Alabama § 15-18-180 - Funding for Community-Based Programs, Facilities, Services; User Fees; Inmate Wages.

§ 15-18-180. Funding for Community-Based Programs, Facilities, Services; User Fees; Inmate Wages.

(a) Community punishment and corrections funds may be used to develop or expand the range of community punishments and services at the local level. Community-based programs should utilize evidence-based practices, as defined in Section 12-25-32, in the treatment and supervision of program participants. The supervision and treatment of each program participant is expected to be based on the participant’s anticipated risk of reoffending, as determined through a validated risk and needs assessment as defined in Section 12-25-32, administered by the program. Supervision and treatment of program participants should include the following:

(1) Use of a validated risk and needs assessment;

(2) Use of assessment results to provide guidance for determining the appropriate level of supervision responses consistent with the levels of supervision and evidence-based practices reasonably anticipated to reduce recidivism; and

(3) Use of practical and suitable methods that are consistent with evidence-based practices to aid and encourage the offender to improve his or her conduct and circumstances so as to reduce the offender’s risk of recidivism.

(b) Community-based programs options may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Community service supervision; victim restitution, community detention and restitution centers; day reporting centers; victim-offender reconciliation programs; home confinement/curfew; electronic surveillance; intensive supervision probation; alcohol/drug outpatient treatment and psychiatric counseling.

(2) Short-term community residential treatment options that involve close supervision in a residential setting may include, but are not limited to, the following options: Detoxification centers; community detention centers for special needs offenders and probation and parole violators; and inpatient drug/alcohol treatment.

(3) Residential in-house drug and alcohol treatment for detoxification and residential and nonresidential drug and alcohol counseling.

(4) Individualized services which provide evaluation and treatment for special needs of the population served under this article. The services may include the purchase of psychological, medical, educational, vocational, drug and alcohol urine screening, and client specific plan diagnostic evaluations. Other services which may be pursued on an individualized basis may include, but shall not be limited to, job training, alcohol and drug counseling, individual and family counseling, educational programs leading to a GED certificate, or transportation subsidies.

(5) Churches or other nonprofit facilities that provide religious-based counseling, education, or other rehabilitative services. Any such facility that receives funding from the state shall be subject to all requirements and provisions of this article. Any such facility that does not receive funding from the state shall be exempt from the requirements and provisions of this article, as well as from the requirements of Chapter 22 of Title 41.

(c) Community punishment and corrections funds may also be used to acquire, renovate, and operate community facilities established to provide the options and services set forth in subsections (a) and (b).

(d) Counties, authorities, and other nonprofit entities receiving funding herein may provide or contract with qualified proprietary, nonprofit, or governmental entities for the provision of services under this article.

(e) Any options or services established under this article may serve offenders from any county.

(f) As a part of a community punishment and corrections plan, user fees may be assessed to help defray the cost of the plan. User fees paid by an offender participating in any option or service established under this article shall not diminish the payment of restitution by the offender to the victim of the crime for which he or she was sentenced and shall not diminish fines, court costs, or other court fees unless expressly reduced or remitted by the court.

(g) In the event a defendant is assigned to a work release or other residential punishment program operated by a community corrections provider authorized under this article, the defendant’s employer shall send the inmate’s wages directly to the community corrections provider responsible for housing the defendant. Of the inmate’s earnings, 25 percent of the gross wages shall be applied to costs incident to the inmate’s confinement, upkeep, and a minimum of an additional 20 percent shall be applied, 10 percent to payment of court costs, fines, court-ordered attorney fees, and other court-ordered fees or assessments, and 10 percent to restitution. The remainder of the inmate’s wages may be credited to an account established for the defendant with the community corrections provider and may be paid out for dependent care, savings, and spending money. Modes of accounting and disbursement of these funds shall be addressed in the community punishment and corrections plan. Upon release from a residential program, any balance remaining in the defendant’s account shall be returned to the defendant, and the defendant shall remain responsible for paying for any court-ordered monies owed. If the defendant remains under community corrections supervision after his or her release from a residential program, the community corrections provider shall verify that the defendant is paying any remaining court-ordered payments owed.