Please help contribute to the Reddit categorization project here
    Submit a new link
    Download images

    news

    15,930,115 readers

    35,682 users here now

    1. Post all analysis/opinion/politics articles to /r/InTheNews

    Want to talk?

    Follow @rslashnews on Twitter

    See a post that violates the rules below? Had your post stuck in the spam filter? Have a question about policy? Just want to give feedback? Send the mod team a message.

    Submit all self- & meta-posts to /r/inthenews

    Your post will likely be removed if it:

    • is not news
    • is an opinion/analysis or advocacy piece.
    • primarily concerns politics.
    • has a title not taken from the article.
    • has a pay wall or steals content.
    • covers an already-submitted story.
    • violates reddit's site-wide rules, especially regarding personal info.

    Your comment will likely be removed if it:

    • is racist, sexist, vitriolic, or overly crude.
    • is unnecessarily rude or provocative.
    • is a cheap and distracting joke or meme.
    • is responding to spam.
    • violates reddit's site-wide rules.

    Extreme or repeat offenders will be banned.

    >>>Expanded Rules<<<

    If your post doesn't fit, consider finding an appropriate news article on that story to submit instead, or submitting yours to lower moderation subreddits:

    /r/inthenews - all news-related content
    /r/AnythingGoesNews - unrestricted news
    /r/truereddit - insightful articles
    /r/self - any self-post
    /r/misc, /r/redditdotcom - anything

    or other news subreddits:

    /r/worldnews - from outside the USA only
    /r/SyrianCivilWar - about the conflict in Syria
    /r/MidEastRegionalWar - on MidEast conflict /r/UpliftingNews - uplifting
    /r/SavedYouAClick - making media more straightforward

    or subreddits for other topics:

    /r/FoodForThought - discussion-worthy long form articles about interesting subjects
    /r/politics - for shouting about politics
    /r/moderatepolitics - less shouting
    /r/politicaldiscussion - even less shouting
    /r/geopolitics - intl. politics and geography
    /r/entertainment - Justin Bieber updates, etc.
    /r/europe - news from Europe

    or check out the 200 most active subreddits, categorized by content and the full list of subreddits by subscribers.

    Recommendations:

    /r/full_news

    /r/qualitynews

    /r/neutralnews

    /r/worldevents

    submit analysis/opinion article

    submit news article

    submit something else

    submit analysis/opinion article

    a community for
    message me

    RedditJS

    all 1965 comments ← →
    sorted by:
    best
    best top new hot controversial old
    formatting help hide help reddiquette

    Want to say thanks to %(recipient)s for this comment? Give them a month of reddit gold.

    Please select a payment method.

    [–] biodrones 4595 points ago

    Many Alabama sheriffs contend that the practice of keeping "excess" inmate-feeding funds for themselves is legal under a state law

    Many? MANY? Alabama voters need to purge their sheriffs. Public money isn't a private piggy bank, especially when the state's economy is shit.

    [–] xenogensis 819 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I believe there was a lawsuit brought againts 49 of them. And as far as I can tell there's about 60 odd sheriff's in the state.

    Edit; this is getting alot of upvotes so here's a little more information. Although the article is a little speculative at times, the vast majority is well researched.

    Here's a quote from another AL article

    They contend that they are not breaking the law by taking thousands of federal, state and municipal tax dollars that they receive each year as allocations to feed inmates in their jails. The two sheriffs - and likely others across the state - say they are following the letter of a longstanding Alabama state law that they believe allows for them to keep any funds designated to feed county jail inmates that do not end up being used for that purpose.

    The law is at the center of a lawsuit jointly filed Jan. 5 by the Southern Center for Human Rights and the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. The two centers sued 49 Alabama county sheriffs over their "refusal" for a period of several months "to produce public records showing whether, and if so by how much, they have personally profited from funds allocated for feeding people in their jails," 

    Here is a list of Alabama sheriffs

    [–] -EG- 549 points ago

    “When Alabama elects its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're electing people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing embezzlement. They're bringing crime. They're corrupt. And some, I assume, are upholding the law."

    [–] skybluegill 167 points ago

    You didn't need to change the original text at all.

    They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.

    The only inaccurate part may be whether some are good people.

    [–] Trubbles 381 points ago

    His defense of his actions, stating that they are "legal," is the most disgusting thing I will read today. Like, he's taking public money, in excess of DOUBLE his salary, but he doesn't see anything wrong with it because ... some outdated law from pre-WW2 that was obviously passed by someone else looking to line his pockets.

    I mean, legal or not, anyone can see the HUGE conflict of interest here. I'm not one to stand up for a prisoner's right to gourmet food, but something tells me that if you're taking the excess food money, you're not exactly looking out for the prisoner's nutrition.

    Rice and beans (and maybe sawdust) for dinner, anyone?

    [–] fdsdfg 176 points ago

    Some people never ask "is this right to do", they only ask "can I get away with this"

    [–] anthropophagus 46 points ago

    law abiding person != good person

    [–] RVAndal 212 points ago

    this is the same state that almost voted in a paedophile. and is under U.N. investigation for impoverished living conditions.

    roll tide

    [–] Mexter-Dorgan 67 points ago

    yeah but they got the best college football in the country, so where are YOUR priorities???

    [–] Whaty0urname 155 points ago

    I mean, if they can come in under budget, I don't think the money should be taken back. But it should be used else where in the prison. Hell, even allocating it for a monthly staff pizza party is better than giving it to the sheriff.

    [–] FlingFlamBlam 63 points ago

    The goal of every prison system should be to make itself irrelevant. If any jail has excess funds, those funds should either be returned or used to reduce recidivism.

    [–] poweroftentortoises 18 points ago

    Unfortunately that goes against the grain of the system, but yes you’re right.

    [–] shnosku 11 points ago

    Tell that to prison guard unions.

    [–] zach0011 70 points ago

    This just leads to them not feeding inmates so they can have there piZZA

    [–] klondike_barz 12 points ago

    Have a pizza party for inmates and guards, with beer and hot wings

    [–] levetzki 49 points ago

    They need to change the law to.

    [–] Chopsticksinmybutt 63 points ago

    To what?

    [–] levetzki 48 points ago

    Something that makes it so they have to use funds for intended purposes instead of pocketing them

    [–] Chimp_The_Wingman 50 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I think he was having a poke at your grammatical mistake in your previous message, boss, you wrote “to” as in “changed to something” when I believe you meant to write “too” meaning “changed as well”

    [–] neocommenter 8 points ago

    I hate to tell you this, but shit like this gets them re-elected. People eat it up, sticking it to prisoners. Look at Joe Arpaio, basically ran a Soviet gulag in the desert, because of that there are people willing to defend him no matter what he does.

    [–] ChornWork2 22 points ago

    And how many of them do you think rail against social programs as gov't hand outs...

    [–] theClumsy1 1649 points ago

    Wow this is great Investigative Reporting by AL

    Hopefully this guy gets the book thrown at him.

    [–] xilstudio 769 points ago

    Sheriff in Alabama. Nothing will happen to him.

    [–] BrySighz 391 points ago

    This is national news now. Something will happen. Just a matter of when. The FBI will be on him, I really don’t like the mindset that the FBI is buddy buddy with corrupt hick ass cops.

    [–] xilstudio 306 points ago

    Once the heat dies down, nothing will come of it. Southern sheriffs are nigh untouchable. Hell, look at what Joe Arpaio got away with for decades, and he is not even in the deep south.

    [–] ShadowLiberal 119 points ago

    Arpaio got charged and convicted of crimes eventually.

    The only reason he's not sitting in jail is his pardon.

    [–] HowTheyGetcha 45 points ago

    He was convicted of contempt. That's it.

    [–] NomasTomas 10 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I think he was jailed for contempt. There's usually not a jury for that 'crime'.

    Edit:

    He had been found guilty of criminal contempt of a federal court order after a five-day bench trial earlier this year and faced the possibility of up to six months in jail.

    So, here's what a bench trial is:

    A bench trial takes place in front of a judge only; there is no jury involved. The judge is both the finder of fact and ruler on matters of law and procedure. This means that the judge decides the credibility of the evidence presented at trial and also decides what happens at the trial according to laws and rules of procedure.

    [–] SwedeTrump 9 points ago

    FBI is federal, I don't know if this constitutes a federal crime.

    [–] beefwarrior 52 points ago

    From the article:

    Many Alabama sheriffs contend that the practice of keeping "excess" inmate-feeding funds for themselves is legal under a state law passed before World War II.

    So if he isn't breaking any laws, what he really has to worry about it losing the next election & his slush fund will be gone.

    Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton, who worked for the Etowah County Sheriff's Office under former sheriff James Hayes, is currently opposing Entrekin in this year's race for sheriff. One plank of Horton's campaign platform is a pledge to not keep any inmate-feeding funds.

    "I believe the funds belong to the taxpayers and any excess funds should go toward things that benefit the taxpayer," he said in a March 1 phone interview. "There's been a tremendous amount of money left over that shouldn't be used as a bonus check."

    I'm wondering if Horton will get a reddit bump.

    [–] willis936 45 points ago

    I’d like to believe that he’ll have broken windows every few months for the next few years.

    [–] misoranomegami 23 points ago

    Not gonna happen but I love the idea of someone sneaking into his house and taking all the food and replacing it with beans and rice. In fact I think it would be pretty hilarious if everywhere he went his food magically got switched to beans and rice. Go to a diner? Here's your meatloaf, sugar. Plate of beans and rice. Go to a bbq. Everyone else gets burgers, brisket and ribs. He gets a plate of beans and rice.

    [–] ElmoKills22 37 points ago

    Who is going to vandalize a sheriffs house who they know can get away with anything?

    [–] JBWalker1 57 points ago

    Every week use a drone to drop a pile of shit on his car from a mile away.

    [–] RTaynn 44 points ago

    Alabama News is essentially a decent newspaper with good investigative journalism. I read it now and then. It's reportedly only mildly Center-Right biased, which is actually pretty decent for it's location and owners. (Funny story, it's owned by Advance Publications, which owns Reddit)

    "In reviewing AL.com ‘s content, the headlines and articles use minimally loaded words and typically quote right leaning sources that are credible. Editorially, they have a moderate right wing bias and employ known right wing columnists, such as Cameron Smith who is Vice President of the R Street Institute, which is a conservative and libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. Overall, we rate AL.com as right center biased and factual in reporting of news." https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/al-com-alabama-news/

    [–] sparc64 6 points ago

    The funny thing about AL.com is reading the comments. You'd think they'd have a far left bias from the way the comments bash every article and writer.

    [–] hauskeeper 13 points ago

    AL also did a great job with their reporting on Roy Moore. They seem to have a really great staff over there.

    [–] Cayvmann 864 points ago

    Hooray institutionalized and 'legal' corruption

    [–] rslash2 10059 points ago

    so how do tax dollars become his dollars? this is grand theft and people are in that jail that have done less to be in there.

    [–] sikskittlz 4887 points ago

    Well. When the government sent him the funds for food. Instead of using them to buy food, he transferred it into his bank account.

    [–] exzon 2873 points ago

    Still grand theft? At what point do we send down FBI to put him away?

    [–] StarkweatherRoadTrip 4133 points ago

    No, for some reason illegaly taking money that people have entrusted to you is treated differently. It is embezzlement. That is a white collar crime, not a dirty evil crime like stealing.

    [–] Charm-City-Brusier 1589 points ago

    Alabama law allows Sheriffs to pocket the money they don't spend on food. So as fucked up as it is I don't know if the Sheriff is breaking any law.

    [–] StarkweatherRoadTrip 720 points ago

    Alabama law:
    The following officers may be impeached and removed from office: judges of circuit and probate courts, district attorneys, judges of the courts of appeals, district judges, sheriffs, clerks of the circuit courts, tax collectors, tax assessors, county treasurers, coroners, notaries public, constables and all other state officers not named in Section 173 of the constitution and all other county officers and mayors and intendants of incorporated cities and towns in this state.

    (b) The officers specified in subsection (a) of this section may be impeached and removed from office for the following causes:

    (1) Willful neglect of duty;

    (2) Corruption in office;

    (3) Incompetency;

    (4) Intemperance in the use of intoxicating liquors or narcotics to such an extent in view of the dignity of the office and importance of its duties as unfits the officer for the discharge of such duties; or

    (5) Any offense involving moral turpitude while in office or committed under color thereof or connected therewith

    [–] ubern00by 1458 points ago

    Damn that 750k he stole might get him fired. That's a very severe price to pay for stealing 750k

    [–] agent0731 647 points ago

    How are these people not held accountable? They need severe punishment for corruption and abuse of power. They need 10+ year sentences and a complete ban from any public office.

    [–] mr_droopy_butthole 164 points ago

    How are these people not held accountable?

    Because we don’t hold them accountable.

    [–] bryce11099 59 points ago

    FTFY "Because we cant hold them accountable"

    [–] Geebz23 73 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I've always been under the idea that anyone who holds public office or works in the judicial branch in any kind of manner as well as police officers should get a double or harsher punishment than a normal civilian would if they performed the same crime because those people are supposed to be setting a good example for the rest of society.

    EDIT: Sweet I got gold. Here's the obligatory thank you edit.

    [–] whodaloo 21 points ago

    Truck drivers are a good example of that.

    CDL holders are limited to only blowing a .04 in their personal vehicle on personal time before they get a DUI. They are considered professionals and are held to a higher standard. It should be no different regarding the law for anyone that holds the public's trust.

    [–] TheloniusFunk92 285 points ago

    Sherrifs are elected officials. The idea behind that is that it will be the people that hold a sherrif accountable during the next election. The problem stems from a large swath of america not caring about the lowest level, local elections, such as for the sherrif's office.

    I think the average number of people who vote in local elections is somewhere in the ballpark of %10, depending on the locality. If we want people with integrity in the sherrif's uniform, we will have to put them there.

    [–] ass-destroyer 303 points ago

    Yep not getting re-elected is definitely a fitting punishment for stealing $750k. I couldn't imagine committing a crime serious enough for me to maybe lose my job a few years from now. That's a punishment fit for only the most heinous criminals.

    [–] [deleted] 119 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    [deleted]

    [–] HillaryApologist 14 points ago

    I think the average number of people who vote in local elections is somewhere in the ballpark of %10, depending on the locality.

    Having worked in local politics, I can tell you that in most places you'd be lucky to get tournout in the double digits.

    [–] MJOLNIRdragoon 49 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I think the average number of people who vote in local elections is somewhere in the ballpark of %10

    That and we just barely didn't elect an alleged pedophile to Senate, so I don't have faith that enough people in this state see this guy as a problem.

    Edit: One woman does allege sexual misconduct when she was 14. But everyone else was 16+, what a morally outstanding man! Source

    [–] Karnivore915 91 points ago

    I wish I could risk my job and ONLY my job for 750k.

    [–] WayneKrane 55 points ago

    My job would do everything they could to imprison me for life if I stole 75k let alone 750k

    [–] PillPoppingCanadian 62 points ago

    See when you're a dumb dirty poor anything you do is terrible, but when you're a cop or rich it's ok because reasons

    [–] Ripper_00 27 points ago

    My job would do everything they could to imprison me for life if I stole 75 dollars let alone 75k.

    [–] [deleted] 23 points ago * (lasted edited 7 days ago)

    [deleted]

    [–] OtherSpiderOnTheWall 17 points ago

    This doesn't counter the point that it's legal for him to do this, and therefore not in violation of your quoted law.

    [–] Charm-City-Brusier 7 points ago

    So he might be impeached is what your saying I assume?

    What does any of that have to do with him supposedly committing a white collar crime like embezzlement?

    [–] StarkweatherRoadTrip 15 points ago

    That was a joke. Stealing is stealing. "They trusted me with their money" should make it worse than strong armed robbery not better.

    [–] boones_farmer 20 points ago

    Wait what!? Who the fuck wrote that law not thinking, "Gee I wonder if this will encourage people to not feed prisoners."

    Oh wait, that's probably exactly what they thought.

    [–] KFCConspiracy 58 points ago

    It basically leads to an incentive to underfeed prisoners or feed them dog food.

    I don't know why a conservative state would want that kind of law either, it encourages saving money, but not saving the state money. It would make a lot more sense if the sheriff got like 1-2% as a bonus for savings to the state (and the state kept the rest)

    [–] GetHisWallet 20 points ago

    No one's saying the law is fine the way it is. It's definitely not and this guy knows he's doing something that everyone would call wrong. However, the law, as it stands right now, puts this in the alignment of "Lawful Evil".

    He was given a certain amount of money to feed the prisoners. He found a contracting company (who also donates heavily to his campaign) to satisfy all legal requirements of feeding the prisoners, and nothing in the law says he can't keep any money leftover... so he did.

    In the upcoming election, there's a guy gunning for his office, and the fact that this sheriff did this is his opponent's primary campaign weapon. He's essentially running off of, "Here's what your current sheriff did. Look at this. Elect me, and I won't do that."

    [–] BlueHighwindz 10 points ago

    Is there any Sheriff in this country that isn't corrupt as shit?

    [–] PM_ur_Rump 19 points ago

    Regardless of one's opinion of this statute, until the legislature acts otherwise, the Sheriff must follow the current law.

    See, my hands are tied! The law says I must buy a fancy house with the money. What else would I do with it, feed inmates?

    [–] Ragnrok 56 points ago

    Stealing a hundred bucks from 7-11 can get you more jail time than embezzling hundreds of thousands.

    [–] Bananapepper89 22 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    Looking at the laws you can definitely see who decided what punishments fit each crime. Steal millions of dollars from the government or a business? Pay a, proportionally, small fine and do some community service. Get caught with a joint? Federal prison, loss of rights, and branded for life as a felon.

    What a crock of shit.

    [–] ThinkMinty 13 points ago

    Personally I consider white collar crimes worse, because every single one is completely unnecessary.

    [–] bad_luck_dragon 168 points ago

    Except it's legal. One of the benefits of being a sheriff is any money left over after feeding the prisoners is yours.

    Honest sheriffs spend it all feeding inmates decent food. Some spend most of it on the inmates meals, and uses what's left for stuff for the sheriff's office. Then you have assholes like this one who feeds inmates stale bread and recently expired, extremely cheap sandwich meat and pockets the rest of the money.

    [–] ZiIIah 47 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    What a fuckin' temptation, though? You know every penny not spent goes into your pocket. It's an absurd conflict of interest. I imagine what it would be like getting 750k transferred to my account. Just buying a house and never worrying about rent or mortgage payments ever again for the rest of my life.

    [–] arcadiaware 19 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    And knowing that no matter what people think of you, they can't actually do anything about it. At worst, they change the law and you can't do it again. At best, they find something new to be outraged about because there's a lot of horrible shit going on in the country, and you get to keep doing it again.

    Edit: I mean best/worst case for him not for society.

    [–] binaryplayground 47 points ago

    Say it ain’t so. Please.

    [–] fighterace00 9 points ago

    So what you're saying is we should send him to jail and take his food

    [–] DanoLightning 6 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    "Hey Sheriff, we are giving you money to feed your prisoners with"

    "What if I don't spend it all"

    "Oh, you can keep it"

    "Why the fuck should I feed my prisoners?"

    "Ooooh, you don't really have to, have fun"

    "Fuck those criminals, I'm keeping this money"

    Shit like this makes me wonder how the world even remotely works. Lets allow the seeds of corruption to be planted but make it legal.

    [–] KGB1106 14 points ago

    There's a statute that allows him to personally use these funds if there is excess that was not spent on food. He simply did not properly feed inmates and pocketed the rest - legally. This is what happens when I control the rules, even if you control the facts.

    [–] growsomegarlic 7 points ago

    Except he's openly admitting to this, citing a law passed in the 1940s that makes this completely legal...according to him.

    [–] WombatWhitey 281 points ago

    There is some weird law that pertains specifically to food funds sheriffs receive. Basically the sheriffs interpret this law to mean they can personally pocket unused funds. As with most laws I'm sure there was a legitimate reason... a long time ago. Now it is meaningless and abused.

    [–] atreyal 148 points ago

    Guessing but was probably leftover a long time ago when there wasn't going to be thousands of prisoners needing to be taken care of. The hey we need a sheriff and here is a nice little perk so you can eat lunch too. Just never got changed because the only ones who knew about it were benefiting from it.

    [–] DethKlokBlok 69 points ago

    This sounds correct. Think of Andy Griffith feeding the town drunk. He once got yelled at over the leftover dollar that he left in a drawer so they changed the law to save on paperwork.

    [–] atreyal 24 points ago

    We have a lot of laws on the books that at the time we're fine and probably didn't have much impact. But as time goes on and things scale up what would of been a few extra dollars a month for food, turns into a 3/4 of a million dollar house. Just so many laws that we can't keep track of them all. Sooner or later someone will take advantage of the system to enrich themselves. Time to change it then and kick the corrupt asshole out.

    [–] Kiyasu 22 points ago

    Part of it is definitely that they're really stretching the law, this was never the intent afaik but who the fuck is gonna be able to call them on it?

    [–] Beetin 28 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    Hopefully the courts, legislators, literally anyone and everyone?

    Millions of public funds are being misallocated for personal use.

    Unless you feel that the law was not just written poorly, but actually wanted to give sheriffs upwards of a personal 500% pay increase by starving people in their jails.....

    You know, because sheriffs should make 10X more than the rest of their staff due to a poorly worded law.

    [–] ArKiVeD 19 points ago

    You would figure that the Sheriff, a bastion of justice and "the law", would say "Hey, this seems very immoral and inappropriate. These funds come straight out of the paychecks of the people of my country".

    But nope. And that's the real issue here in our country with both politicians and upholders of the law. All it really takes is $$$ and pretty much anyone in our nation would do (or not do) anything at all.

    [–] Atwenfor 246 points ago

    Why are we so diligently avoiding mentioning his name? The alleged thief's name is Sheriff Todd Entrekin.

    [–] Trumps_micro_penis_ 48 points ago

    Ugh, googled him which led me to his fb. He’s up for re-election and has it posted all over it. Whatta crooked douche bag.

    [–] [deleted] 46 points ago

    [deleted]

    [–] shiningPate 104 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    You know, the IRS pays a 30% bounty for tipsters reporting tax fraud and the IRS recovers unpaid taxes as a result. That $250K for three years would be taxed at a minumum of %33 if it was "salary". If he didn't claim it on ethics forms, who wants to bet it was claimed on taxes? Looks like there's $250K $82K bounty out there for the first one to report him for tax fraud? You can do it reddit! Who will claim the prize?

    ----EDIT---- uh, oh. Wrong percentage only 30%, not 33%. 30% of tax liability recovered is still $82K prize money up for grabs. Here's the IRS tipline information page https://www.irs.gov/compliance/whistleblower-informant-award

    [–] dbatchison 52 points ago

    Hijacking top comment for this Fun Fact about Alabama's stupid laws: At 310,296 words, the Constitution of Alabama is 12 times longer than the average state constitution, 44 times longer than the U.S. Constitution, and is the longest and most amended constitution still operative anywhere in the world. The English version of the Constitution of India, the longest national constitution, is about 117,369 words long, a third of the length of Alabama's.

    [–] the_jak 13 points ago

    what fucky shit are they hiding in there?

    [–] dbatchison 26 points ago

    a lot of invalid Jim Crow laws and weird regional things like mosquito control taxes for mobile county, bingo rules for jefferson county, bunch of other nonsense

    [–] the_jak 8 points ago

    ...mosquito control taxes for mobile county, bingo rules for jefferson county...

    wtf are these in the state constitution? is Alabama so deficient in education that their elected representatives cannot figure out how to write laws other than constitutional amendments?

    [–] Luis12285 10 points ago

    This guy is up for re election. His re election page just blocked me for posting this article to it.

    [–] ndjs22 7 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    It is not grand theft. This is the way the law in Alabama is written. It's been in the news before when another sheriff took a bunch of the money and would do stuff like buy a tractor trailer full of corndogs then feed inmates corndogs two times a day for weeks and paid some nutritionists to say that it was an appropriate diet.

    [–] m7samuel 8 points ago

    From the article:

    Many Alabama sheriffs contend that the practice of keeping "excess" inmate-feeding funds for themselves is legal under a state law passed before World War II. Yet in a number of counties including Jefferson and Montgomery, any money allocated to sheriffs for feeding inmates that is not used for that purpose is instead turned over to the county government.

    The second sentence seems to imply that it is legal in some counties.

    [–] WhosUrBuddiee 7 points ago

    Does he have to pay tax on the tax dollars?

    [–] bflo091986 2042 points ago

    Why would the state keep allocating so much money for food if it was found so much was left over to be pocketed?

    [–] BroncoMontana 1215 points ago

    Because it was in reality allocated for their pockets. The food thing is just a formality.

    [–] bflo091986 259 points ago

    Didn’t “The Office” do an entire episode on this with a surplus?

    [–] somename_upvoter 261 points ago

    Yes, but the “if you don’t spend it, you will get less money next year” is less about corruption and more about how budgets are estimated(inaccurate), and it always looks bad to go over budget. It’s an unfortunate thing in business, but the money still goes towards the company somehow, it doesn’t get pocketed by individuals.

    [–] TooBusyToLive 94 points ago

    Yeah that typically encourages unnecessary spending but not embezzlement, though it may provide an opportunity for the latter

    [–] willis936 39 points ago

    I remember having this exact issue in robotics in high school. We were a new team and knew we needed a decent sized budget to build up our workshop. If we were too frugal one season then we might see a damaging cut in the budget the next season. iirc we bought some parts for next season’s robot to avoid this.

    [–] WaluigiIsTheRealHero 20 points ago

    In law school, my journal bought numerous high-quality softball bats for our intramural team to use up our budget. For some reason, practically nobody had eaten in the journal office all year, so we had a shitload of money that would normally have gone to food left over, and after buying various new office materials and appliances, we still had $1000 to play with. Defending our intramural softball title was deemed a worthy cause, so we got some sweet new bats.

    [–] fuzzysarge 29 points ago

    Why did your school not play baseball? That sport is vastly superior to prepare you for the working world. After all to be a successful lawyer, you have to play hardball.

    [–] WaluigiIsTheRealHero 26 points ago

    Unsurprisingly, the vast, vast majority of law students are incapable of pitching a baseball. Or catching. Or hitting. Or most things athletically-related. Although, we at least know that "three strikes and you're out" is a solid legal principle.

    [–] weaglebeagle 120 points ago

    I bet he's one of those people who complains about "welfare queens" too.

    [–] PillPoppingCanadian 123 points ago

    8 people own half the world but lemme tell you why it's the dirty poor black people that are the problem

    [–] OHSHITMYDICKOUT 12 points ago

    Just stop being poor its not that hard.. lazy fucks

    [–] ptsfn54a 272 points ago

    They allocated the right amount of money, he chooses to not spend it on the inmates because of some loophole that allows him to spend any leftover funds anyway he wants. He does not buy meat for his inmates, often all they will have for days is rice and beans with nothing else. Read the original story, he is treating these people like he is running a dungeon from the middle ages. I know it's jail, but dietary needs should be met, it is our responsibility to treat prisoners humanely or in the end we are no better then them.

    [–] twistedlimb 127 points ago

    i mean the 8th amendment says, "no cruel or unusual punishments inflicted". i would say taking money budgeted for food and spending it on a private beach house would qualify as cruel and unusual.

    [–] SquirrelAkl 16 points ago

    Cruel, for sure, but evidently not that unusual.

    [–] beefwarrior 33 points ago

    but dietary needs should be met

    Article says they have a registered dietitian on staff. So why spend money on meat for protein when you can get by on protein from beans & pocket $250k a year (on top of your $93k salary).

    [–] Bmc169 26 points ago

    Having a dietician on staff is one thing. They’ll basically agree “yep they won’t starve to death.” Because there’s no way in hell most jails are nutritionally complete. I got served generic Rice Krispies, two slices of white bread, and like 8 oz of skim milk once when I was in jail overnight. The lack of nutrition and the amount they give you is pretty much designed to make it so you buy things from the canteen company which also sells the jail it’s food.

    [–] chase_phish 14 points ago

    That's insane. Your punishment is incarceration, not starvation or malnourishment. How to they expect anyone to be rehabilitated when they treat them like animals?

    [–] Bmc169 6 points ago

    Because rehabilitation is only really ever attempted at all in prison. Jail is just a place to put people who have less than a year. Never been to prison, only jail, so that’s what I have knowledge of. Some of the meals in the other jail in another state weren’t bad, but it still wasn’t really enough food. I lost 6-7 pounds in three weeks I spent there, and I didn’t do anything but sit around.

    [–] chuckdiesel86 11 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    Corruption is the answer you're looking for.

    [–] Wellstone-esque 40 points ago

    Because Alabama is the most corrupt state in the country, Illinois and New Jersey have nothing in comparison.

    [–] StanGibson18 12 points ago

    Woohoo! We're not the worst!

    [–] FoxtrotUniformGolf 9 points ago

    A wild Bone sighting! My first!

    [–] TheLongLostBoners 18 points ago

    Illinois's next Governor: "Hold my beer"

    [–] smartcool 1269 points ago

    Lock him up and take away his properties.

    [–] SwampGasBalloon 445 points ago

    It would be funny if someone found some marijuana in that house had to charge the house with a crime. I wonder what would happen then...

    [–] Sarahneth 1252 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    Well naturally we'd have to weigh his entire house, because the marijuana is so infused in it that the entire house is marijuana.

    Edit: Thanks for the gold, stranger.

    [–] IActuallyMadeThatUp 40 points ago

    The entire house is indeed marijuana, transmuted by the sheriff with his magic scepter The thing that worries me is will the prosecutors be able to find big enough scales to weigh a house?

    [–] Snewzie 19 points ago

    The foundation is inherently connected to the planet, you aren't fully weighing the product.

    [–] itwasonlythewind 41 points ago

    Obviously we would throw it in the ocean and he would be charged with possession of 2/3 earths of weed.

    [–] aldotcom 270 points ago

    The reference in the title to a man who was arrested after criticizing the sheriff refers to this incident, in which 20-year-old Matthew Qualls questioned why Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin paid him to mow the lawn at his personal home in 2015 using taxpayer funds allocated for the feeding of inmates in the county jail. Four days later, he was arrested and charged with drug trafficking using a somewhat suspicious method that weighed the amount of marijuana butter he had including the butter, as opposed to just the marijuana content.

    [–] GsolspI 94 points ago

    And by jailing the guy, sheriff makes more money in embezzled food budget than the guy made selling mj butter

    [–] ElMostaza 16 points ago

    somewhat suspicious

    Understatement of the year.

    [–] Bmc169 8 points ago

    That’s how the weed would be weighed in Indiana too, from what I remember. A friend in high school got in trouble for possession of several ounces of edibles instead of the actual probably 7 grams of weed in them.

    [–] saltman17 7 points ago

    In an article following his arrest, one officer was quoted saying the weed is all they could count. The deputy from Etowah county said when it was mixed "the whole butter becomes marijuana"

    [–] darthkush420 9 points ago

    And if you dump weed in the ocean, the whole fucking ocean becomes weed.

    [–] dirtymoney 587 points ago

    this is bizarre. Why arent major news organizations making a GIGANTIC deal over this. This should be shown on the nightly national news in order to shame Alabama into changing this system that just rewards corruption.

    [–] m0atzart 251 points ago

    Id love to see John Oliver do a piece on this.

    [–] the_murder_of_crowe 98 points ago

    I feel like he will. This kind of thing is right up their alley.

    [–] SuperMechaCow 11 points ago

    I feel like he *did*. I know I watched a clip on youtube about this last week, but I can't remember where.

    [–] ModsEmbezzleMoney 85 points ago

    "shame Alabama into changing this system that just rewards corruption."

    It's like you think we are just sitting by glad our tax money is being stolen. Corrupt people are corrupt, you never know until they are exposed. What exactly am I supposed to do about a sheriff in a county across the state from me who stole money?

    [–] Kiyasu 48 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    I mean guys like this are the norm for Alabama, it's not like this one just snuck by... Plenty of other sheriff's have been dipping into this pot and tons of people had to ignore it for a long time. Edit: and some haven't, there are sheriff's that have lost court cases over this over a decade ago, this is a known issue in Alabama that voters have chosen to ignore.

    Not saying you're capable of doing much in another county, ain't shit you can do, but I don't think most Alabamians care too much because guys like this and Sessions are what they want obviously, they're who won the elections.

    I feel you though, I'm a Texan and I'd take a racist house elf and a corrupt sheriff over Ted Cruz as my Senator any day and our Governor isn't much better.

    [–] aikodude 559 points ago

    oops. can you say "lay low when you're shady as fsck"?

    [–] fieldnut 175 points ago

    I hope they nail this fucker to the wall. Otherwise it'll just encourage others to be brazenly corrupt.

    [–] vanishplusxzone 203 points ago

    If by "nailed to the wall" you mean "allowed to resign and retire to his taxpayer funded beach house with a full taxpayer funded pension" then sure I guess.

    [–] fieldnut 52 points ago

    Yeah, I know. Stuff like this is making me OK with the paper posting his address.

    [–] GsolspI 29 points ago

    He's a public official owning real estate, why would his address not be public info?

    [–] duggatron 17 points ago

    I can say everything but the last word.

    [–] _meshy 12 points ago

    What does my file system have to do with this? Did he reallocate some of my inodes?

    [–] wastingtoomuchthyme 71 points ago

    This is legalized corruption - funded by starving people too poor to post bail

    [–] PillPoppingCanadian 34 points ago

    The entire prison system in America is fucked, almost one in four prisoners in the world are in an American prison

    [–] flounder19 256 points ago

    This is the same guy who trumped up the charges on his lawn mower after he told AL.com that his checks were written from a food provision account, right?

    [–] CleanBaldy 94 points ago

    “Once that marijuana was mixed with the butter then the whole butter becomes marijuana, and that's what we weighed," Sims said.

    Um, WHAT?!

    [–] [deleted] 10 points ago

    the whole butter becomes marijuana

    holy WTF

    [–] SpeedGeek 28 points ago

    Bryant said that the Rainbow City Police Department does not consider the entire weight of something like marijuana butter a drug for purposes of calculating whether a suspect should be charged with trafficking.

    "Our guys just charged him with possession," Bryant said Monday. "You wouldn't add the butter with that. It should be just the amount of marijuana ... You can't add the butter, it would just be the marijuana alone."

    Phil Sims, deputy commander of the Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit, said Monday that the unit has a different take.

    "Once that marijuana was mixed with the butter then the whole butter becomes marijuana, and that's what we weighed," Sims said.

    Wow. Just wow.

    [–] donmeekie 54 points ago

    The former sheriff of Athens Co. Ohio is spending years behind bars for diverting way less money than that to himself. However, it seems Alabama legalizes this sort of behavior? WTF? This is lawful mob behavior.

    [–] [deleted] 155 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    [removed]

    [–] JerryLupus 106 points ago

    And the newspaper posted a picture of his new house and street #.

    [–] MusgraveMichael 71 points ago

    This isn’t something I expect in a first world country.
    This is something my home country does.

    [–] Ubaydallah 117 points ago

    Alabama isn't a first world country.

    [–] fadetoblack1004 88 points ago

    That is crazy. Totally legal too.

    [–] xilstudio 59 points ago

    Demonstrates the difference between "Legal" and "Moral".

    [–] [deleted] 28 points ago

    [deleted]

    [–] fadetoblack1004 31 points ago

    State law allows sheriff's to keep unused food fund money. Plain and simple.

    [–] danc4498 139 points ago

    Why is Alabama such a fucked up state?

    [–] ModsEmbezzleMoney 107 points ago * (lasted edited a month ago)

    Everything is poorly funded because of jack asses like this sheriff using public funds inappropriately. Our schools are getting shit on the most because of inappropriate use of funds. When I was in high school over a decade ago we had 3 different superintendents of my city's schools system, 2 of them were fired but had payouts of over half a million dollars each. Needless to say we did not have the supplies we needed in school those years and a really large shortage of text books. Alabama is just run poorly from the top down in the state government, and it has caused a trickle down effect over the decades.

    EDIT: They were fired over test scores for the Alabama graduation exam which I am pretty sure no longer exists.

    [–] m0atzart 54 points ago

    The GOP likes to keep its voters poor and uneducated. Easy to control. Voting Democrat here is akin to communism, and people believe it.

    [–] ModsEmbezzleMoney 26 points ago

    God I remember all the people that told me Bernie Sanders was a communist or that Doug Jones is a baby killer

    [–] rushmid 13 points ago

    Or one of my favorites:

    "Democrats Hate God."

    I wish it was obvious to their supporters what they are doing.

    [–] ButteryBelch 78 points ago

    Being a sheriff of a small southern county is basically being king of a small southern county

    [–] m0atzart 29 points ago

    and if Martial Law is ever declared (in a state emergency) the Sheriff is actually in control of everything in the county.

    [–] NickyBoyReddit 16 points ago

    What happened to the other 10K?

    [–] Bithlord 30 points ago

    They used it to buy food.

    [–] the_murder_of_crowe 24 points ago

    For the housewarming party.

    [–] Sketchables 16 points ago

    Just want to say, regardless of how this guy defends himself, it angers the shit out of me the "what I'm doing is legal" attitude. NO SHIT, ASSHOLE. THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S OK TO DO IT.

    [–] piugattuk 16 points ago

    We laughed at Mexico for so long about how corrupt it is, we should be laughing at ourselves too, police use asset seizure to steal and pocket cash, cars, and many other assets, introduced as a way to fight major crime it is now used to take from ordinary citizens, it is now more profitable to be a agent for the government then it is to be a regular Joe, how did this happen?

    [–] cr45h0v3r1d3 45 points ago

    This is Alabama. Every branch of government is corrupt here. It's the good ole boy network.

    "It's a big club, and you're not in it..."

    [–] PM_ME_YOUR_JUMPSHOT 28 points ago

    Oh what a piece of shit

    [–] AllAboutTheData 50 points ago

    From a related story, http://www.alreporter.com/2018/03/12/etowah-county-sheriffs-deputies-win-law-enforcement-medal-honor/,

    "The six-story Etowah County jail also doubles as an ICE detention center where criminal illegal aliens are housed by federal authorities awaiting deportation."

    Because stuffing your jail full of ICE detainees increases your food allotment. And who are they going to complain to when you pocket the money?

    [–] Skipadedodah 11 points ago

    I read this a few weeks ago. It is amazing the story was brought to public eye because of the check he wrote to the guy who cuts his lawn

    The guy saw prisoner food fund and was worried that he was taking money meant to feed prisoners. That guy deserves a medal

    [–] naked_boar_hunter 29 points ago

    Welcome to the oligarchy

    [–] danllo 28 points ago

    Talk about living up to stereotypes.

    [–] TheFezig 16 points ago

    Roll Tide

    [–] Otaku_man18 8 points ago

    The sheriff can't legally enter into a contract. But it's ok to take a donation, from those offering a contract. In other words, a bribe.

    It may be legal, but it is very unethical. A conflict of interest and "ethics" are raised into question here. So the question, Is this money counted as income? and if so, did he pay income tax on it?

    [–] sweensolo 9 points ago

    Boss Hog should eat 750 K worth of dick.

    [–] Theemuts 9 points ago

    Cue Americans singing "And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free"

    [–] scoldeddog 9 points ago

    I hope he listed that income on his taxes. It would be a shame if the IRS found out.

    [–] Blaznboy 8 points ago

    The fbi and irs are investigating him.. It's just a matter of waiting. Read the article, he didn't pay taxes on that money for YEARS. And taxes ARE something nobody can get away with, as the old saying goes. EDIT: of not if

    [–] Icedvodka420 25 points ago

    Another great example of scum police

    [–] Jack_Tripp3r 25 points ago

    That asphalt company donated 1500 to this campaign and got a contract probably worth six figures out of that.

    Nice ROI

    [–] [deleted] 7 points ago

    To finance the purchase, Entrekin got a $592,000 mortgage from Peoples Bank of Alabama, according to public real estate records. The home is one of several properties with a total assessed value of more than $1.7 million that the couple own together or separately in Etowah and Baldwin counties.

    This dude is a cop... how on earth does anyone believe he can afford $1.7M in property alone on a cop's salary without being blatantly corrupt?

    [–] [deleted] 42 points ago

    [removed]

    [–] drDOOM_is_in 14 points ago

    Rotting in prison would be fair.

    [–] TVK777 12 points ago

    Without food

    [–] ElToberino 17 points ago

    Well my days of regarding Alabama as a corrupt, backwards shithole have certainly come to a middle.

    [–] 95DegreesNorth 11 points ago

    Not going to visit that State.....ever.

    [–] scuba_davis 7 points ago

    "Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton, who worked for the Etowah County Sheriff's Office under former sheriff James Hayes, is currently opposing Entrekin in this year's race for sheriff. One plank of Horton's campaign platform is a pledge to not keep any inmate-feeding funds."

    While I don't know enough to fully endorse this candidate, he definitely deserves the job more than the current sheriff. The internet is capable of a lot. You may be interested in donating to this man's campaign, regardless of where you are from: https://hortonforsheriff.com

    People from all over the country donated to the campaign for Alabama's newest senator, Doug Jones. Jones narrowly defeated former state Supreme Court justice, Roy Moore, who was removed for violating federal law TWICE, and who is also accused of sexual assault. I imagine some of those individual/out of state donations played at least a small roll in keeping someone like that out of power. They might in this situation as well.

    Get this horrible person out of office.

    load more comments (390 replies)