(a) The Sheriff of Blount County may operate a jail commissary and contract telephones for inmates within the confines of the county jail. The jail commissary and inmate telephones shall be operated to serve the needs of the county jail population.
(b) The sheriff may retain the profits derived from the commissary, inmate telephones, pay telephones, and vending machines located at the Blount County Law Enforcement Center. Any and all profits collected shall be deposited by the Sheriff of Blount County or his or her appointed agent in any bank located in Blount County selected by the sheriff into a fund known as the "Sheriff's Jail Fund."
(c) The Sheriff's Jail Fund as provided in subsection (b) shall be drawn upon the Sheriff of Blount County or his or her appointed agent and shall be used exclusively for law enforcement purposes in the public's interest in the discharge of the sheriff's office as the sheriff sees fit.
(d) Any actions relating to the operation of a jail commissary, contract telephones, pay telephones, and vending machines located at the Blount County Law Enforcement Center of the Blount County Jail prior to May 21, 1996, are ratified and confirmed. Any existing profits derived from the operation of a jail commissary, contract telephones, pay telephones, and vending machines or/and combination of these services, in the law enforcement center or county jail prior to May 21, 1996, shall be deposited into the Sheriff's Jail Fund created by this section.
(e) The establishment of the Sheriff's Jail Fund as provided in this section and the use of such funds shall in no way diminish or take the place of any other source of income established for the sheriff or the operation of his or her office.
(f) The State Examiners of Public Accounts is hereby authorized to audit the fund annually and submit a copy of the audit to the sheriff within 30 days of its completion.
Last modified: May 3, 2021