Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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For 80 years Alabama had a law allowing sheriffs to keep, as personal income, taxpayer money meant for feeding prisoners in their jails. This led to several high-profile cases of sheriffs starving prisoners for personal profit: most notably, Sheriff Corndog and Sheriff Beach House. It's a story about fraud and public corruption for the sake of greed.

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Sources

npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/14/593204274/alabama-sheriff-legally-took-750-000-meant-to-feed-inmates-bought-beach-house

al.com/news/2021/06/it-looks-like-just-slop-after-landing-last-two-morgan-county-sheriffs-in-court-inmates-say-jail-food-woes-continue.html

schr.org/files/post/files/HaleCountyAL.PDF

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prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/mar/6/alabama-sheriff-fights-keep-extra-funds-meant-feed-prisoners

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theweek.com/speedreads/815161/alabama-sheriff-personally-kept-15-million-that-supposed-feed-ice-detainees

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motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2018/10/alabama-voters-could-ban-sheriffs-from-pocketing-tax-money-meant-to-feed-inmates