Title 44 — Title 44

The purpose of this chapter is to promote and safeguard the social well-being and general welfare of the youth of the state through a comprehensive and coordinated program of public services for the prevention of juvenile delinquency and the rehabilitation of delinquent youth. Th…

(a) Violations of the provisions of this chapter shall be penalized or punished as follows: (1) Any person, partnership, corporation, or association that violates the provisions of this chapter or any regulations promulgated under the authority delegated to the Youth Services Boa…

The following terms, wherever used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings: (1) AFTERCARE. A youth is released by the department from a state training school operated by the department, wherein the department releases legal custody, supervision, and the right to return…

There is hereby created and established a department of the state to be known as the Department of Youth Services. The department shall be composed of the Youth Services Board, the director, and such divisions and administrative sections as the board may establish. The principal …

(a) The state Youth Services Director shall have at a minimum a master’s degree in behavioral or social science or a related field from an accredited school and shall have at least six years’ experience in the field of services to children and youth, with at least three years of …

The employees of the Department of Youth Services shall be governed by the personnel Merit System rules and regulations of the State Personnel Department. Employees of institutions and agencies which are transferred to the department under the provisions of this chapter, who have…

The state Youth Services Director shall be authorized, subject to the provisions of the state Merit System law, to appoint legal counsel for the department. Such counsel shall be commissioned as assistant attorney generals; except, that they shall devote their entire time to the …

The Department of Youth Services shall perform the following: (1) Provide services for youths who have run away from their own communities in this state or from their home communities in other states to this state, and provide such services, care, or cost for the youths as may be…

The department of youth services shall develop a workable program of youth services as follows: (1) Collect statistics, information and data concerning the need for and condition of rehabilitative services to delinquent youth or youth in need of supervision throughout the state; …

Responsibilities of Department of Human Resources. Repealed by Act 98-392, p. 782, §17, effective July 21, 2004. History: (Acts 1973, No. 816, p. 1261, §8; Acts 1994, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 94-829, p. 168, §1.)

Inspection of Youth Detention and Foster Care Facilities. (a) The Department of Youth Services shall establish and promulgate reasonable minimum standards for the construction and operation of detention facilities, programs for the prevention and correction of youth delinquency, …

The functions and facilities related to youth detention facilities, licensed by the Department of Youth Services of each county or counties, acting together may, upon the express written agreement of each such county or such counties acting together and the department, receive fu…

Any purchase and any construction or supply contract of the Department of Youth Services in an amount in excess of $500.00 shall be made or let by competitive bids through the state purchasing agent or otherwise, as the board may direct. No purchases, except for rights-of-way, sh…

Alabama Industrial School - Control; Priority as to Use of Funds of Department; Legal Custody of Inhabitants. The Alabama Boys Industrial School, the Alabama Training School for Girls and the Alabama Industrial School shall be under the control of the youth services board. All du…

When the legal custody of a youth has been vested in the Department of Youth Services by order of the juvenile judge, the department shall, under rules established by it, study and evaluate such youth and investigate all pertinent circumstances of his or her behavior and life in …

If, at any time while legal custody of a youth is vested in the Department of Youth Services, the department learns that he or she, for any reason, does not have a natural or adoptive parent in a position to exercise effective guardianship or a legally appointed guardian of his o…

(a) When legal custody of a youth has been vested in the Department of Youth Services and so long as such legal custody is so vested in the department, the department may, after an objective consideration of all available information, take one of the following social service acti…

(a) The state youth services director or his or her delegate may authorize major surgery or medical treatment to be performed upon any committed youth or general anesthetic to be administered to a committed youth when it is deemed necessary by a licensed medical physician and app…

The Department of Youth Services shall make a periodic review in the case of each youth whose legal custody is vested in the department who has not been finally discharged. Such review shall be in the form of a written report to the committing court and shall include study of all…

In the event any committed youth has not been examined as provided in Section 44-1-30 or has not been reviewed within nine months of a previous review as provided in Section 44-1-34, such youth or his or her parent or guardian shall be entitled to petition the State Youth Service…

State Hospital; Discharge of Rehabilitated Youth; Release of Youth into Aftercare; Termination or Extension of Orders of Commitment. (a) In the event a committed youth shall be diagnosed in writing as mentally ill to the degree that said youth is unable to profit from the program…

The Department of Youth Services shall insure that each youth it releases from the state training schools has clothing, transportation to his or her home or to the place at which a suitable home or employment has been found for him or her and such an amount of money as the rules …

The Department of Youth Services shall keep adequate written records of all social studies and examinations and of the conclusions based thereon and of all major decisions and orders concerning the disposition or treatment of every youth for whom the department provided social se…

(a) It shall be unlawful, except for purposes directly connected with the administration of this chapter, or as herein provided, and in accordance with regulations of the Department of Youth Services, for any person or persons to solicit, disclose, receive or make use of, or auth…

Alabama Industrial School - Separate Advisory Boards; Regulations. The department of youth services shall establish separate advisory boards for the Alabama Boys Industrial School, the Alabama Training School for Girls and the Alabama Industrial School. Any regulation of the afor…

The Department of Youth Services is authorized to serve as an agent of the state in entering into agreements with any appropriate agency of the federal government to provide care and treatment for a youth found by a federal court to be delinquent and committed to the custody of t…

Alabama Industrial School - Continuation of Rights, Etc., of Employees; Personal Leave for Teachers. (a) Employees of the Alabama Boys Industrial School, the Alabama Training School for Girls and the Alabama Industrial School holding positions on January 22, 1975, shall become em…

There is hereby created and established the Alabama Youth Services Board. The principal offices of the board shall be located at the state capital. The board shall have the powers and duties and shall perform the functions described in this code. History: (Acts 1973, No. 816, p. …

[Effective until October 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-327, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. (a) The Governor shall be the ex officio Chair of the Youth Services Board. (b) The board shall be composed of 18 voting members, five of whom shall be the Commiss…

The Youth Services Board shall have the following powers: (1) To appoint the State Youth Services Director and to fix his or her salary. (2) To institute and defend legal proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction and proper venue. (3) To contract with any private person,…

The Youth Services Board may hold such meetings as are convenient and necessary, which shall be at least annually, to carry out its duties and responsibilities at such place or places within the state as it may direct. A quorum consisting of any nine members of the board shall be…

Any person aggrieved by any final order or decision of the Youth Services Board may have a review of such order or decision in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, provided a complaint is filed within 15 days of the date of such order or decision, charging that such order or d…

As soon after the end of a fiscal year as practicable, the Youth Services Board shall print and send to the Governor of Alabama a report to include the activities of the board, the need for facilities under its jurisdiction, juvenile service conditions in the state, plans for the…

Each biennium the Youth Services Board shall present to the Governor a request for funds based on projected needs for juvenile services in the state, together with a budget showing proposed expenditures. The Governor shall include in his or her appropriation bill a request for fu…

Alabama Industrial School - Restrictions on Appropriations. All moneys appropriated to the Alabama Industrial School, Alabama Boys Industrial School and the Alabama Training School for Girls from the special education trust funds shall be used solely for the operations of these i…

Alabama Industrial School - Donations and Endowment Funds. In order to make provision for the proper preservation and application of donations from private sources by gift, devise, or otherwise, heretofore made to the board of trustees of the Alabama Boys Industrial School, the b…

District.” The Department of Youth Services as presently constituted by law is hereby designated as a special school district of the state to be known as the “Youth Services Department District,” hereinafter referred to as the district. The relationship existing between the distr…

Appointment and Qualifications. There is hereby established the position of superintendent of education for the district which shall be filled by the appointment of the governing board of the Department of Youth Services upon the recommendation of the director of said department,…

Responsibility; Annual Budget. The superintendent of the district shall have the general responsibility for administering and supervising the educational programs of the Youth Services Department as approved by the department director. The superintendent shall have the specific d…

The Youth Services Board and the State Board of Education shall cooperatively establish a funding formula which reflects the educational needs of the students assigned to its custody. The funds for the educational programs shall be appropriated by the Legislature from the special…

Teaching Personnel; Merit System Coverage of Nonteaching Personnel. As of October 1, 1983, all personnel who have been employed by the department of youth services for at least six months shall remain in their respective jobs and shall be considered to meet all requirements of th…

The Youth Services Director shall work with the superintendent and the teaching staffs on each of the three campuses to develop a salary schedule for teachers. In placing teachers, granted tenure in Section 44-1-74, on the resulting salary schedule, no teacher shall be placed at …

Board of Education; Powers and Duties of Board and Superintendent; Functioning of District. The Board of Youth Services and the Superintendent of Education of the Special School District shall stand in the same relationship to the State Board of Education as do local boards of ed…

The provisions of this article shall be construed in pari materia with the provisions of law contained in Title 44, Chapters 1 and 2, and shall supersede and repeal such provisions of law only to the extent there exists a conflict herewith. History: (Acts 1982, No. 82-485, §9.)

Considered Employees Under Department of Youth Services Local Education Agency School District. All appropriate State Department of Education or teacher certified personnel employed with the Department of Mental Health as Eufaula Adolescent Center School instructional personnel o…

The Department of Youth Services shall not have the power, by virtue of the vesting in it of the legal custody of a youth or of anything contained in this chapter, to confine any youth in any adult jail or adult penal institution now or hereafter established, except under conditi…

A committed youth who has been placed by the Department of Youth Services in any state training school and who has escaped or run away therefrom may be taken into custody without warrant or order of the state youth services director by a peace officer or employee designated by th…