§ 45-48-232 — Jail Store and Inmate Telephone System

(a) The Sheriff of Marshall County or the authorized agents 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 special jail fund in a bank located in Marshall County. All proceeds collected under this section shall be deposited by the sheriff into the special jail 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 transactions of the special jail fund for audit by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, which shall be audited at the same time as 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 inmate telephone system shall be expended at the discretion of the sheriff for expenses related to the operation of the jail, for law enforcement purposes in the public’s interest, and in the discharge of the sheriff’s office as the sheriff sees fit.
(d) The establishment of the special jail fund and the use of the proceeds shall not diminish or take the place of any source of income established for the sheriff or the operation of the office.
(e) Any actions relating to the operation of a jail store or the inmate telephone system in the county jail prior to June 7, 2007, are ratified and confirmed. Any existing proceeds derived from the operation of a jail store or inmate telephone system in the county jail prior to June 7, 2007, shall be deposited into the special jail fund created by this section.

Legislative History

(Act 2007-341, p. 609, §§ 1-5.)