Gadsden sheriff loses election amid jail program criticism
An Alabama sheriff who was criticized for making money from the county jail’s food program has been defeated in a primary election. In Alabama, it’s possible for sheriffs to personally profit from jail meals. In many cases, the less a sheriff spends on feeding inmates, the more he or she can make. Before Tuesday’s Republican primary election for sheriff, Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin released tax forms showing he made a profit of $672,392 from the jail kitchen in 2015 and 2016. Entrekin had made the documents public during a news conference where he denied allegations that prisoners were malnourished. Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton, who won the primary, tells Al.com that Entrekin called him and conceded the race after early returns showed Horton with a large lead. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
GOP censures candidate for ‘not a Republican’ comment
A challenger will remain on the Republican primary ballot for sheriff in a northeast Alabama county. The Gadsden Times reports that the Etowah County Republican Executive Committee declined to remove Rainbow City Police Chief Jonathon Horton from the ballot. He’s challenging incumbent Sheriff Todd Entrekin in Tuesday’s primary. No Democrat has qualified. Horton was censured for a video made at a campaign event in which he said he was “not a Republican.” The committee is requiring Horton to remove the video and retract the comments. The committee also considered divorce filings between 1991 and 1997 that include allegations that Horton physically abused his wife. Horton says Entrekin paid a company to post the documents on a website. Entrekin says he paid the company, but not for “anything negative.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
