Alabama § 45-20-81.02 - Contingent Upon Ratification.

§ 45-20-81.02. Contingent Upon Ratification.

(a) In Covington County, a booking fee in the amount of thirty dollars ($30) shall be assessed against and collected from each individual booked or incarcerated in the Covington County Detention Center as a county inmate and subsequently convicted. The fee assessed pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any fines, court costs, or other charges imposed. The fee shall not apply to a defendant or inmate housed in the detention center on behalf of a municipality.

(b) The booking fee imposed by this section shall be assessed against a defendant upon conviction by a court of law where the defendant is convicted. The clerk of the court shall enter the amount of the fee on the docket sheet and shall collect the fee in the same manner and the same time as court costs, except the sheriff may collect the fee pursuant to subsection (e). The clerk of the court shall notify the sheriff monthly of the booking fees imposed against defendants during the prior month.

(c) The revenues derived from the booking fee shall be submitted to the Covington County Sheriff’s Department Law Enforcement Fund to be used by the sheriff for jail operations including, but not limited to, training fees, salaries, equipment, jail operational expenses, or other law enforcement uses as determined by the sheriff to best meet the needs of his or her agency.

(d) In any case where the booking fee is not paid or is withheld pursuant to subsection (e), the district attorney of the county may assist in the collection of the fee in the same manner as court-ordered monies. In addition, the sheriff may contract for the collection of the fees and pay a portion of the fees as a cost for collection.

(e) Upon receipt of notice of assessment of the booking fee against a defendant, the sheriff may withhold funds equal to the amount of the booking fee from any funds held while a defendant is incarcerated in the Covington County Detention Center and those funds may be applied toward any assessment of a booking fee pursuant to this section. The sheriff shall provide notice monthly to the clerk of the court of the booking fees withheld from defendants during the prior month.

(f) Any revenues derived from this section shall be in addition to other funding sources for the Covington County Detention Center and the Covington County Sheriff’s Department and shall not reduce or replace any funding from any other sources.