Sheriffs in 55 of Alabama's 67 counties operate under the system allowing them to make money operating their jail kitchens. The law pays sheriffs $1.75 a day for each prisoner they house and lets the elected officers pocket any profit they can generate.
The law doesn't require the money to be spent at the jail or within the department; sheriffs can keep it as personal income. They historically have provided little information about profits, so the hearing offered a rare look into a practice that dates back to the Depression.
The court, while opining the practice of pocketing the money was "probably unconstitutional" ordered the Sheriff jailed for contempt of court. In 2001, he had been ordered to provide nutritious meals for the inmates and didn't.
From the testimony at the hearing:
One after another, 10 prisoners told Clemon about receiving meals that are so small they are forced to buy additional snacks from a for-profit store jailers operated inside the lockup. Most of the inmates appeared thin, with baggy jail coveralls hanging off their frames.
...Inmates told of getting half an egg, a spoonful of oatmeal and one piece of toast most days for breakfast, served at 3 a.m. daily. Lunch is usually a handful of chips and two sandwiches with barely enough peanut butter to taste.
"It looks like it was sprayed on with an aerosol can," testified Demetrius Hines, who said he has lost at least 35 pounds in five months since his arrest on drug charges....Prisoners said they never received milk until last week, when attorneys from a human rights center began asking about meals in the jail.
The Sheriff made some big bucks:
Bartlett said he personally made about $95,000 last year feeding inmates after also receiving money from the county and the U.S. government for housing federal prisoners. Despite rising food costs, Bartlett said he made a $62,000 profit in 2007 and $55,000 in 2006.
One thing that got to the judge:
...Bartlett said he and a neighboring sheriff recently split the $1,000 cost for an 18-wheeler full of corn dogs. Prisoners testified they ate corn dogs twice a day for weeks and the judge picked up on those complaints in his questioning of Bartlett.
Sheriff Bartlett will remain in jail until he comes up with a nutritious meal plan for the 300 inmates.
Update: More from the New York Times.
