Sheriff defiant amid claims he turned jail into his personal piggy bank
GADSDEN, Ala. -- An Alabama sheriff was defiant on Friday as he defended his practice of pocketing leftover money from inmates' food budget. It's been legal since 1939. But some accuse the sheriff of turning the jail into his personal piggy bank.
"Me, my family, my office, the citizens of Etowah County have been targets of miscellaneous fake news stories," Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin said.
He's proud of his jail food, the meal trays served to inmates every day. But critics say he has mostly fed himself.
"This is a jail, this is not a bed and breakfast," Entrekin said. "If you're used to eating grandma's fried chicken, ordering pizza several times a week, you're not going to be happy."
He told CBS News he "can't change the optics" of the scandal in Etowah County.
In September, Entrekin and his wife bought this $740,000 beach house along Alabama's Gulf Coast.
Because a Depression-era state law makes Alabama sheriffs personally responsible for feeding inmates, the performance bonus Entrekin gave himself is legal.
"I haven't done anything wrong," Entrekin said. "If it's wrong, then somebody needs to change the law."
He could have donated it to charity so there would be no question about it, but Entrekin said "it's just like anybody else -- anybody else who gets out here at the end of the day, you make a profit, it's yours."
Although this is public service, Entrekin said he asked to be sheriff "and it comes with that job and so I'm not going to make you happy. I promise you."
Taxpayers are paying for this, and in Etowah County, the median income is $40,000. His bonus is the talk of the county and the running joke now is "I want to be sheriff."