Sheriff Cut Out of Food Chain

[conlor]

A county sheriff in Minnesota is no longer able to fatten his paycheck by providing breakfast for jail inmates.

Public records show that for eight years ending last December Hubbard County Sheriff Gary Mills charged the county up to $2 per inmate breakfast, the Star Tribune reported Monday. The county's decision to end the archaic practice prompted the sheriff to sue for lost income and led the county to countersue, the Minneapolis newspaper reported.

"People have tried to make it sound like something evil, but this is the way it was done in many rural counties going back decades," said Steven Fuller, Mills' attorney. "One of the ways a county that liked their sheriff could pay him more was to give him something extra for providing meals."

While the case is set to go to trial next spring, a tentative settlement has been reached and the county board will be asked to approve it next month, the Star Tribune said.

It's unclear how much Mills made under the arrangement, but the county did vote him a $1,000-a-month stipend to offset the loss, the newspaper said.

TDS Internet Services: News: Sheriff cut out of food chain

[Woodmonkey]

They don't say whether or not they're saving money by cutting out the sheriff.

[sabadgeman]

That's a lot of bacon butties @$2.00 each profit!!