Title 41

When used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) AJIC or COMMISSION. The Alabama Justice Information Commission. (2) ALEA. The Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency. (3) ALEA CJIS. The Criminal Justice Information Services Division of ALEA. (4) BACKG…

(a) There is created and established an Alabama Justice Information Commission, which shall be the regulatory body to establish policy and procedures for the interstate and intrastate accumulation, storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of information relating to offense…

(a) The commission shall be composed of two sections. (b) The voting section shall include all of the following: (1) The Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency. (2) The Attorney General. (3) The Executive Director of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. (4) The Commis…

(a) The commission shall elect from its membership a chair and a vice-chair at the October meeting who shall serve for a period of one year beginning the following year on January 1. The vice-chair shall act in the place of the chair in his or her absence or disability. If a new …

(a) The commission shall adopt rules and policies for the performance of the responsibilities under this article. Unless otherwise stated, the rules of the commission are subject to the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 22 of Title 41. ALEA may establish procedures to…

Nothing in this article shall be interpreted to impair, or grant the authority to impair, a citizen’s access to records currently considered open to public inspection under Section 36-12-40, nor any record which is open for public inspection under Section 36-12-40, from sources o…

(a) The secretary shall appoint a division head who shall be responsible for the development, maintenance, and operation of the duties of ALEA as required by the terms of this article and the implementation and operation of policies, programs, and procedures established by the co…

The secretary shall maintain the necessary staff along with support services necessary to enable the effective and efficient performance of the duties and responsibilities ascribed to ALEA in this article. (Acts 1975, No. 872, §7; Act 2019-495, §1.)

The process for appeals by an individual or governmental body of any rules and policies adopted by the commission shall first be to the commission. The appellant may present his or her argument at a regular meeting of the commission requesting the alteration or suggesting the non…

Any officer or official mentioned in this article who neglects or refuses to make any report or to do any act required in this article shall be subject to prosecution for a misdemeanor and, if found guilty, may be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $10,000.00 and may be co…

Any person who willfully requests, obtains, or seeks to obtain criminal offender record information under false pretenses or who willfully communicates or seeks to communicate criminal offender record information to any agency or person except in accordance with this article, or …

Any person who knowingly communicates or seeks to communicate criminal offender record information, except in accordance with this article, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, for each such offense, may be fined not less than $500.00 nor more than $10,000.00 o…

(a) In the event of conflict, this article shall, to the extent of the conflict, supersede all conflicting parts of existing statutes which regulate, control or otherwise relate, directly or by implication, to the collection, storage, and dissemination or usage of fingerprint ide…

The commission shall provide for a uniform crime reporting system for the periodic collection and analysis of crimes reported to any and all criminal justice agencies within the state. The collection of said data and the time for submission of said data shall be subject to the co…

The commission, acting through the secretary, shall do all of the following: (1) Develop, operate, and maintain information systems that will support the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of criminal justice information, other data that will aid crime fi…

(a) All criminal justice agencies within the state shall submit to ALEA fingerprints, descriptions, photographs, and other identifying data on the following persons: (1) Persons who have been lawfully arrested in this state for an offense. (2) Persons who have been charged with a…

Notwithstanding any provision in this article, except for providing copies of data required by law to carry out the duties of the commission and ALEA, nothing in this article shall be interpreted to impair or grant the authority to impair the ownership, dissemination, or control …

The commission is authorized to compare all fingerprints and other identifying data received with information already on file, to ascertain whether or not a criminal record is found for that person and at once to inform the requesting agency or arresting officer of such facts. (A…

(a) When an individual is arrested for an offense, the arresting agency shall obtain fingerprints, palm prints, a mugshot, and descriptive information required to establish a criminal history record. The arresting agency may obtain other biometric identifiers, including iris scan…

Fingerprints and other identifying data required to be taken by this article shall be forwarded within 24 hours after taking for filing and classification, but the period of 24 hours may be extended to cover any intervening holiday or weekend. Photographs taken shall be forwarded…

(a) All persons in this state in charge of criminal justice agencies shall submit to ALEA detailed descriptions of arrest warrants and related identifying data immediately upon determination of the fact that the warrant cannot be served for the reasons stated. (b) If the warrant …

(a) All persons in charge of penal operations under the authority of the Department of Corrections shall obtain biometric identifiers, which may include fingerprints, photographs, palm prints, retina scans, or other identifiers specified by the FBI, according to the biometric ide…

(a) All persons in charge of criminal justice agencies in this state shall furnish ALEA with any other identifying data required in accordance with guidelines established by the commission. (b) All criminal justice agencies in this state having criminal identification files shall…

(a) All criminal justice agencies within the state shall submit to ALEA periodically, at a time and in such a form as prescribed by the commission, information regarding only the cases within its jurisdiction. The report shall be known as the “Alabama Uniform Crime Report” and sh…

Any governmental agency that is not included within the description of those departments and agencies required to submit the uniform crime report which desires to submit such a report shall be furnished with the proper forms by ALEA. When a report is received by ALEA from a gover…

All criminal justice agencies within the state shall report to ALEA, in a time and manner prescribed by the commission, all persons wanted by and all vehicles and property stolen from their jurisdictions. The reports shall be made as soon as is practicable after the investigating…

If it is determined by the reporting agency that a person is no longer wanted due to his or her apprehension or any other factor, or when a vehicle or property reported stolen is recovered, the determining agency shall immediately notify ALEA. If the agency making the apprehensio…

All probation and parole officers shall supply ALEA with information on delinquent parolees required by this article in a time and manner prescribed by the commission. (Acts 1975, No. 872, §29; Act 2019-495, §1.)

Provision of information under this article shall be limited by all constitutional provisions, limitations, and guarantees, including, but not limited to, due process, the right of privacy, and the tripartite form of Alabama’s state government. (Acts 1975, No. 872, §41.)

Pertinent identifying data and historical criminal information may be obtained and disseminated on any person confined to any workhouse, jail, reformatory, prison, penitentiary, other penal institution, community corrections, or in custody pursuant to Section 15-18-8, having been…

Pertinent identifying data and historical criminal information may be obtained and disseminated on any unidentified human corpse found in this state. (Acts 1975, No. 872, §14.)

A log shall be maintained of all disseminations made of each criminal history, including the date of information request and the recipient of said information. (Acts 1975, No. 872, §17.)

Nothing in this article shall be construed to give authority to any person, agency, or corporation or other legal entity to invade the privacy of any citizen as defined by the constitution, the Legislature or the courts other than to the extent provided in this article. Disclosur…

ALEA shall make a person’s criminal records available for inspection to him or her or his or her attorney upon written application to the commission. Forms, procedures, identification, and other related aspects pertinent to the access may be prescribed by the commission in provid…

Agencies, including AJIC, at which criminal offender records are sought to be inspected may prescribe reasonable hours and places of inspection and may impose additional procedures, fees, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25), or restrictions, including fingerprinting, as are r…

(a) If an individual believes information is inaccurate or incomplete, he or she may request the original agency having custody or control of the detail records to purge, modify, or supplement them and to notify SBI of the changes. (b) If the agency declines to act or if the indi…

Should the record in question be found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the court shall order it to be appropriately purged, modified, or supplemented by an explanatory notation. Each agency or individual in the state with custody, possession, or control of any record…

The commission shall establish guidelines for appropriate measures to be taken in the instance of any violation of data reporting or dissemination and shall initiate and pursue appropriate action for violations of rules, regulations, laws, and constitutional provisions pertaining…

All transfers or purchases of firearms conducted by a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall be subject to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) created by the federal “Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act” (P.L. No. 103-159), t…

AMENDED BY ACT 2026-374, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. In addition to any other requirements, any agency, board, or commission in this state that issues a permit or license, by rule, may require a criminal background check through ALEA as part of its li…

(a) For the noncriminal justice purposes specified in this section, ALEA may provide a background check to any of the following persons or entities: (1) Any public or private employer to screen a prospective employee or contractor or for other employment purposes. (2) Any governm…

(a) The Alabama Background Check Service may be provided through a biometric-based or a name-based search for a background check record. (b) A name-based search shall be initiated by submitting an individual’s name to ALEA through an Internet web portal or other commission-approv…

(a) The secretary may establish reasonable record fees for the provision of a background check report, not to exceed thirty dollars ($30). The record fee may be waived at the discretion of the secretary. (b) Additional costs may be assessed to a person or entity requesting a back…

(a) As part of the Alabama Background Check Service, ALEA may establish the Alabama Rap Back Program. If established, ALEA shall participate in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) Rap Back Service. The purpose of the rap back service is to allow ALEA to notify particip…

(a) An individual commits the crime of misuse of a background check report if he or she does any of the following: (1) Knowingly receives, disseminates, or otherwise uses a background check contrary to the purposes allowed by this article or otherwise allowed in law. (2) Performs…

Subject to the rules of the commission, ALEA may provide criminal history information to a judge of probate for the purpose of name changes, adoption hearings, determinations of eligibility of administrators or executors of estates, or any other lawful purpose. (Act 2019-495, §2.…