A bill to place new restrictions on sheriffs’ use of taxpayer money to feed jail inmates has passed the Alabama Senate.

That bill, by Senator Arthur Orr of Decatur comes in response to multiple reports of sheriffs in several counties pocketing some of the money intended for inmate meals. Orr stated that the bill would prohibit the sheriffs from using any state, federal or municipal prisoner food funds for personal use, or for salaries in their offices, by closing a loophole in what he called an “archaic state law,”.  Orr does stress that most sheriffs have been using jail food money properly, but there have been documented cases of abuse.

Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor, President of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, said the association supports the bill. 

Orr’s bill increases the state allowance to sheriffs to feed inmates from $1.75 to $2.25 a day. Starting in 2021, the allowance would increase 2% a year.

The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 31 to 0, and will now move to the House of Representatives.

(AL.COM/www.al.com)