Alabama sheriff who reportedly pocketed $750,000 in inmate meal funds loses re-election

Todd Entrekin, the Alabama sheriff who reportedly pocketed approximately $750,000 in inmate meal funds, lost his Republican primary bid for re-election last week.

What's a brief history?

Entrekin took about $750,000 in jail food funds, and later purchased a $740,000 beach home, according to a March report.

The money was part of funds earmarked as jail food funds for the last three years, and reportedly comes from federal, state, and municipal sources.

Entrekin admitted that he pocketed the funds, pointing to a pre-World War II state law that allowed sheriffs to keep excess funds not used for inmate food provisions.

“As you should be aware, Alabama law is clear as to my personal financial responsibilities in the feeding of inmates,” Entrekin told AL.com. “Regardless of one’s opinion of this statute, until the Legislature acts otherwise, the sheriff must follow the current law.”

However, the outlet reported that in a number of Alabama counties, “any money allocated to sheriffs for feeding inmates that is not used for that purpose is instead turned over to the county government.”

Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton — who defeated Entrekin in the GOP primary for sheriff — previously decried Entrekin’s actions.

“I believe the funds belong to the taxpayers and any excess funds should go toward things that benefit the taxpayer,” Horton said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of money left over that shouldn’t be used as a bonus check.”

So what happened during the election?

On June 6, AL.com reported that Entrekin lost the Republican primary for sheriff and conceded to Horton.

Horton is expected to take over as Etowah County's new sheriff, according to AL.com, so long as there are no Democrats or independent candidates on the ballot for the general election.

The outlet added, however, that "multiple potential challengers are considering write-in campaigns."

"I thank God and my wife, and I believe that this is a credit to running a clean, transparent campaign," Horton told AL.com last week.

AL.com reported that as of election night, "with 34 of the county's 35 ballot boxes counted, Horton had received 12,196 votes and Entrekin had received 6,742 votes." Horton said that he received a concession call from Entrekin on election night.

The Gadsden Times reported that Entrekin lamented the "first article" about the inmate feeding fund scandal.

"We never recovered from that first article," he said.

Entrekin also thanked his supporters and touted his time working for the county.

"I’ve given 36 years to this county,” he said, thanking his supporters “for cooking for us, for giving up your Saturdays, for knocking on doors."

"I’m proud of you and all we’ve accomplished," Entrekin said.