Title 15 — Title 15

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section: (1) ADMISSION TO BAIL. The order of a competent court or magistrate, when authorized by law to grant bail, that a defendant be discharged from actual custo…

This article shall be known and may be cited as “The Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993.” History: (Acts 1993, No. 93-677, p. 1259, §1.)

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) APPEARANCE BOND. An appearance bond is an undertaking to pay the clerk of the circuit, district, or municipal court, for the use of th…

As used in this article, “bail” is the release of a person who has been arrested and is being held in the custody of the State of Alabama or one of its subdivisions for the commission of a criminal offense. The primary purpose of bail is to procure the release of a person charged…

Admission to bail is the order of a judicial officer of any court of the State of Alabama, or one of its subdivisions, that the defendant be discharged from actual custody on bail. Judicial officers of all courts in the State of Alabama shall see that every defendant arrested and…

Judicial officers shall see that the amount of bail is affixed to any warrants of arrests issued by the judicial officer at the time of their issuance for which the defendant is arrested and taken into custody. If arrested for an offense for which the defendant is not entitled to…

In cases where a defendant is arrested without a warrant for an offense that is bailable as a matter of right and taken into custody and there is no standard bail schedule prescribed by the presiding judge of the court of jurisdiction for the amounts of bail for the arrests witho…

Except in cases where there is no right to release on bail pursuant to Section 15- 13-3, no person or defendant shall be committed to any jail in the State of Alabama on a warrant unless there is an amount of bail affixed to the warrant. No person or defendant shall remain in jai…

Circumstances. (a) Judges of any court within the state may accept, take, and approve bail within the jurisdiction of their respective courts. (b) Circuit, district, and municipal court clerks, including magistrates, may accept, take, and approve bail within the jurisdiction of t…

In all cases of misdemeanors and felonies, unless otherwise specified, the defendant is, before conviction, entitled to bail as a matter of right. All sheriffs and police chiefs of this state shall ensure that one of their officers or themselves are available to approve and accep…

In cases where the defendant has been placed on, or granted, probation and is arrested on a probation violation warrant, it shall be discretionary with the court having jurisdiction as to whether bail is granted and in what amount. History: (Acts 1993, No. 93-677, p. 1259, §10.)

Sheriffs, chiefs of police, jailers, or other law enforcement officers having custody of defendants who have bail set, shall, upon the request of the defendant or upon request of a professional bondsman, provide a place of privacy for the defendant to be interviewed by a professi…

For persons arrested and taken into custody, there shall be four kinds of bail used in this state. No other form of bail may be approved and accepted by any judicial officer, court clerk, magistrate, or any other person designated to accept and approve bail as stipulated in Divis…

2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-542, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. The Supreme Court of Alabama shall prescribe the different forms used for bail bonds and shall publish the forms in the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Supreme Court may change the f…

The undertaking of bail binds the parties thereto, jointly and severally, for the appearance of the defendant in court on the day fixed in the bond or undertaking, from day to day of such session, and from day to day of each session thereafter, until the defendant is discharged b…

The obligation of the sureties continues throughout every stage of trial, from the time the defendant is entered thereon until the rendition of the verdict by the jury or judge. The finding of the defendant guilty by a jury or judge discharges the sureties. The obligation of the …

The obligation of sureties is continued beyond the finding of a guilty verdict by the judge or by a jury in cases where the maximum sentence, set out by law, does not exceed 10 years and where the court desires to continue the case for a probation hearing so long as the court has…

When the defendant is before the court pertaining to the case(s), the sureties of such bail may surrender the defendant in court by notifying the judge that it is their desire to surrender the defendant. The judge shall then order the sheriff, or other officer who has the duty of…

to Conditional Forfeiture. The sureties of bail may, at any time before a conditional forfeiture is entered against them, exonerate themselves by surrendering the defendant to the jail having the authority of keeping custody of prisoners of the court having jurisdiction of defend…

After the entry of a conditional forfeiture against any surety on an undertaking of bail, the surety may arrest the defendant as provided in Section 15-13-117, and the arrest and delivery of the defendant to the authorized jail as stated in Section 15- 13-117 shall not exonerate …

Exonerate Bail; When New Bail Is Allowed. To exonerate the bail, the surrender of the defendant, other than that in Section 15- 13-116, shall be made to the original custodian of the county or municipality in which the court is held and to which the defendant is bound to appear, …

After a defendant has been released on either one of the four different types of bail, as set out in Division 2, Section 15-13-111, and the defendant desires to substitute one form of bail for another, the defendant may do so by giving such bail to the clerk of the court having j…

No bail shall be discharged by reason of the want of qualifications required in this chapter, by reason of there not being the requisite number of bail, by reason of any agreement other than is expressed in the undertaking, by reason of the infancy, coverture, lunacy, or any othe…

In instances in which the surety or sureties have in their possession a bondsman’s process for the defendant and the surety wishes to place a detainer against the defendant with the officer having custody of the defendant, all law enforcement officers of the State of Alabama, or …

In all cases where any law enforcement officer, as described in Section 15-13-122, who has custody of a defendant for which a surety presents to the officer a bondsman’s process in order to place a detainer on the defendant, refuses to accept and place a detainer on the defendant…

A bondsman’s process is that document which is issued by the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction over the defendant and sureties for the arrest of the defendant. History: (Acts 1993, No. 93-677, p. 1259, §25.)

The clerk of the court having jurisdiction over the defendant shall issue a bondsman’s process to the sureties on the bail upon their request. The request may be made by any one of the sureties. Before the issuance of the process, the clerk shall determine if the case is still op…

(a) All bondsman’s processes, when executed by sureties or other lawful authorized persons, shall be returned by the sheriff, chief of police, or other authorized law enforcement officer to the clerk of the court from which they were issued once the defendant is returned to the c…

The clerk shall see that all bondsman’s processes have a certified copy of the undertaking attached to them. If there has been a conditional forfeiture taken by the court, then the clerk shall attach a copy of the conditional forfeiture to the warrant. There shall be no charge to…

The following shall be substantially the form to be used for a bondsman’s process. BONDSMAN’S PROCESS STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF ___________. (or) CITY OF ______________. WHEREAS, the Sureties on the bail of the defendant _____, in case number _____, have expressed their desire t…

All bondsmen or sureties from out of the State of Alabama who come to this state to make an arrest shall be exempt from having a bondsman’s process to arrest a person for which he or she is a surety on bail in another state; but he or she shall have a certified copy of the undert…

The basis of all undertakings of bail, whether upon a warrant, writ of arrest, suspension of judgment, writ of error, or in any other case, is to ensure the appearance of the defendant in court, and the undertaking is forfeited by the failure of the defendant to appear. If, by re…

Disposition of Funds. (a) When a defendant fails to appear in court as required by the undertaking of bail and no sufficient excuse has been provided to the court prior to the hearing, the court shall order a conditional forfeiture and show cause order against the defendant and t…

A notice of the rendition of the judgment set forth in Section 15-13-131 shall be issued by the clerk of the court and served according to the terms as established in this article within 90 days of the court’s conditional forfeiture order to the defendant and sureties. The notice…

It shall be the sole responsibility of any defendant or surety on bail to notify in writing the clerk of any court to which bail is returnable of the proper address for any service or notices and if the address is changed, then a new written notice is required by the defendant or…

A conditional forfeiture notice may be served by any law enforcement officer, at the law enforcement office in the same manner as a summons in a civil action, except that service may not be by publication. At the law enforcement officer’s discretion and expense, the notice may be…

If the notice is not served on any of the parties to the undertaking, such other notices as are necessary, may, from time to time be issued, but two returns of “not found” by the proper officer are equivalent to personal service, unless one of the parties shows evidence that such…

In forfeiture cases where the clerk of the court has failed to issue the conditional forfeiture notice as stipulated in Section 15-13-132 and where there has been no service as set out in Section 15-13-134 made within 90 days after the order of the court as set out in Section 15-…

If the defendants appear and show sufficient cause for the default to be determined by the court, the conditional judgment shall be set aside. If the excuse is not sufficient, or if the defendant or sureties fail to appear at the final forfeiture hearing, the judgment may be made…

Forfeiture. The court shall set aside the conditional forfeiture in its entirety for the following reasons or under the following circumstances: (1) If the sureties can show that the defendant was hospitalized at the time he or she was to appear in court, or if the sureties can p…

In forfeiture cases where the sureties have paid the amount of the forfeiture into the court or in cases where the forfeiture has been made final or absolute and there is no further litigation pending on the forfeiture, and the surety locates the defendant and causes the return o…

Reasons for default shall be heard by the court on application, at any time when not engaged in other business. When a conditional judgment is set aside for sufficient cause, no cost shall be imposed on the sureties. This section has no application where money is deposited instea…

In all cases where a conditional forfeiture has been made final by any court of the state or any of its subdivisions and there has been no further action or request filed with the court, appeal taken or any other litigation of which the court has knowledge has been filed by the s…

Only a judicial officer may release a person on judicial public bail. The judicial officer shall have jurisdiction over the case and defendant in order to release the defendant on judicial public bail. The judicial officer shall have a hearing for the person and determine if the …

A judicial public bail hearing may commence by a motion from any judicial officer having jurisdiction over the defendant or by the defendant’s application as stipulated in Section 15-13-109. History: (Acts 1993, No. 93-677, p. 1259, §44.)

Prior to the hearing, the judicial officer shall have the clerk of the court give a minimum notice of 72 hours to the district attorney of the circuit of the jurisdiction, or to an assistant district attorney of the jurisdiction for that purpose, or the prosecuting officer of the…

Any person charged with a felony, misdemeanor, or violation shall be eligible for a judicial public bail, if: (1) The person is not charged with robbery, capital murder, forcible sex crimes, escape, trafficking in drugs, or the sale of drugs. (2) The person has not been convicted…

Any person charged with an offense other than an offense exempted by Section 15- 13-145, may be ordered released pending trial on judicial public bail upon the execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the judicial officer, unless the officer determines …

In determining the restrictions and conditions of release that will assure the appearance of a person as required, and safety of any other person or the community, the judicial officer shall, on the basis of available information, take into account such matters as the nature and …

A judicial officer ordering the release of a person on any condition may at any time amend the order to impose additional or different conditions of release. History: (Acts 1993, No. 93-677, p. 1259, §49.)