Code of Alabama - Title 13A: Criminal Code - Chapter 5 - Punishments and Sentences

• Article 1 General Provisions.
• Section 13A-5-1 Applicability of provisions
  (a) Every person convicted of any offense defined in this title, or defined outside this title, shall be sentenced by the court in accordance with...
• Section 13A-5-2 Authorized dispositions
  (a) Every person convicted of a felony shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment for a term authorized by Sections 13A-5-6, 13A-5-9, and 13A-5-10....
• Section 13A-5-3 Classification of offenses
  (a) Offenses are designated as felonies, misdemeanors or violations. (b) Felonies are classified according to the relative seriousness of the offense into four categories: (1)...
• Section 13A-5-4 Designation of offenses
  (a) The particular classification of each felony defined in this title, except murder under Section 13A-6-2, is expressly designated in the chapter or article defining...
• Section 13A-5-5 Presentence investigation
  There shall be a presentence or postsentence investigation report completed and filed on every defendant convicted of a felony offense after March 10, 2006, and...
• Section 13A-5-6 Sentences of imprisonment for felonies
  (a) Sentences for felonies shall be for a definite term of imprisonment, which imprisonment includes hard labor, within the following limitations: (1) For a Class...
• Section 13A-5-7 Sentences of imprisonment for misdemeanors and violations
  (a) Sentences for misdemeanors shall be a definite term of imprisonment in the county jail or to hard labor for the county, within the following...
• Section 13A-5-8 Place of imprisonment
  The place of imprisonment for sentences imposed in this state shall be as established elsewhere by law.
• Section 13A-5-8.1 Termination from alternative programs
  If a defendant is participating in a court supervised evidence-based treatment program, as that term is defined in Section 12-25-32, a court ordered faith-based program,...
• Section 13A-5-9 Habitual felony offenders - Additional penalties
  (a) In all cases when it is shown that a criminal defendant has been previously convicted of a Class A, Class B, or Class C...
• Section 13A-5-9.1 Retroactive application of Section 13A-5-9
  Repealed by Act 2014-165, §1, effective March 13, 2014.
• Section 13A-5-10 Habitual felony offenders - Proof; restriction on imposition of penalty
  (a) The court may conduct a hearing upon the issue of whether a defendant is a repeat or habitual offender under Section 13A-5-9, according to...
• Section 13A-5-10.1 Habitual felony offenders - Proof; certified copies of case action summary sheets, docket sheets, etc
  (a) Certified copies of case action summary sheets, docket sheets or other records of the court are admissible for the purpose of proving prior convictions...
• Section 13A-5-11 Fines for felonies
  (a) A sentence to pay a fine for a felony shall be for a definite amount, fixed by the court, within the following limitations: (1)...
• Section 13A-5-12 Fines for misdemeanors and violations
  (a) A sentence to pay a fine for a misdemeanor shall be for a definite amount, fixed by the court, within the following limitations: (1)...
• Section 13A-5-12.1 Fines for certain additional misdemeanors
  Repealed by Act 2011-680, p. 2004, §2, effective June 14, 2011.
• Section 13A-5-13 Crimes motivated by victim's race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability
  (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) It is the right of every person, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or...
• Article 2 Death Penalty and Life Imprisonment Without Parole.
• Section 13A-5-39 Definitions
  As used in this article, these terms shall be defined as follows: (1) CAPITAL OFFENSE. An offense for which a defendant shall be punished by...
• Section 13A-5-40 Capital offenses
  (a) The following are capital offenses: (1) Murder by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof committed by the...
• Section 13A-5-41 Lesser included offenses
  Subject to the provisions of Section 13A-1-9(b), the jury may find a defendant indicted for a crime defined in Section 13A-5-40(a) not guilty of the...
• Section 13A-5-42 Guilty plea; burden of proof upon state; waiver; sentencing
  A defendant who is indicted for a capital offense may plead guilty to it, but the state, only in cases where the death penalty is...
• Section 13A-5-43 Trial of capital offenses; discharge of defendant; lesser included offenses; sentencing
  (a) In the trial of a capital offense the jury shall first hear all the admissible evidence offered on the charge or charges against the...
• Section 13A-5-43.1 Life imprisonment for certain crimes by persons under 18 years of age
  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a defendant is found guilty of any non-homicide crime for which the only sentence provided by law is...
• Section 13A-5-43.2 Applicability of certain provisions to persons under 18 years of age
  Act 2016-360 shall apply to any person under the age of 18 years at the time an offense was committed who was sentenced to life...
• Section 13A-5-44 Jury selection and separation; waiver by defendant of jury participation in sentence hearing
  (a) The selection of the jury for the trial of a capital case shall include the selection of at least two alternate jurors chosen according...
• Section 13A-5-45 Sentence hearing - Delay; statements and arguments; admissibility of evidence; burden of proof; mitigating and aggravating circumstances
  (a) Upon conviction of a defendant for a capital offense, the trial court shall conduct a separate sentence hearing to determine whether the defendant shall...
• Section 13A-5-46 Sentence hearing - Conducted before jury unless waived; trial jury to sit unless impossible or impracticable; separation of jury; instructions to jury; advisory verdicts; vote required; mistrial; waiver of right to advisory verdict
  (a) Unless both parties with the consent of the court waive the right to have the sentence hearing conducted before a jury as provided in...
• Section 13A-5-47 Determination of sentence by court; presentation of arguments on aggravating and mitigating circumstances; court to enter written findings
  (a) After the sentence hearing has been conducted, and after the jury has returned a verdict, or after such a verdict has been waived as...
• Section 13A-5-47.1 Application of provisions prohibiting court from overriding jury verdict in capital cases
  Sections 13A-5-45, 13A-5-46, and 13A-5-47 shall apply to any defendant who is charged with capital murder after April 11, 2017, and shall not apply retroactively...
• Section 13A-5-48 Process of weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances defined
  The process described in Sections 13A-5-46(e)(2), 13A-5- 46(e)(3) and Section 13A-5-47(e) of weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances to determine the sentence shall not be...
• Section 13A-5-49 Aggravating circumstances
  Aggravating circumstances shall be any of the following: (1) The capital offense was committed by a person under sentence of imprisonment. (2) The defendant was...
• Section 13A-5-50 Consideration of aggravating circumstances in sentence determination
  The fact that a particular capital offense as defined in Section 13A-5-40(a) necessarily includes one or more aggravating circumstances as specified in Section 13A-5-49 shall...
• Section 13A-5-51 Mitigating circumstances - Generally
  Mitigating circumstances shall include, but not be limited to. the following: (1) The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity; (2) The capital...
• Section 13A-5-52 Mitigating circumstances - Inclusion of defendant's character, record, etc
  In addition to the mitigating circumstances specified in Section 13A-5-51, mitigating circumstances shall include any aspect of a defendant's character or record and any of...
• Section 13A-5-53 Appellate review of death sentence; scope; remand; specific determinations to be made by court; authority of court following review
  (a) In any case in which the death penalty is imposed, in addition to reviewing the case for any error involving the conviction, the Alabama...
• Section 13A-5-53.1 Appeals of capital punishment
  (a) Rule 32.2(c) of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure shall not apply to cases in which a criminal defendant is convicted of capital murder...
• Section 13A-5-54 Appointment of experienced counsel for indigent defendants
  Each person indicted for an offense punishable under the provisions of this article who is not able to afford legal counsel must be provided with...
• Section 13A-5-55 Conviction and sentence of death subject to automatic review
  In all cases in which a defendant is sentenced to death, the judgment of conviction shall be subject to automatic review. The sentence of death...
• Section 13A-5-56 Supreme Court to promulgate indictment forms, verdict forms and jury instructions
  The Alabama Supreme Court shall promulgate pattern indictment forms for use in cases in which indictments charging offenses defined in Section 13A-5-40(a) are thereafter returned....
• Section 13A-5-57 Application of article to conduct after effective date
  (a) This article applies only to conduct occurring after 12:01 A.M. on July 1, 1981. Conduct occurring before 12:01 A.M. on July 1, 1981 shall...
• Section 13A-5-58 Interpretation of article
  This article shall be interpreted, and if necessary reinterpreted, to be constitutional.
• Section 13A-5-59 Application of article upon finding of unconstitutionality
  It is the intent of the Legislature that if the death penalty provisions of this article are declared unconstitutional and if the offensive provision or...

Last modified: May 3, 2021