Alabama sheriffs feed inmates on $1.75 a day

[cynatnite]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Back in the day of chain gangs, Alabama passed a law that gave sheriffs $1.75 a day to feed each prisoner in their jails, and the sheriffs got to pocket anything that was left over. More than 80 years later, most Alabama counties still operate under this system, with the same $1.75-a-day allowance, and some sheriffs are actually making money on top of their salaries.

But exactly how much is something of a mystery because state auditors do not have access to sheriffs' private accounts.

How could anyone turn a profit feeding men and women for an entire day on less than the price of a Coke and a bag of Fritos? Sheriffs practice Depression-style frugality and rely on such things as day-old bread, cut-rate vegetables and cheap inmate labor.

Critics charge that Alabama is, in effect, paying law enforcement to skimp on food and may be rewarding sheriffs for mistreating prisoners.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_re_us/jail_food_bonus

[bitchkitty]

1. Beans and cornbread, anyone? n/t

[aquart]

2. They just noticed?

And if anybody thinks it's just Alabama, have I got bridge for you. Cheap.

[Sabriel]

3. Coming to a bookstore near you:

"Eating on $1.75 a Day"

With food prices as they are, the Alabama Sheriffs' Association had better crank out that helpful book ASAP.

[Crabby Appleton]

4. That a-hole sheriff in AZ feeds prisoners on something like 30 cents a day

peanut butter sandwiches.