HB199ENGROSSED
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HB199
TNNJ559-2
By Representative Hendrix
RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
First Read: 05-Feb-25
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First Read: 05-Feb-25
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to juveniles; to amend Sections 12-15-128 and
12-15-208, Code of Alabama 1975; to authorize the Board of
Pardons and Paroles or other state agency to provide
electronic monitoring to children released from custody in
certain circumstances; and to revise a requirement under which
status offenders who violate a valid court order may be
detained in a juvenile facility for up to 72 hours within a
six-month period.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 12-15-128, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§12-15-128
(a) An allegedly delinquent child, dependent child, or
child in need of supervision lawfully taken into custody shall
immediately be released, upon the ascertainment of the
necessary facts, to the care, custody, and control of the
parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian of the child or
other suitable person individual able to provide supervision
and care for the child, unless the juvenile court or juvenile
court intake officer, subject to the limitations in Section
12-15-208, finds any of the following:
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12-15-208, finds any of the following:
(1) The child has no parent, legal guardian, legal
custodian, or other suitable person individual able to provide
supervision and care for the child.
(2) The release of the child would present a clear and
substantial threat of a serious nature to the person or
property of others and where the child is alleged to be
delinquent.
(3) The release of the child would present a serious
threat of substantial harm to the child.
(4) The child has a history of failing to appear for
hearings before the juvenile court.
(5) The child is alleged to be delinquent for
possessing a pistol, short-barreled rifle, or short-barreled
shotgun, in which case the child may be detained in a juvenile
detention facility until the hearing required by Section
12-15-207. Pistol as used in this section shall be as defined
in subdivision (1) of Section 13A-11-70. Short-barreled rifle
and short-barreled shotgun as used in this section shall be as
defined in Section 13A-11-62.
(b) The criteria for continuing the allegedly
delinquent child or child in need of supervision in detention
or shelter or other care, or for continuing the allegedly
dependent child in shelter or other care, as set forth
provided in subsection (a) shall govern the decisions of all
persons involved in determining whether the continued
detention or shelter care is warranted pending juvenile court
disposition and those criteria shall be supported by clear and
convincing evidence in support of the decision not to release
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convincing evidence in support of the decision not to release
the child.
(c)(1) In releasing a child, a juvenile court or the
juvenile court intake officer may impose restrictions on the
travel, association, or place of abode of the child or place
the child under the supervision of a department, agency, or
organization agreeing to supervise him or her, and may place
the child under supervision such as electronic or telephone
monitoring, if available. A child, once placed in detention,
may also be released pursuant to the same conditions should
there be a need to release the child from a juvenile detention
facility because of an overcrowded population.
(2) The Board of Pardons and Paroles or any other state
agency may provide electronic monitoring services as provided
in subdivision (1). "
Section 2. Section 12-15-208, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§12-15-208
(a) Persons who shall not be detained or confined in
secure custody include all of the following:
(1) A status offender, except as further provided in
this subdivision and subsection (b).
a. Short-term secure custody of an accused status
offender may be necessary, such as detention in a juvenile
detention facility, for a brief period not exceeding 24 hours,
prior to formal juvenile court action, for investigative
purposes, for identification purposes, or for the purpose of
allowing return of a status offender to the parent, legal
guardian, or legal custodian.
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guardian, or legal custodian.
b. Detention for a brief period of time pursuant to
juvenile court authority may be necessary in order to arrange
for appropriate shelter care placement. If a petition
regarding an alleged status offender is filed in juvenile
court and if it is determined that the alleged status offender
is at imminent risk of being placed in the legal or physical
custody of the Department of Human Resources, the case shall
be referred to the county children's services facilitation
team, and the procedures in Article 5 shall be followed. Upon
referral to the county children's services facilitation team,
the juvenile probation officer shall continue to provide case
management to the status offender unless the county children's
services facilitation team appoints another person to act as
case manager. The juvenile probation officer shall participate
in county children's services facilitation team meetings and
share records information and reports on the status offender
with the county children's services facilitation team.
(2) A federal ward who is held beyond 24 hours in
secure custody in a state or local juvenile detention facility
pursuant to a written contract or agreement with a federal
agency and for the specific purpose of affecting a
jurisdictional transfer, for appearance as a material witness,
or for return to his or her lawful residence or country of
citizenship shall be reported as a violation of the
deinstitutionalization of status offender requirement.
(3) A nonoffender.
(4) A child 10 years of age or younger, unless the
child is charged with an offense causing death or serious
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child is charged with an offense causing death or serious
bodily injury to a person or an offense that would be
classified as a Class A felony if committed by an adult.
(5) A child 11 or 12 years of age, unless: (i) the
child is charged with an offense causing death or serious
bodily injury to a person or an offense that would be
classified as a Class A felony if committed by an adult; or
(ii) by order of a juvenile court.
(b) Persons who may be detained or confined in secure
custody include all of the following:
(1) A person who violates the federal law that
prohibits possession of a handgun by a child under 18 years of
age or who violates a similar state or municipal law. A person
under this subdivision may be placed in a juvenile detention
facility.
(2) A person in custody pursuant to the Interstate
Compact for Juveniles, contained in Section 44-2-10. A person
under this subdivision may be placed in juvenile detention
facilities.
(3) A status offender who violates a valid court order.
a. A status offender who is charged with or has
committed a violation of a valid court order may be detained
in secure custody in a juvenile detention facility for up to
72 hours in any six-month period for a first violation and up
to seven days for a second or subsequent violation upon
issuance of a written detention order that complies with 34
U.S.C. § 11133(a)(23)(C)(iii).
b. A status offender who violates a valid court order
shall not be committed to the Department of Youth Services nor
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shall not be committed to the Department of Youth Services nor
held in a jail or lockup for adult offenders.
c. For this valid court order exception to apply, the
following actions must occur when a status offender is taken
into custody for violating a valid court order:
1. The juvenile detention facility shall immediately
notify the juvenile court intake or probation officer that the
child is being held in secure custody for violating a valid
court order. The notice shall include the date and time the
child entered the juvenile detention facility.
2. Within the first 24 hours during which a status
offender is held in secure custody, not including weekends or
holidays, a juvenile court intake or probation officer, or an
authorized representative of the department or agency having
custody or supervision of the child, shall interview the child
in person.
3. Within 48 hours of the admission of the status
offender to secure custody, not including weekends or
holidays:
(i) The individual who interviewed the child shall
submit a written assessment report to the juvenile court
regarding the immediate needs of the child; and
(ii) If the juvenile court has not yet determined
whether the child has violated the order, the juvenile court
shall conduct a hearing to determine whether there is
reasonable cause to believe that the child violated the order
and the appropriate placement of the child pending disposition
of the alleged violation.
(c) No person under 18 years of age shall be detained
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(c) No person under 18 years of age shall be detained
or confined in any jail or lockup for adults except as
follows:
(1) For up to six hours while processing the case of
the child.
(2) If the child is transferred for criminal
prosecution pursuant to Section 12-15-203.
(3) If the child is charged pursuant to Section
12-15-204.
(d)(1) When a case is transferred to another court for
criminal prosecution under subdivision (c)(2), the person
shall be transferred to the appropriate officer or jail or
lockup in accordance with the law governing the detention of
the person charged with the crime. A jail or lockup used for
holding adults shall not hold a status offender in secure
custody at any time. An accused status offender may be
detained in a nonsecure area of a jail or lockup for
processing while waiting transportation to a nonsecure shelter
care facility or a juvenile detention facility or while
waiting for release to a parent, legal guardian, or legal
custodian.
(2) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a circuit
court judge exercising criminal jurisdiction from ordering
that a child described in subdivision (c)(2) or (3) should be
placed in a juvenile detention center instead of an adult jail
or lockup.
(e)(1) An accused or adjudicated delinquent child or a
status offender shall not have contact with adult inmates,
including trustees. "Contact" is defined as any physical or
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including trustees. "Contact" is defined as any physical or
sustained sight and sound contact. "Sight contact" is defined
as clear visual contact between adult inmates and an accused
or adjudicated delinquent child or a status offender within
close proximity to each other. "Sound contact" is defined as
direct verbal communication between adult inmates and an
accused or adjudicated delinquent child or a status offender.
(2) No child shall enter pursuant to public authority,
for any amount of time, in secure custody in a secure section
of a jail, lockup, or correctional facility for adults as a
disposition of an offense or as a means of modifying his or
her behavior.
(f) Except as provided in this section, in providing
detention and shelter or other care for a child referred to or
coming under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, the
juvenile court shall only use a facility that has been
established, licensed, or approved by the Department of Youth
Services or Department of Human Resources for those purposes.
(g) Except as provided in this section, the official in
charge of a jail or lockup for the detention of adult
offenders or persons charged with crimes shall inform the
juvenile court immediately when a child, who is or appears to
be a child as defined by this chapter, is received at the jail
or lockup. Upon request, the official shall deliver the child
to the juvenile court or transfer him or her to a juvenile
detention facility designated by the juvenile court.
(h) The Department of Youth Services shall continue to
develop and implement a statewide system of juvenile detention
facilities that shall be licensed by the Department of Youth
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facilities that shall be licensed by the Department of Youth
Services for the detention of children.
(i) The Department of Youth Services shall subsidize
the detention of children in the juvenile detention facilities
in an amount up to one half the average cost of detention. The
amount of the subsidy shall depend on the funds appropriated
by the Legislature to the Department of Youth Services.
Juvenile detention facilities may contract with the Department
of Youth Services or other counties for the detention of
children.
(j) Any law enforcement officer, at the direction of
the juvenile court, shall provide security and transportation
services for the juvenile court in transporting children to
and from juvenile detention facilities and the Department of
Youth Services."
Section 3. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2025.
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1, 2025.
House of Representatives
Read for the first time and referred
to the House of Representatives
committee on Public Safety and
Homeland Security
................05-Feb-25
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
0 amendments
................12-Feb-25
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 101
Nays 0
Abstains 0
................18-Feb-25
John Treadwell
Clerk
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