This chapter shall be known as the "Mandatory Treatment Act of 1990."

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Court Referral Officer Trust Fund is hereby established and created as a separate fund in the State Treasury. Such fund shall be used for operation of the alcohol and drug abuse court referral officer program. This fund shall consist of all moneys paid into the State Treasury to the credit of such fund pursuant to this chapter and all moneys received for the benefit of the court referral officer program by legislative appropriation, grant, gift, or contributions by counties or municipalities, or otherwise. Such moneys shall be used and expended by the Administrative Director of Courts to establish, organize, and administer the alcohol and drug abuse court referral officer program throughout the state. Any unexpended or unencumbered sums remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year except appropriations from other state funds shall remain in the fund to be preserved for the administration of the alcohol and drug abuse court referral officer program.

Moneys contained in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Court Referral Officer Trust Fund shall be expended by the Administrative Director of Courts for purposes set out in Section 12-23-4. Appropriations heretofore or hereafter made to the Unified Judicial System shall not be reduced by the amount of any funds contained in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Court Referral Officer Trust Fund.

In addition to the imposition of any other costs, penalties, or fines imposed pursuant to law, any person convicted as an adult or adjudicated a youthful offender or juvenile delinquent based on the offense of driving under the influence or other alcohol or drug related offenses as defined in this chapter shall be ordered by the court to pay an alcohol and drug abuse court referral officer assessment fee in an amount recommended by the Administrative Office of Courts and approved by the Supreme Court. Such additional assessment fee shall be collected by the court referral officer by the 10th day of each month. The State Treasurer shall credit such sums to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Court Referral Officer Trust Fund.

Any alcohol or drug-related offender referred for assessment and placed on probation by the judge shall pay a monitoring fee to the court referral officer which shall also be remitted to the State Treasurer by the court referral officer by the tenth day of each month as set out in Section 12-23-10. The assessment fee and monitoring fees shall be established and regulated by the Administrative Office of Courts and can be adjusted to ensure that adequate financial resources are available to support the court referral program and administration of the programs.

The Administrative Office of Courts shall establish criteria to determine eligibility of court referral programs to receive payment from the Court Referral Officer Trust Fund. All Alabama TASC programs which meet the national TASC criteria on August 15, 1990 shall be eligible to receive payments from the Court Referral Officer Trust Fund. All such programs shall be nonprofit agencies.

The Indigent Offender Alcohol and Drug Treatment Trust Fund is hereby established and created as a separate fund in the State Treasury. Such fund shall provide for payment to eligible alcohol and drug treatment programs for treatment and rehabilitation of indigent offenders. This fund shall consist of all moneys paid into the State Treasury to the credit of such fund pursuant to this chapter and all moneys received for the benefit of the Indigent Offender Alcohol and Drug Treatment Trust Fund by legislative appropriation, grant, or otherwise. A fee recommended by the Administrative Office of Courts and approved by the Supreme Court shall be collected from each offender. The fee shall be collected by the court referral officer by the tenth day of each month. The State Treasurer shall credit such sums to the Indigent Offender Alcohol and Drug Treatment Trust Fund. Failure of a court referral program or court referral officer to remit all fees collected shall be grounds for termination from the program. Additionally, the prosecutor shall be authorized to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall establish criteria to determine which treatment programs shall be eligible to receive payment for treatment services for indigent offenders from this fund, and shall establish rates of reimbursement for treatment of indigent offenders. At a minimum, such programs must be nonprofit and certified by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation or joint commission on accreditation of health-care organizations.

Moneys contained in the Indigent Offender Trust Fund shall be expended by the Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for purposes setout in Section 12-23-15. Such moneys shall be used and expended by the Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to establish, organize, and administer the indigent offender alcohol and drug treatment program throughout the state, including all functions or projects of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation directly or indirectly relating thereto. Any unexpended or unencumbered sums remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year except appropriations from other state funds shall remain in the fund to be preserved for the administration of the indigent offender treatment program.

Any person determined to be indigent by the court may request waiver of all or part of the fees established by this chapter. In such cases where a waiver of fees is granted, such waiver shall be limited to the time when the offender is unable to pay. If the offender becomes able to pay during the course of monitoring or treatment, or another future date, the waiver of fees may be revoked. The judge may order an indigent offender to perform community service in lieu of payment of fees.

The directors, employees of the Administrative Office of Courts, including the Administrative Director of Courts, and the employees of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, including the Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, shall be exempt from civil liability for alleged acts of ordinary negligence actions taken in performance of their official duties in carrying out the provisions of this chapter.

The Legislature finds that the high incidence of crimes which directly involve alcohol and drugs in this state is intolerable; that the problems of alcohol and drug abuse among the citizens of Alabama are extensive and exist at an unacceptable level; that alcohol and/or drug abuse or dependency have been identified as contributing factors in the commission of many crimes; that a concentrated and coordinated state and local effort is needed to address the needs of Alabamians regarding such problems; that a specialized system for screening, evaluating, educating, and rehabilitating defendants convicted of alcohol and drug related offenses is required to address such problems; and that adequate funding should be provided for this purpose. It is therefore the intent of the Legislature:

To establish a specialized court referral officer program to promote the evaluation, education and rehabilitation of persons whose use or dependency on alcohol or drugs directly or indirectly contributed to the commission of an offense for which they were convicted in state or municipal courts and to establish mandatory alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs to provide treatment and rehabilitation for these identified offenders.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section:

(1) ALCOHOL OR DRUG RELATED OFFENSES. All offenses, including municipal ordinance violations, in which alcohol and drug abuse is determined from the evidence to have been a factor in the commission of the offense including juveniles charged with possession of controlled substances and adjudicated delinquent.

(2) ALCOHOL ABUSE. The use of alcohol to the extent that the health, safety or welfare of the user, or that of others, is substantially impaired or endangered or the social or economic function of the user is disrupted.

(3) DRUG ABUSE. Use of a controlled substance or drug with abuse or addictive potential to the extent that the user has lost the ability of self control, or to the extent that the health, safety, or welfare of the user, or that of others, is substantially impaired or endangered, or the social or economic function of the user is disrupted.

(4) COURT REFERRAL OFFICER PROGRAM. A program established to evaluate defendants' use of alcohol and/or drugs and to provide assistance to courts in promoting the education and rehabilitation of defendants including juveniles and those granted youthful offender status or convicted of alcohol and/or drug-related offenses.

(5) COURT REFERRAL OFFICERS. Those persons within designated court jurisdictions providing assessment or evaluation of defendants for alcohol and/or drug abuse, recommendations and/or referrals for education or treatment and monitoring for court-ordered compliance.

(6) DUI. Driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs as proscribed by Section 32-5A-191, or any other law.

(7) DIVERSIONARY SCREENING. The power of the prosecutor, prior to arraignment, to consider all circumstances of criminal proceedings and to determine whether any legal action is to be taken.

(8) PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION. The discretionary power of a prosecutor to suspend, prior to the arraignment, all formal prosecutorial proceedings against one who has become involved in the criminal justice system as a defendant or an accused.

(9) ACCUSATORY INSTRUMENT. Any complaint, information, or grand jury indictment.

(10) NON-CRIMINAL DISPOSITION. The dismissal of a criminal charge without prejudice to reinstate criminal proceedings on motion of the prosecutor as herein provided.

(11) PRE-TRIAL DIVERSION. The imposition of conditions by the prosecutor upon defendants charged with certain criminal offenses for a specified period of time prior to arraignment.

(12) DEFERRED PROSECUTION. The suspension of prosecution prior to arraignment for a specified period of time upon the request of the accused with the consent of the prosecutor.

(a) The Administrative Director of Courts is authorized to appoint court referral officers or contract with individuals or entities to provide alcohol and drug assessment for courts and to conduct the court referral programs in each court jurisdiction of the state. Such appointments or contracts shall be made or entered into with the advice of the presiding circuit judge. The Administrative Director of Courts shall designate the locations where said court referral programs, court referral officers or contracting entities or individuals shall serve, which designations may be changed from time to time; provided, however, that all appointed court referral officers and approved court referral programs shall serve at the pleasure of the Administrative Director of Courts. Any individual or entity which contracts to conduct the court referral program shall perform all the duties as setout in the statewide policies and procedures manual for court referral programs established by the Administrative Office of Courts or these programs shall meet the national criteria for treatment alternatives to street crimes (TASC) programs. Court referral officers shall work under the general supervision and direction of the Administrative Director of Courts and the judges of the circuit to which they are assigned. Such court referral officers shall be compensated by the state from moneys contained in the alcohol and drug abuse court referral officer trust fund and/or federal grants designated by the Administrative Office of Courts for this purpose. Except for court referral officers currently employed by the Administrative Office of Courts on August 15, 1990, such officers shall not be considered employees of the state for purposes of entitlement to insurance, retirement and other state employee benefits. All such contracts will be null and void unless first reviewed according to Sections 29-2-40 and 29-2-41.

(b) Court referral officers shall be required to perform the following duties:

(1) Attend municipal, district, probate, and circuit courts as needed;

(2) Screen and evaluate all defendants ordered by the prosecutor or trial courts to participate and to recommend to the court appropriate educational and/or rehabilitative programs for such defendants;

(3) Develop and maintain a file on each defendant assigned to the court referral officer, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, information taken from arrest records, test scores, results of chemical blood alcohol tests, drug screens and other personal data;

(4) Continuously monitor defendants who are ordered to complete alcohol and/or drug related educational or rehabilitative programs and to report violations of such orders to the prosecutor or court;

(5) Provide such information and reports on defendants assigned to the court referral officer as may be required by the prosecutor, ordering court or the Administrative Director of Courts;

(6) Provide information or education on the court referral program to judges, clerks, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and the general public;

(7) Collect and report statistics, data, and other information pertaining to the court referral program and alcohol and drug related offenses as required by the Administrative Director of Courts or area judge(s);

(8) Collect and report information to the courts concerning results of urine screens, drug testing or other appropriate evaluative measures; and

(9) Perform such other duties or functions to further the purposes of this chapter as may be directed by the court which they serve or the Administrative Director of Courts.

Any person arrested or charged with the violation of a controlled substance offense as set forth in Sections 13A-12-212, 13A-12-213 or 13A-12-214 may file a request with the district attorney having jurisdiction over the offense to enroll in a drug abuse treatment program in lieu of undergoing prosecution. Admission to such treatment program and deferral of prosecution may be granted at the discretion of the district attorney. The Office of Prosecution Services shall establish guidelines, which shall be used by the prosecutor in evaluating the request for diversion from the criminal justice system into rehabilitation. If prosecution has been initiated by the filing of a complaint, information or indictment, prior approval and dismissal of the case must be obtained from the judge presiding over the case. Admission to such treatment or rehabilitation program and deferral of prosecution is subject to the following conditions:

(1) The defendant must have no prior felony convictions for controlled substance offenses or other pending felony charges.

(2) Where the person arrested or charged is in violation of a controlled substance offense as set forth in Sections 13A-12-212, 13A-12-213 or 13A-12-214, they may request diversion. The amount of controlled substances involved, however, must not exceed the amounts below.

a. 113.2 grams or four ounces of cannabis;

b. Five grams of cocaine HCL or of any mixture containing cocaine, as described in Section 20-2-25(1);

c. 500 milligrams of cocaine base;

d. One gram of any morphine, opium or any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer thereof, including heroin, as described in Section 20-2-23(2) or Section 20-2-25(1)a, or one gram of any mixture containing any such substance;

e. Ten pills or capsules of methaqualone, as described in Section 20-2-1, et seq.;

f. Ten pills or capsules of barbiturate or benzodiazepine as described in Section 20-2-1, et seq.;

g. Five pills or capsules of hydromorphone, meperidine, pentazocine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, propoxyphene as described in Sections 20-2-1, et seq.;

h. One gram of 3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine, or of any mixture containing 3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine;

i. One gram of 5-methoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine, or any mixture containing 5-methoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine;

j. Fifty milligrams of phencyclidine, or any mixture containing phencyclidine;

k. Fifty milligrams of lysergic acid diethylamide or one gram of any mixture containing lysergic acid diethylamide;

l. Twenty pills or tablets of 3, 4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine; 3,4 methylenedioxy ethylamphetamine.

(3) If diversion to treatment is allowed, the offender shall:

a. Provide information needed to conduct an assessment of his treatment needs;

b. Complete the recommended treatment;

c. Complete a drug or alcohol testing program;

d. Pay restitution to his victim;

e. Unless indigent, pay for his assessment, treatment, and monitoring.

(4) If the defendant fails to complete treatment and pay the required costs, the prosecutor shall initiate charges against the defendant.

In order to effect the purposes of this chapter, all courts exercising jurisdiction over alcohol and drug related offenses shall be authorized to refer a defendant to a court referral program for evaluation and referral to an appropriate education and/or treatment program. At a minimum, every defendant who is not referred directly to drug or alcohol treatment shall be required to complete an alcohol and drug education program certified by the Administrative Office of Courts.

Any person who is convicted of an alcohol or drug-related offense and who is placed on probation or parole shall be required to participate in an alcohol or drug testing program at his own expense, unless he is determined to be indigent. Any such person who fails the alcohol or drug test shall be required to:

(1) Provide information needed to conduct a treatment assessment;

(2) Complete the recommended treatment; and

(3) Pay for the assessment, treatment and alcohol or drug testing unless the court finds he is indigent.

Any person who fails to complete treatment and pay for it shall be charged with violation of probation or parole; provided, however, that indigents shall not be required to pay for treatment or monitoring provided by court referral officers.

Compliance with any order authorized pursuant to this chapter relating to education and/or treatment may be enforced by the court through exercise of its contempt powers; or, where made a condition of probation, by revocation thereof for non-compliance.

The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall develop policies and procedures which shall be followed in the treatment of offenders. These programs shall be certified by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation or the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health-care Organizations (JCAHO).