In this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) ABUSE. Any offense under Sections 13A-6-60 to 13A-6-70, inclusive, or under Sections 26-15-1 to 26-15-4, inclusive, occurring among family, household, dating, or engagement relationship members as defined in Section 15-10-3.

(2) ACADV. The Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Incorporated.

(3) ADVOCATE. An employee or volunteer of a program for victims of domestic violence receiving funds under this chapter who has a primary function of rendering advice, counseling, or assistance to victims of domestic violence; who supervises the employees or volunteers of the program; or who administers the program.

(4) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER OR FACILITY. A facility which provides services or shelter to adult victims and their accompanying children as herein defined and which has been certified by the Office of Prosecution Services to receive funds.

(5) OFFICE. The Office of Prosecution Services.

(6) VICTIM. Any individual suffering assault, battery, rape, or other abuse as defined in subdivision (1) and any dependent of the individual, including a child.

Terms not otherwise defined by this chapter shall have the meaning given to them by the Alabama Criminal Code, Title 13A, or other provisions of law, as the case may be.

The office is authorized to promulgate, issue and implement reasonable rules, regulations and standards necessary to administer and implement the provisions of this chapter.

Commencing October 1, 1999, and thereafter, in addition to any and all other fees collected for any marriage license, the probate judge shall collect thirty dollars ($30) which shall be forwarded to the district attorney of the judicial circuit of his or her county. The funds shall be designated only for the purposes of this chapter, and forwarded monthly to the office for distribution on a formula, pursuant to Section 30-6-7 and this chapter. Provided, however, no unspent and unencumbered funds generated by this chapter shall revert to the General Fund of the State Treasury at the end of the fiscal year. Any such unspent and unencumbered funds shall be returned to the respective judicial circuits from which they were generated. The district attorney shall use the funds exclusively for the purposes of establishing, maintaining, or funding, or any combination thereof, of domestic violence shelters. The funds shall be used for the establishment or maintenance of a domestic violence shelter within 12 months of the end of the fiscal year during which they were collected. If funds collected pursuant to this chapter have not been expended for the purposes of establishing or maintaining a domestic violence shelter within the time period designated in this section, those funds shall revert to the office for distribution to certified domestic violence facilities according to the formula established by the office pursuant to Section 30-6-7 and this chapter.

Any person, firm, corporation or official acting pursuant to this chapter, or participating in a judicial proceeding resulting therefrom, shall, in so doing, be immune from any civil liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed.

The provisions of this chapter are supplemental and shall be construed in pari materia with other laws relating to domestic relations, abuse and law enforcement; and provided, that those laws or parts of laws which are in direct conflict or inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

The Legislature recognizes that certain persons who assault, batter, or otherwise abuse their children, spouses and other family members and the persons subject to such abuse are in need of treatment and rehabilitation. It is the intent of the Legislature to assist in the development of domestic violence shelters and services for the victims of such abuse and to provide a place where the parties involved may be separated until they can be properly assisted.

(a) It shall be the duty of the office to do all of the following:

(1) To establish minimum program requirements and standards for certifying domestic violence facilities to receive state funds pursuant to this chapter.

(2) To receive applications for state funding of the facilities pursuant to this chapter.

(3) To approve or reject each application within 60 days of receipt of the application.

(4) To distribute funds to a certified facility beginning on October 1 of the year immediately succeeding the year in which the facility's application was approved.

(5) To evaluate annually each shelter for compliance with the minimum standards.

(b) The office or the district attorney from any participating circuit may enter and inspect the premises of domestic violence shelter at any reasonable hour in order to effectively evaluate the state of compliance of the facility with this chapter and rules in force pursuant thereto.

(c) The Executive Committee of the Alabama District Attorneys Association shall prescribe by rule the procedures by which subdivision (1) of subsection (a) shall be implemented.

(d) Any facility which shelters children, pursuant to this chapter, shall be exempt from the provisions of Title 38, Chapter 7.

The ACADV shall do all of the following:

(1) Formulate and conduct a research and evaluation program on domestic violence and cooperate with and assist and participate in programs of other properly qualified agencies, including any agency of the state, federal government, schools of medicine, hospitals, and clinics, in planning and conducting research on the prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation of persons engaged in or subject to domestic violence.

(2) Serve as a clearinghouse for information relating to spouse abuse and domestic violence.

(3) Carry on educational programs on domestic violence for the benefit of the general public, persons engaged in or subject to spouse abuse, professional persons, or others who care for or may be engaged in the care and treatment of persons engaged in or subject to spouse abuse and domestic violence.

(4) Enlist the assistance by contract or otherwise, of public and voluntary health, education, welfare, and rehabilitation centers or agencies in a concerted effort to prevent child abuse and domestic violence and to treat or provide shelter for persons engaged in or subject to such abuse or violence.

On or before 30 days prior to each regular session of the Legislature, the ACADV shall report to the office, and the office shall furnish to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on or before the third day of each regular session, a report on the status of domestic violence in Alabama which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) The incidence of domestic violence in this state and in each county.

(2) The identification and description of the types of programs in the state that assist victims or persons initiating the violence and abuse.

(3) The number and characteristics of persons treated by or assisted by local programs or centers receiving funding.

(4) The number and characteristics of persons perpetrating domestic violence identified by centers receiving funding.

(5) An inventory and evaluation of existing prevention programs.

(a) In order to be funded and certified, each facility shall do all of the following:

(1) Provide a shelter, whether public or private, which will serve as a center to receive and house adult persons who are domestic violence victims and their accompanying children.

(2) Receive the periodic written endorsement of the participating circuit's district attorney and the local law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction of the site.

(3) Provide minimum services which shall include, but not be limited to, information and referral services, counseling services, temporary emergency shelter for more than 24 hours for adult victims and their accompanying children, and educational services for community awareness relative to the incidence of domestic violence, the prevention of abuse, and the care, treatment, and rehabilitation for persons engaged in or subject to such abuse.

(b) Domestic violence facilities may be established throughout the state as private, local, state, or federal funds are available. Any local agency or organization may apply to participate in certification and state funding pursuant to this chapter. This chapter shall not be construed to prohibit any agency or organization from uniting with a like agency or organization, within or without the same county or within or without any adjacent circuit, in the joint establishment or operation of any domestic violence facility.

(c) The facilities shall establish procedures pursuant to which persons subject to domestic violence may seek services from these facilities on a voluntary basis.

(d) Each facility shall have a board composed of at least three citizens, one of whom shall be a member of a local, municipal, or county law enforcement agency.

(e) No individual facility shall receive a total amount in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) annually.

(f) Each facility shall submit their proposed budget at the request of the office and prior to any application for funds.

Each circuit shall receive a proportionate share of the total funding appropriated, as the population of the circuit or circuits jointly bear to the total population of the state, according to the most recent federal decennial census, for implementation of this chapter. Each facility shall receive the funds as determined by the policy adopted by the office. The formula for such funding shall be deemed a public record. The office may not expend in excess of ten percent of the funds administered by it to implement this chapter. Of the funds administered by the office to implement this chapter, the office shall retain 60 percent of the funds or eighty thousand dollars ($80,000), whichever is greater, and shall disburse the remainder of the implementation funds received during the previous fiscal year to the ACADV upon satisfactory receipt of the report described in Section 30-6-5 for that year.

Information received by the office, the circuit, any district attorney or his or her employees, or by authorized persons employed by or volunteering services to a facility, through files, reports, inspection, or otherwise, shall be deemed confidential information, except as otherwise herein provided, and shall not be disclosed publicly in such a manner as to identify individuals or facilities. Oral communications between a domestic violence victim and an advocate and written reports and records concerning the victim may not be disclosed without the written consent of the victim. This privilege does not relieve a person from any duty imposed pursuant to Section 26-14-1 or Section 38-9-2. A victim or advocate may not claim this privilege when providing evidence in proceedings concerning child abuse, but may claim this privilege in all other proceedings, both criminal and civil. This privilege expires upon the death of the victim. Each facility, with the approval of the office, shall establish its own rules, regulations, and policies for the performance of the responsibilities charged to it in this chapter. The office shall ensure that the information obtained under authority of this chapter shall be restricted to the items germane to the implementation thereof and shall ensure that the provisions are administered so as not to accumulate any information or distribute any information that is not required by this chapter. The office and each participating district attorney shall ensure that adequate safeguards are incorporated so that data available is used only by properly authorized persons, facilities, and agencies.

Any law enforcement officer who investigates an alleged incident of domestic violence shall advise the person subject to the abuse of the availability of a facility from which he or she may receive services.