There is hereby created a department of the State of Alabama which shall be known as the Department of Public Safety and shall be headed by the Director of Public Safety. The Governor shall appoint the director, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
The state Department of Public Safety is authorized, subject to approval by the Governor, to insure its employees in some insurance company or companies authorized to do business in the State of Alabama against personal injury or death caused by accident or violence while discharging their duties as such employees; provided, the amount of insurance to be procured as to any such employee shall not exceed the amount which would be payable to such employee under the workmen's compensation laws of the State of Alabama if such employee were privately employed; except, that such policy may provide additional benefits not to exceed $10,000.00 per employee for the payment of hospital and medical expenses.
The cost of such insurance shall be paid by the state Department of Public Safety out of any funds appropriated to its use in manner provided by law.
(a) The Director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety shall employ the necessary state Capitol police officers, subject to the state Merit System laws, to preserve order, to prevent and investigate crime, and protect and save from injury persons and property at the Capitol and all state buildings occupied by the state departments and agencies within the State of Alabama. The director shall prescribe the duties and responsibilities of the state Capitol police officers. All officers employed as state Capitol police officers shall meet the certification requirements as established by the Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission prior to being granted permanent employment status.
(b) Upon September 1, 2003, all state Capitol police officers and employees shall be transferred to the Alabama Department of Public Safety. Sworn officers transferred in accordance with this section shall remain in their current Merit System classification, unless later altered or amended by the State Personnel Board. The Director of the Department of Finance shall cause to be transferred to the Department of Public Safety, the annual funding appropriation and budget for the state Capitol police officers and all individual and organizational equipment, uniforms, vehicles, and other property currently utilized by the state Capitol police officers. The Director of Finance and the Director of Public Safety may enter into an interagency agreement to facilitate this transfer of employees and property.
(c) Upon September 1, 2003, the classification of State Capitol Police Chief shall be transferred to the Department of Public Safety with no loss of pay or benefits, to be assigned duties as the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee shall designate.
(d) State Capitol police officers, when duly appointed, shall have the powers of peace officers in this state and may exercise such powers anywhere within the state.
(e) Any reference to the state Capitol police officers under the Department of Finance shall henceforth be considered as the state Capitol police under the Department of Public Safety.
There is hereby established a separate fund in the State Treasury, the 'Alabama Bureau of Investigation Cost of Evidence Fund.' Distributions may be made from this fund by the State Comptroller only to the Alabama Department of Public Safety and only upon presentation to the Comptroller by the Director of the Department of Public Safety of proper documentation that the requested distribution from the fund is for the use of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation for the procurement of evidence to aid in the criminal enforcement of the laws of this state.
(b) Any funds withdrawn from the fund which are not expended for the purposes authorized in subsection (a) or which are, after expenditure for such purposes, recovered by or reimbursed to the Department of Public Safety, shall be returned to the State Comptroller for deposit to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Cost of Evidence Fund.
(c) Beginning with the 1997-1998 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, whenever the unexpended balance in the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Cost of Evidence Fund falls below a balance of $90,000, the additional sum required to maintain a balance of $100,000 in the fund is hereby appropriated from the State General Fund to the fund provided, however, that the amount deposited to the fund from the State General Fund shall not exceed a cumulative total of $200,000 during any single fiscal year. Any funds deposited by the Comptroller to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Cost of Evidence Fund pursuant to subsection (b) shall not be counted for purposes of the $200,000 per fiscal year limit imposed by this subsection.
(d) The Department of Public Safety shall include with the department's annual budget request to the Governor and the Legislature a statement of total expenditures from the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Cost of Evidence Fund for the most recent complete fiscal year.
There is hereby created within the Department of Public Safety the position of Assistant Director of Public Safety, which position shall be in lieu of that of confidential assistant provided for by Section 36-26-10, which shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, and the appointed person shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor and may be removed by the Governor; and the appointment, service and removal of the assistant director shall not be subject to the state Merit System regulations.
The duties of the Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety shall include direction and coordination of the activities of the Department of Public Safety, subject to and under the control and supervision of the Director of Public Safety. Such assistant director shall receive an annual salary not to exceed that salary fixed by Sections 36-6-5 through 36-6-7 to be paid from the funds of the Department of Public Safety in the same manner as other state employees are paid.
The Governor is authorized to establish and maintain a state highway patrol.
No state trooper shall be entitled to any costs, fees or mileage for attending any court, but instead the proper authority shall collect such costs, fees and mileage as may be due such officers for attendance on any court or for any official act and shall promptly turn the same over to the Director of Public Safety, who shall cover the same into the StateTreasury to the credit of the General Fund.
Members of the state highway patrol, when duly appointed, shall have the powers of peace officers in this state and may exercise such powers anywhere within the state.
Before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, all officers and members of the state highway patrol shall execute to the State of Alabama a bond, to be approved by the Governor, in the amount of $2,000.00, for the faithful performance of their duties.
The officers and members of the state highway patrol shall be subject to the same liabilities, penalties and damages under their bonds as sheriffs are under their bonds.
In all cases where arrests are made by a state trooper, an arrest fee of $5.00 for such arrest shall be collected by the proper authorities and promptly turned over to the Director of Public Safety, who shall cover the same into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund; provided, that no witness fee, arrest fee, mileage cost or any other fees or costs shall be paid by any county out of its funds to said department and no fine and forfeiture claim shall be issued against the fine and forfeiture fund of any county to or for any such state trooper for or on account of those cases brought in any court or before any grand jury by any such officer wherein no indictment is found, the state fails to convict, or the indictment or complaint abates or is nolle prossed or is withdrawn and filed in such case.
Any person who, at the time of his retirement, is employed by the state Department of Public Safety as a state trooper or other law-enforcement officer shall receive, as a part of his retirement benefit, without cost to him, his badge, pistol and such other equipment as the Department of Public Safety may designate.
The director shall create such divisions within the Department of Public Safety as shall be necessary. Said divisions shall include:
(1) An administrative division;
(2) A highway patrol division;
(3) A driver's license division;
(4) A service division.
The director shall appoint chiefs of said divisions and all other employees subject to the provisions of the Merit System Act, and said chiefs and employees shall hold their positions subject to the provisions of the Merit System Act.
The Director of the Department of Public Safety is hereby authorized to establish a state trooper reserve of the Alabama state troopers to be composed of such persons who may volunteer to serve as state trooper reserves of the Alabama state troopers. Such service to be without compensation to the individual so volunteering.
Reserve state troopers serving with the Alabama state troopers shall at all times serve under the direction and supervision of the Director of the Department of Public Safety and/or members of the Alabama state troopers. State trooper reserves, while serving under the supervision and direction of the director or a member of the Alabama state troopers, shall have the same protection and immunities afforded regularly employed state troopers, which shall be recognized by all courts having jurisdiction over offenses against the laws of this state.
The Director of the Department of Public Safety shall determine the fitness of persons to serve as state trooper reserves.
The duties of a state trooper reserve officer shall be limited to assisting the Department of Public Safety in the performance of its regularly constituted duties and shall serve under the immediate supervision of a lawful Department of Public Safety officer.
State trooper reserves shall have the authority to carry firearms when summoned to duty.
It shall be the duty of the Director of the Department of Public Safety, and he shall have power to do all that is necessary to administer and enforce:
(1) All laws contained in this title, as the same may now or hereafter be amended;
(2) All other laws relating or pertaining to the operation or movement of vehicles on the public highways of this state;
(3) Such other laws as the Department of Public Safety has heretofore administered and enforced.
The compensation of the officers, agents and employees provided for by this chapter shall be paid by warrants drawn by the Comptroller on the funds appropriated by the Legislature therefor as the salaries of state officials and employees are paid, and the necessary expenses and costs of necessary equipment are likewise to be paid by warrant drawn by the Comptroller on the funds appropriated by the Legislature therefor, and the amount to be expended hereunder shall be limited to the amount appropriated therefor by the Legislature and shall be budgeted, allotted and expended pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 4 of Title 41 of this Code.
When used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1) CRIMINAL HISTORY INFORMATION. Information collected and stored in the criminal record repository of the Department of Public Safety reflecting the result of an arrest, detention, or initiation of a criminal proceeding by criminal justice agencies, including, but not limited to, arrest record information, fingerprint cards, correctional induction and release information, identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, or other formal charges. The term shall not include analytical records or investigative reports that contain criminal intelligence information or criminal investigation information.
(2) CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY. Any municipal, county, state or federal agency whose personnel have power of arrest and who perform a law enforcement function. This definition shall also include the Attorney General of the State of Alabama, all federal and state prosecuting attorneys, and all municipal, state, and federal judges.
(3) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Public Safety.
(4) DIRECTOR. The Director of the Department of Public Safety.
(5) PERSON. Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, business, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other public or private entity.
(a) The director may open to any person for inspection, copying, and mechanical reproduction, during the department's regular business hours, criminal history information on any individual, if the individual has given written permission for the release of the information to the requester and if the opening of the information is not forbidden by order of any court of competent jurisdiction or by federal law. Any person requesting criminal history information from the department must present to the department, along with the request, a copy of the required written permission.
(b) The director shall establish and collect a nonrefundable fee for costs incurred by the department in providing the requested criminal history information. The fee shall be $25.00. The proceeds shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Public Safety Automated Fingerprint Identification System Fund, which is hereby created. All money deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Public Safety Automated Fingerprint Identification System Fund shall be expended for the department's administrative costs for maintaining and providing the information and for operations and maintenance of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. No money shall be withdrawn or expended from the fund for any purpose unless the money has been allotted and budgeted in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 41-4-80) of Chapter 4 of Title 41, and only in the amounts and for the purposes provided by the Legislature in the general appropriations bill or other appropriation bills.
(c) Criminal justice agencies and the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission requests for criminal history information are hereby exempted from the fee requirements in subsection (b) except when such requests pertain to municipal or county ordinances intended to screen perspective employees of private entities.
(d) Requests for national criminal history record access, authorized by federal law, passing through the criminal record repository of the department to the Federal Bureau of Investigation require the submission of an additional fee as specified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to cover their costs of processing the request. In addition to the fee specified in subsection (b) the director shall collect a fee and deposit same into the Public Safety Automated Fingerprint Identification System Fund for payment of the fee specified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national criminal history record access.
In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, the director shall promulgate reasonable procedures and regulations for the implementation of this article.
Any person who willfully disseminates information other than the information authorized by this article, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as prescribed by law.
Whenever any officer, agent or employee of the Department of Public Safety shall be called upon by the Governor, or the appointing authority of said department, to perform a duty or duties, or to be present at or on an alert basis at the scene of, or at any marshalling point for movement to such scene, of any public disorder for the control of civil disturbances, the restoration of the public order, or to perform rescue or protective duties at a natural or man-made disaster which shall extend beyond 24 hours, then any law or laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the compensation of such officers, agents or employees of said department, the expenses of subsistence while so engaged at the call of the Governor, or of the appointing authority of said department, may be paid out of the general Treasury of the state upon the approval of the Governor, and not from the regular appropriations provided for the organization, maintenance and upkeep of the Department of Public Safety. Warrants for these purposes shall be issued by the Comptroller on vouchers or payrolls, as may be required by the Governor, certified by the Director of Public Safety and approved by the Governor.
When the Director of Public Safety is allowed by Alabama law to provide a criminal history records search of convictions within the State of Alabama, the director shall set and collect a minimum fee of $20.00 or the actual cost incurred. All fees collected under the provisions of this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the State General Fund.
Whenever the Director of Public Safety is required or allowed by law to furnish a copy of any record or report in the department's files, the director shall set and collect a fee not to exceed the sum of fifteen dollars ($15) for each record or report, unless a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law. Ten dollars ($10) of the fee shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to the State General Fund and five dollars ($5) shall be credited to the Department of Public Safety Highway Traffic Safety Fund.
There is hereby created in the State Treasury the Public Safety Motor Vehicle Replacement Fund of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. This fund shall assist in providing the necessary funds to replace the Department of Public Safety law enforcement motor vehicles. Vehicles purchased from funds appropriated from the Public Safety Motor Vehicle Replacement Fund shall be used specifically for law enforcement purposes. None of the funds appropriated from this fund may be expended by the department for salaries nor for any purpose other than the purchase of law enforcement vehicles.
Any funds created from depreciation, equipment replacement allowance, and salvage value for replacement of law enforcement motor vehicles in the department shall be deposited in the Public Safety Motor Vehicle Replacement Fund created pursuant to Section 32-2-80; however the expenditure of any monies appropriated from this fund shall be budgeted and allotted pursuant to the Budget Management Act and Article 4 of Chapter 4 of Title 41. These funds shall not revert at the end of each fiscal year, but shall be carried over to each succeeding fiscal year.
The Department of Public Safety may not transfer automotive vehicles from law enforcement personnel nor vehicles designated for law enforcement purposes to other personnel in that department nor shall vehicles be transferred to be used for any other purpose in that department nor transferred to any other state agency. Whenever the Department of Public Safety intends to purchase vehicles, the director shall provide written notification to the Director of Finance, the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation-General Fund at least ten (10) days prior to the purchase. Such notification shall include the number of vehicles, the cost of those vehicles and the designated purpose for those vehicles.
Any other provisions to the law contrary notwithstanding, the Director of the Department of Public Safety shall be responsible for the disposal of any Department of Public Safety law enforcement vehicle. Such vehicle shall be sold by the director or his designee either at public auction or by a negotiated sale by the Department of Public Safety to any other state department or agency. Any state department or agency may negotiate for the purchase of the vehicle for their use in compliance with state law.
Every proposal to make a sale at public auction shall be advertised for at least two weeks in advance of the date fixed for the auction. Such advertisement shall appear at least once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the sale is to be made, and a copy of such proposal shall simultaneously be posted on a readily accessible public bulletin board at the main office of the Department of Public Safety. Advertisements for auctions shall state the item or items to be sold, by class and description, where the property is located and the dates, time, and place the property may be inspected. The advertisements shall further state the date, time, and place of auction. All property advertised under the provisions of this section shall be available for inspection during the normal state office hours, and at whatever place advertised for at least 48 hours prior to sale.
All property sold under the provisions of this section shall be paid for by the purchaser or his representative by cashier's check, bank draft, certified check, U.S. currency, or notarized bank letter stating that the holder may purchase surplus property and also stating a maximum amount, at the time of acceptance of bid and award of contract, and said removal shall be not later than seven days after the awarding of the contract.
No officer or employee of the State of Alabama or any of its departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, institutions, corporations, or agencies shall act as agent for any bidder; provided, however, that such officers or employees shall not be excluded from bidding on or purchasing state property at public sale.
Any sale made in violation of the terms of this section shall be null and void, and the person or persons responsible for the violation shall be subject to liquidated damages of not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00, which may be recovered for the State of Alabama by the Attorney General by civil action in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County. Any moneys recovered by the Attorney General under this section shall be deposited into the State General Fund.
All proceeds from sales made under the provisions of this article, whether at public auction or by negotiation, shall be paid into the Public Safety Motor Vehicle Replacement Fund.
The funds designated by this article to be deposited to the Motor Vehicle Replacement Fund are intended to be in addition to the $3.5 million transferred annually to the Department of Public Safety from the Public Road and Bridge Fund pursuant to Act 91-797. Effective October 1, 1995, funds transferred to the Department of Public Safety pursuant to Act 91-797 shall be expended for the purchase of equipment for traffic law enforcement, as provided by that act. Such equipment shall include motor vehicles and related equipment only.
The Director of Public Safety, with the approval of the Governor, may establish and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations not in conflict with the laws of this state concerning operation of motor vehicles and concerning the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
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