§45-11-234. Operation of jail store; inmate telephone service; Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund.

(a) The Sheriff of Chilton County, or the authorized agent of the sheriff, may operate a jail store and an inmate telephone system for prisoners within the confines of the county jail.

(b)(1) The sheriff shall establish and maintain a Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund in a bank located in Chilton County selected by the sheriff. All proceeds collected under this section shall be deposited by the sheriff into the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund. All jail store and telephone system transactions shall be accounted for in the fund.

(2) The sheriff shall keep an account of all jail store sales and telephone usage fees and transactions of the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund for annual audit by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. The jail store account and Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund shall be audited at the same time other accounts of the sheriff are audited. The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall submit a copy of the audit to the sheriff within 30 days of its completion.

(c) All profits realized in the operation of the jail store and the telephone system shall be expended at the discretion of the sheriff for law enforcement purposes in the interest of the public as the sheriff sees fit.

(d) The establishment of the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund and the use of the proceeds shall not diminish or take the place of any other source of income established for the sheriff or the operation of the jail.

(e) Any actions relating to the operation of a jail store or the inmate telephone system in the county jail prior to April 30, 2009, are ratified and confirmed. Any existing proceeds derived from the operation of a jail store or the inmate telephone system in the county jail prior to April 30, 2009, shall be deposited into the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund created by this section.

(Act 2009-323, p. 550, §§1-5.)