Birmingham Sues Jefferson County Sheriff Over City’s Jail Inmates

By Barnett Wright The Birmingham Times The City of Birmingham today filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway for not accepting city inmates, according to a filing in Jefferson County Circuit Court. It’s an extraordinary step in a dispute between the two sides that dates back nearly two years and involves the city and county jails, money and politics. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he began talks with the Sheriff’s office as far back as Feb. 2022 and filed the suit “not because I want to, but because I feel I’m being forced to,” he said. “I do it knowing that relations are important, but I feel like the city is boxed in.” In its filing, the city contends that the sheriff is required by state code “to accept into custody at the Jefferson County jail individuals arrested by Birmingham Police officers within the police jurisdiction of the city for both on-sight violations of state law and those arrested for misdemeanor offenses under State law.” It says the Sheriff has declined to sign an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Form dealing with the transportation of arrestees to the Jefferson County Jail “thus willfully refusing into custody at the Jefferson...