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Geneva County asks Alabama Attorney General whether sheriff can refuse municipal prisoners
Summary
The Geneva County Commission adopted a resolution asking the Alabama Attorney General whether the county sheriff may refuse municipal prisoners from cities that decline to sign renewed jail agreements; the motion carried 2-0 with one abstention. The resolution cites state code and prior AG opinions and asks what constitutes adequate notice.
The Geneva County Commission on April 14 adopted a resolution asking the Alabama Attorney General whether the county sheriff may refuse to accept municipal prisoners from the Cities of Geneva and Slocomb if those cities decline to sign new housing agreements.
Commissioner Todd Brannon moved to adopt the resolution and Commissioner Bart Wilks seconded. The motion passed with a recorded vote of 2-0; Commissioner Jeff Hatcher abstained. County Attorney Phil Eldridge presented the resolution and will submit the two formal questions to the Attorney General's Office.
The resolution states that the Cities of Hartford and Samson have signed new agreements on the same terms, while Geneva and Slocomb have not returned agreements; it cites Ala. Code § 14-6-1 (sheriff custody of jail), § 11-3-11(a)(1) (county control of county property) and § 11-80-3 (municipalities and counties may contract for use of county jails), and references previous Attorney General opinions (AGO 99-210, AGO 2003-032, AGO 1993-079) that discuss the sheriff's discretion and the need for agreements.
The resolution asks two questions: whether the sheriff can refuse to accept municipal prisoners from the two cities if they refuse to sign agreements on the same terms as Hartford and Samson, and, if yes, what constitutes "adequate notice" by the sheriff to those cities. The county attorney will forward the county's questions and the commission's resolution to the Attorney General for formal opinion. The commission recorded the resolution in the minutes and will await the Attorney General's response.
