Another Good Bill to Support this Week

HB407 would put an end to the disgraceful practice of county sheriff's getting rich by starving prisoners. Currently in Alabama there is a law (it's in the Alabama Constitution) that whatever money is left over from feeding inmates the sheriff gets to put in his pocket. Morgan Co. Sheriff Greg Bartlett pocketed over $200,000. Since there is only a $1.75 day allowance per prisoner per day one wonders how any money would be left over at all. That $1.75 covers all three meals. Can you eat or feed your family members three meals a day on $1.75?

In Jan. on 2009 Judge UW Clemon locked up Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett in his own jail for starving the inmates under his care.

HB407 would mandate that any monies left over be deposited into an account to be used ONLY for feeding inmates.

Please contact the County and Municipal Government Committee and ask them to pass HB407.

Bartlett Blames Inmates for Skimpy Food Portions

AP

DECATUR, Ala. -- Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett will speak with reporters this afternoon about his recent jailing over allegations that he scrimped on food for inmates and pocketed the money left over.

Federal Judge U.W. Clemon jailed Bartlett Wednesday on a contempt of court charge after inmates testified about skimpy meals and Bartlett admitted to legally keeping more than $200,000 over the past two years in leftover food money. A 1939 state law allows sheriffs to keep money left over from feeding prisoners.

Bartlett was released from federal custody Thursday after promising to provide healthier meals and use all money collected for jail food for that purpose only.

However, Bartlett issued a news release today, and scheduled interviews with local reporters, to refute testimony in federal court Wednesday by prisoners who claimed they were being starved.

He said he had received only 15 complaints about food after serving 328,000 meals in 2008.

"I know that the portion size issue came up, and it is possible for inmates serving in the kitchen to short another inmate they had a grudge with or just didn't like. I have been told by staff members and inmates that this may have occurred on some occasions," Bartlett said in the release. "Staff will now directly observe portion sizes of all meals."

What a man's man Sheriff Bartlett is....blaming the inmates because no one will believe them anyway, instead of taking personal responsibility for his actions, which have humiliated Alabama in the national media once again and have cost the taxpayers of Morgan Co. untold amounts of money due to the lawsuit. That's a great way to teach those under your supervision to accept responsibility for the things they have done wrong...blame them when you do wrong. What a total and complete pansy. I am sick of people like this making all of Alabama look like cavemen in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The sheriff and the entire county commission should be run out of town on a rail. The greed of the sheriff has now cost the taxpayers of Morgan Co. a lot of money. I wonder how far that $212,000 sheriff Bartlett pocketed would go towards paying the legal fees now owed by the commission not to mention the health care costs of the inmates suffering from poor nutrition?