The law received attention last month when a federal judge ordered Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett jailed for providing inadequate food to inmates. The sheriff admitted he pocketed about $210,000 from his jail kitchen.
The bill calls for any excess kitchen funds to be placed in a special fund that would be used for operations in the sheriff’s office.
Treadaway is a Birmingham police lieutenant.