Sec. 7. (a) The state examiner of the state board of accounts shall fix the exact amount per meal that the sheriff of each county receives for feeding the prisoners in the sheriff's custody. Subject to the maximum meal allowance provided in this section, the state examiner shall increase the amount per meal that a sheriff receives as follows:

(1) Increase the amount per meal by a percentage that does not exceed the percent of increase in the United States Department of Labor Consumer Price Index during the year preceding the year in which an increase is established.

(2) Increase the amount per meal above the amount determined under subdivision (1) if the sheriff furnishes to the state examiner sufficient documentation to prove that the sheriff cannot provide meals at the amount per meal that is determined under subdivision (1).

The amount must be fixed by April 15 each year and takes effect immediately upon approval. The allowance may not exceed two dollars ($2) per person per meal. The allowance shall be paid out of the general fund of the county after the sheriff submits to the county executive an itemized statement, under oath, showing the names of the prisoners, the date that each was imprisoned in the county jail, and the number of meals served to each prisoner.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), IC 36-2-13-2.5(b)(4) through IC 36-2-13-2.5(b)(5), and IC 36-2-13-2.8(b), this subsection applies to a county having a population of:

(1) more than one hundred seventy-five thousand (175,000) but less than one hundred eighty-five thousand (185,000); or

(2) more than three hundred thousand (300,000).

A county shall feed the county prisoners through an appropriation in the usual manner by the county fiscal body. The appropriation shall be expended by the sheriff under the direction of the county executive. If a county has a population of less than four hundred thousand (400,000), an accounting of the expenditures must be filed monthly with the county auditor by the fifth day of the month following the expenditure. If a county has a population of four hundred thousand (400,000) or more, an accounting of the expenditures must be filed with the county auditor on the first Monday of January and the first Monday of July of each year. Neither the sheriff nor the sheriff's officers, deputies, and employees may make a profit as a result of the appropriation.

[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations: subsection (a) formerly 17-3-12-1; subsection (b) formerly 17-2-85-2; 17-3-12-1.5; 17-3-12.5-1; 17-3-75-2.]

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.61. Amended by Acts 1982, P.L.215, SEC.1; P.L.227-1991, SEC.1; P.L.12-1992, SEC.173; P.L.83-1993, SEC.3; P.L.230-1996, SEC.2; P.L.170-2002, SEC.163; P.L.119-2012, SEC.220.