Title 14

The Superintendent of Public Works and each person employed as a guard over convicts sentenced to hard labor for the county, before he enters upon the discharge of his duties, shall take and subscribe the following oath before some officer authorized to administer the same: “I do…

Hard labor for the county shall be under the superintendence and control of the county commission, which shall determine in what manner and on what particular works the labor shall be performed, and all convicts sentenced to hard labor for the county shall be under the direction …

(a) All judicial officers shall, immediately upon the sentence of any person to hard labor for any county, report in writing to the judge of probate of the county for which such sentence is made, the name of such person, the length of his sentence, the date of its commencement an…

The county commission shall provide a well-bound book to be kept in the office of the judge of probate subject, during office hours, to the inspection of the public, in which he shall enter the name of each convict sentenced to hard labor for the county, the place where the convi…

Whenever the county commission of a county deems it to the best interest of the county to use the county convicts in building, repairing and working the public roads of the county, it may so work them under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Board of Corrections, which…

(a) When a convict is sentenced on two or more convictions, unless specifically ordered in the judgment entry that such sentences shall run concurrently, such sentences shall be cumulative and such terms and imprisonments shall be served consecutively, the first term thereof begi…

“Hard labor for the county,” as used in this code or any other law of the state, shall include labor on the public roads, public bridges and other public works in the county. (Acts 1927, No. 72, p. 52; Code 1940, T. 45, §95.)

The Board of Corrections is hereby authorized to hire or lease convicts to any department, agency, board, bureau or commission of the state on such terms, conditions and at such prices as may be mutually agreed upon. Any department, agency, board, bureau or commission of the stat…

(a) No state or county inmate shall be employed by or do any work for: (1) Any district attorney, any judge, or any sheriff; or (2) Any parent, sibling, or child of any district attorney, any judge, or any sheriff; or (3) Any business one-third or more of which is owned by any di…

It shall be unlawful to hire or lease for any purpose any convict, state or county, except as otherwise provided in this article. (Acts 1927, No. 70, p. 51; Code 1940, T. 45, §92.)

It shall be unlawful to work any convict, state or county, in any coal mine of Alabama. (Acts 1927, No. 70, p. 51; Code 1940, T. 45, §91.)

Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of Sections 14-5-2 and 14-5-3 shall be, for each violation, guilty of a felony and be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than 10 years. (Acts 1927, No. 70, p. 51; Code 1940, T…

Nothing in this article shall prevent any county of this state from working its county convicts according to the law as it now exists or may hereafter be enacted, but no county convict shall be worked in any coal mine or worked under lease to any person, firm or corporation; prov…

County commissions in all counties of this state may use county convict labor for use in the construction or maintenance of any drains or outlets for drains, for reopening of any filled or partly filled drains or for the construction or maintenance of any levees in connection wit…

The use of county convict labor under the provisions of Sections 14-5-6, 14-5-7 and 14-11-2 shall be such uses as may be agreed to by the county commissions in counties that may use convict labor; provided, that such convict labor shall not be used for such purposes unless, after…

The sheriff has the legal custody and charge of the jail in his or her county and all prisoners committed thereto, except in cases otherwise provided by law. The sheriff may employ persons to carry out his or her duty to operate the jail and supervise the inmates housed therein f…

(a) When it becomes necessary to remove any prisoner from the jail of one county to another, in any case by law provided, the sheriff, or other officer having charge of such prisoner, has authority, and it is his duty, to summon such guards as may be necessary to prevent an escap…

When the county jail is insecure or insufficient and there is reason to apprehend an escape, the sheriff has authority, and it is his duty, to summon as many guards as may be necessary to prevent an escape. (Code 1852, §251; Code 1867, §3799; Code 1876, §4499; Code 1886, §4547; C…

When a convict is sentenced to confinement in the county jail on two or more convictions, the imprisonment on the second, and on each subsequent conviction, must commence at the termination of the imprisonment on the preceding sentence. (Code 1852, §247; Code 1867, §3795; Code 18…

Men and women prisoners, except husband and wife, must not be kept in the same room or apartment. (Acts 1911, No. 303, p. 356; Code 1923, §4856; Code 1940, T. 45, §122.)

It is the duty of the sheriff, on the first day of each session of the circuit court of his county, to make out and deliver to the presiding judge a certified list of the names of all the prisoners confined in the jail and of the offenses with which they are charged or of which t…

When a prisoner is committed to the county jail, it is the duty of the sheriff of such county, in person or by deputy, to report in writing to the clerk of the circuit court of such county, within 10 days next succeeding the commitment, the name of such prisoner, the day of his e…

It is the duty of the sheriff or of the jailer under his direction to file in regular order and safely preserve the process or order by which any prisoner is committed to jail or discharged therefrom or an attested copy of such process or order. (Code 1852, §238; Code 1867, §3786…

Any person committed to jail may furnish his own support, under such precautions as may be adopted by the jailer to prevent escapes. The sheriff must furnish support to those prisoners who do not provide it for themselves. (Code 1852, §242; Code 1867, §3790; Code 1876, §4492; Cod…

No person confined in jail must, on any pretext whatever, be furnished with or allowed to receive any spirituous, malt or vinous liquors except on the written order of a physician, stating that such liquor is necessary for his health. Any jailer, sheriff, deputy or other person w…

The sheriff of a county shall provide to prisoners at the expense of the county, all of the following: (1) Necessary clothing and bedding. (2) Necessary medicine and medical attention to those prisoners who are sick or injured, when they are unable to provide them for themselves.…

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) CUSTODIAN. A warden, sheriff, jailer, deputy sheriff, police officer, or any other law enforcement officer. (2) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL. A physician as defined in Section 34-24-50.1, a license…

On the death, resignation, removal from office or expiration of term of office of any sheriff, or of any coroner acting as sheriff, the jail must be delivered over to his successor or to the person authorized by law to take charge of it, together with the prisoners therein, the f…

(a) The county commission in each county in this state may elect a physician, or as many physicians as in its discretion may be necessary, to attend the inmates of the jails in such counties and county convict camps. (b) The county commission shall fix and determine the term or t…

Whoever, being a sheriff, jailer or other person having the care and custody of any jail, workhouse, prison or other lawful place of confinement, suffers the same to become foul or unclean shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $10 nor more than $100. (Code 1923, §4822; Cod…

(a)(1) A court shall require a convicted defendant in a misdemeanor case to pay housing, maintenance and medical costs associated with the defendant’s incarceration in a county or city jail except as otherwise provided herein. Such costs shall not exceed $20 per day that the defe…

In addition to convicts sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail, the jail is used as a prison for the safekeeping or confinement of the following persons: (1) Persons committed for trial for public offenses; (2) Convicts sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary, until t…

The sheriff or jailer must, if the jail of the county is sufficient, receive into his custody any person committed under any criminal charge or offense against the United States and safely keep such prisoner, according to the order or process of commitment, until duly discharged …

Any jailer or other officer who willfully refuses to receive into his custody any person lawfully committed thereto on any criminal charge or conviction must, on conviction, be fined not more than $500. (Code 1852, §31; Code 1867, §3572; Code 1876, §4129; Code 1886, §3973; Code 1…

In all criminal cases, either before or after conviction, and in cases of contempt, if it is shown to the court, judge or committing magistrate that the jail of the proper county is insecure or insufficient for the safekeeping of the prisoner or that there is no jail in the count…

If the jail of any county is destroyed, or becomes insufficient or unsafe, or any epidemic dangerous to life is prevalent in the vicinity or there be danger of rescue or lawless violence to any prisoner, any circuit court judge may, on the application of the sheriff and proof of …

When the county jail or any building contiguous thereto is on fire and there is reason to apprehend that the prisoners may be thereby injured or endangered, the sheriff or jailer may remove them to a safe and convenient place and confine them there so long as may be necessary to …

When the life or health of any prisoner, who is not confined under process from any court of the United States, may be seriously endangered by longer confinement in jail and that fact is made to appear clearly to any circuit court judge, such judge must, by an order in writing, d…

(a) The county commissions of two or more counties may, by resolution and with the initial consent of their respective sheriffs, establish a regional jail authority for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and operating a regional jail facility for the counties participating…

The regional jail authority shall constitute a public body corporate and politic, exercising public and essential governmental functions and having all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter and including, but no…

(a) The regional jail authority shall be governed by a board of directors composed of the following: (1) Two members appointed by the county commission of the most populous county, one of whom may be a member of the county commission. (2) One member from each of the remaining cou…

(a) After a regional jail facility is operational, the facility shall serve as the county jail for each county participating in the regional jail authority and shall satisfy the requirements of Section 11-14-10 and Section 14-6-1. The sheriff of each county shall retain his or he…

The regional jail authority is a governmental entity as defined by subdivision (1) of Section 11-93-1 and the services it performs are hereby declared to be governmental functions. The employees of the authority shall be entitled to participate in the Employees’ Retirement System…

For the purpose of attaining the objectives of this chapter, any county participating in the regional jail authority may, upon terms and with or without consideration as it may determine, do all of the following: (1) Lend or donate money to the authority or perform services for t…

The property and income of the regional jail authority, all bonds issued by the authority, the income from the bonds, conveyances by or to the authority, and leases, mortgages, and deeds of trust by or to the authority shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Alabama. Th…

All obligations created or assumed and all bonds issued or assumed by the authority shall be solely and exclusively an obligation of the authority and shall not create an obligation or debt of any county nor count against the constitutional debt limit of a participating county. T…