Any article or product manufactured by the Board of Corrections for sale through the Finance Department to any office, department, institution or agency of the state or to any political subdivision thereof shall be manufactured or produced only upon state specifications developed by and through the Finance Department. However, if such specifications have not been developed by the department, then production may be based upon commercial specifications in current use by industry for the manufacture of such articles and products for sale to the state and political subdivisions thereof which have first been approved by the Finance Department. For purposes of this chapter, state specifications and commercial specifications approved by the Finance Department shall mean the latest complete version of any specification including amendments thereto.

The Board of Corrections and the Finance Department shall fix and determine the prices at which all articles or products manufactured or produced shall be furnished.

(a) The Board of Corrections shall cause to be prepared, at such times as it may determine, catalogues containing an accurate and complete description of all articles and products manufactured or produced by it pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Copies of such catalogues shall be sent to all offices, departments, institutions and agencies of this state and made accessible to all political subdivisions of this state referred to in Section 14-7-13.

(b) The Finance Department may at any time request the Board of Corrections to manufacture or produce additional articles or products.

(a) On and after August 13, 1976, all offices, departments, institutions and agencies of this state which are supported in whole or in part by this state and political subdivisions thereof shall purchase from the Alabama Board of Corrections all articles or products required by such offices, departments, institutions, agencies or political subdivisions of this state produced or manufactured by the said Board of Corrections with the use of prison labor, as provided for by this chapter, and no such article or product may be purchased by any such office, department, institution or agency from any other source, unless excepted from the provisions of this section as provided in Section 14-7-14. All purchases made by state agencies shall be made through the Finance Department upon requisition by the proper authority of the office, department, institution or agency.

(b) Political subdivisions of this state may purchase directly from the Board of Corrections.

Exceptions from the operation of the mandatory provisions in subsection (a) of Section 14-7-13 may be made in the case of articles or products produced or manufactured in work shops or home industries developed, supervised or maintained by the adult blind department of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind or in any case where, in the opinion of the Finance Department, the article or articles or product or products produced or manufactured under the supervision of the Board of Corrections do or do not meet the reasonable requirements of or for such offices, departments, institutions or agencies or in any case where the requisitions made cannot be reasonably complied with.

No such office, department, institution or agency shall be allowed to evade the intent and meaning of this section by slight variations from standards adopted by the finance department when the articles or products produced or manufactured by the Board of Corrections in accordance with established standards are reasonably adapted to the actual needs of such office, department, institution or agency.

At least 30 days before the beginning of each fiscal year, the Finance Department shall provide to the Board of Corrections summary reports of the kind and amount of articles and products purchased for state offices, departments, institutions and agencies based upon the previous nine months experience. Not more than 100 days following the close of each fiscal year, the Finance Department shall submit to the Board of Corrections a report showing the kinds and amounts of such prison manufactured articles purchased by all state offices, departments, institutions and agencies based upon the purchase experience of the entire previous fiscal year. All such reports shall refer, insofar as possible, to the items or products contained in the catalogue as issued by the Board of Corrections.

Any volunteer fire department and rescue squad organizations operating in this state which have been granted an exemption under the provision of Section 40-18-32 or approved by the Federal Internal Revenue Service may purchase goods and services offered by the Alabama Correctional Industries Division of the Department of Corrections.

In keeping with the primary objective of vocational training and rehabilitation of prisoners, the articles or products manufactured or produced by prison labor in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be devoted, first, to fulfilling the requirements of the offices, departments, institutions and agencies of this state which are supported in whole or in part by this state and, secondly, to supplying the political subdivisions of this state with such articles and products.

In addition to the information ordinarily required by law in the annual audits of expenditures and operations of the Board of Corrections made by the State Auditor, after August 13, 1976 such annual audit reports shall also include a detailed statement of all materials, machinery or other property procured and the cost thereof, the expenditures made during the audited year for manufacturing purposes together with a statement of all materials on hand to be manufactured or in process of manufacture or manufactured, the values of all machinery, fixtures or other appurtenances for the purpose of utilizing the productive labor of prisoners and the earnings realized therefrom during the year.

The Board of Corrections shall have the power and authority to prepare and promulgate policies which are necessary to give effect to the provisions of this chapter with respect to matters of administration respecting the same.

In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the Legislature shall authorize in its annual appropriations an Industrial Revolving Fund and set the amount therein for the use of the Board of Corrections. The board is authorized to expend such moneys out of appropriations for said revolving fund as may be necessary to erect buildings, improve existing facilities, purchase equipment, procure tools, supplies and materials, purchase, install or replace equipment and otherwise defray the necessary expenses incident to the employment of prisoners as provided in this chapter.

All moneys collected by the Board of Corrections from the sale or disposition of articles and products manufactured or produced by prison labor in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, shall be forthwith deposited with the State Treasurer to be kept and maintained in the Industrial Revolving Fund authorized by this chapter, and such moneys so collected and deposited shall be used solely for the purchase of raw materials, manufacturing supplies, equipment, machinery and buildings used to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and to otherwise defray the necessary expenses incident thereto, including the employment of such necessary supervisory personnel as is unavailable in the prison inmate population, all of which shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Corrections; provided, however, that the Industrial Revolving Fund shall never be maintained in excess of the amount necessary to carry out efficiently and properly the intentions of this chapter. When, in the opinion of the Governor and the Legislature the Industrial Revolving Fund has reached a sum in excess of the requirements of this chapter, such excess shall be transferred by the Board of Corrections to the State General Fund.

The Board of Corrections shall have the power to authorize the commissioner of the Board of Corrections to sell and dispose of all surplus agricultural products and all personal property owned by the Board of Corrections which have not been manufactured by the board for the purpose of sale at such prices and on such terms and under such rules and regulations as it deems best to adopt. The Board of Corrections shall continue to exercise its rights and privileges relative to the sale and disposal of serviceable state personal property no longer needed by state agencies.

(a) On and after August 13, 1976, it shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale on the open market of this state any articles or products manufactured wholly or in part in this or any other state by prisoners of this state or any other state, except prisoners on parole or probation.

(b) Any person who willfully violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail for not less than 10 days nor more than one year or shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $500.00 or both, in the discretion of the court.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to affect Sections 21-2-1 through 21-2-4.

This chapter may be cited as the "Prison-Made Goods Act of Alabama."

It is hereby declared to be the intent of this chapter:

(1) To provide more adequate, regular and suitable employment for the vocational training and rehabilitation of the prisoners of this state, consistent with proper penal purposes;

(2) To utilize the labor of prisoners for self-maintenance and for reimbursing this state for expenses incurred by reason of their crimes and imprisonment; and

(3) To effect the requisitioning and disbursement of prison products directly through established state authorities without possibility of private profits therefrom.

The Alabama Board of Corrections is authorized to purchase in the manner prescribed by law, equipment, raw materials and supplies and to engage the supervisory personnel necessary to establish and maintain for this state at the penitentiary or any penal farm or institution now or hereafter under the control of said board industries for the utilization of services of prisoners in the manufacture or production of such articles or products as may be needed for the construction, operation, maintenance or use of any office, department, institution or agency supported in whole or in part by this state and the political subdivisions thereof.

At least 30 days prior to a final decision by the Board of Corrections to obligate any funds to initiate manufacturing in an industry in which it has not been engaged in the past, the board shall issue a press release stating such intent and provide written notice to various trade associations in Alabama calling for a public hearing of all interested parties. The intent of this provision is to give the Board of Corrections the benefit of input from parties who may be affected by the board's decisions but final decision-making authority rests with the board.