Code of Alabama - Title 15: Criminal Procedure - Chapter 23 - Alabama Crime Victims
- Article 1 Crime Victims' Compensation.
- Section 15-23-1 Short title
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Act."
- Section 15-23-2 Legislative findings, etc
The Legislature hereby finds, determines and declares that victims of violent crime are often reduced to bereft and destitute circumstances as a result of the...
- Section 15-23-3 Definitions
As used in this article the following words shall include, but are not limited to the following meanings unless the context clearly requires a different...
- Section 15-23-4 Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission - Created; composition; meetings; rules and regulations; bond; compensation
(a) There is hereby created the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission, which shall be composed of three citizens of the State of Alabama, who shall...
- Section 15-23-5 Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission - Powers and duties
The commission shall have all the powers and privileges of a corporation and all of its business shall be transacted in the name of the...
- Section 15-23-6 Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission - Annual report required
The commission shall publish annually a report showing the fiscal transactions of the commission for the preceding year, the amount of the accumulated cash and...
- Section 15-23-7 Audit of financial affairs of commission authorized
The Director of the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts shall at least once a year and at such other times as such director shall...
- Section 15-23-8 Compensation for economic loss resulting from criminal conduct - Authorized; procedure
(a) The commission may award compensation for economic loss arising from criminally injurious conduct if satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence that the requirements...
- Section 15-23-9 Compensation for economic loss resulting from criminal conduct - Collateral source contribution not required
The commission shall not require any claimant to seek or accept any collateral source contribution, unless the claimant was receiving or was entitled to receive...
- Section 15-23-10 Compensation for economic loss resulting from criminal conduct - Hearing required generally; procedure in contested cases; settlement by consent order, etc
(a) Every party to a claim shall be afforded an opportunity to appear and be heard and to offer evidence and argument on any issue...
- Section 15-23-11 Filing claim under article constitutes waiver of physician-patient privilege
(a) Any person filing a claim under the provisions of this article shall be deemed to have waived any physician-patient privilege as to communications or...
- Section 15-23-12 When compensation not awarded, diminished, etc.; reconsideration of award
(a) Compensation shall not be awarded in any of the following circumstances: (1) A claim has been filed with the commission later than one year...
- Section 15-23-13 Award not contingent on prosecution or conviction of offender; effect of proof of conviction; suspension of proceedings under article
Except as provided elsewhere in this article, an award may be made whether or not any person is prosecuted or convicted. Proof of conviction of...
- Section 15-23-14 Award of compensation subrogates commission to rights of claimant as to collateral source; funds recovered from collateral source held in trust for commission; disposition of trust funds; notice of action to recover damages; restitution hearings
(a) If compensation is awarded, the commission shall be subrogated to all the rights of a claimant to receive or recover from a collateral source...
- Section 15-23-15 Amount and method of compensation; future economic loss generally; exemption from state and local taxes, etc
(a) Compensation for work loss, replacement services loss, dependent's economic loss, and dependent's replacement services loss may not exceed six hundred dollars ($600) per week....
- Section 15-23-16 Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Fund; created; purposes; composition; administered or managed by commission
(a) There is hereby established a special fund to be known as the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Fund. (b) The fund shall be placed under...
- Section 15-23-17 Assessment of additional costs and penalties; collection and disposition of additional assessments, etc
(a) In all criminal and quasi-criminal proceedings for the violation of laws of the state or municipal ordinances which are tried in any court or...
- Section 15-23-18 Penalties - Influence peddling
(a) Any person who confers, offers, or agrees to confer anything of value upon a member, agent or employee of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation...
- Section 15-23-19 Penalties - Failure of commission member to disclose conflict of interest
(a) A member, agent or employee of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission commits the crime of failing to disclose a conflict of interest if...
- Section 15-23-20 Penalties - Alteration of commission records, etc
Any member, agent or employee of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission who shall knowingly make a false entry or falsely alter any commission record;...
- Section 15-23-21 Penalties - Furnishing false information; failure to disclose material fact, etc
(a) Any person who shall knowingly furnish any false information to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission or to any member, agent or employee thereof...
- Section 15-23-22 Penalties - Unauthorized control over money or securities of commission
(a) Any person who shall knowingly obtain or exert any unauthorized control over any money or securities held on behalf of or in trust for...
- Section 15-23-23 Certain persons deemed ineligible for compensation
Any person who shall perpetrate any criminally injurious conduct on the person of another or who shall be convicted of a felony after making application...
- Article 2 Crime Counselor Confidentiality.
- Article 3 Crime Victims' Rights.
- Section 15-23-60 Definitions
As used in this article, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) ACCUSED. A person who has been arrested for committing a criminal...
- Section 15-23-61 Designated representative
(a) If a victim is physically or emotionally unable to exercise any right established by this article, but is able to designate a lawful representative,...
- Section 15-23-62 Law enforcement agency required to provide victim with information concerning services, compensation benefits, etc
Within 72 hours, unless the victim is unavailable or incapacitated as a result of the crime, after the initial contact between a victim of a...
- Section 15-23-63 Prosecuting attorney required to notify victim of charges and proceedings; request for notice
(a) Upon written request of the victim, the prosecuting attorney shall notify the victim of all charges filed against the defendant, criminal proceedings, except initial...
- Section 15-23-64 Prosecuting attorney required to confer with victim prior to final disposition of offense
The prosecuting attorney shall confer with the victim prior to the final disposition of a criminal offense, including the views of the victim about a...
- Section 15-23-65 Prosecuting attorney required to confer with victim before commencement of trial
The prosecuting attorney shall confer with the victim before the commencement of a trial. Any information received by the victim relating to the substance of...
- Section 15-23-66 No right to direct prosecution
The rights of the victim do not include the authority to direct the prosecution of the case.
- Section 15-23-67 Right to be present throughout proceedings
The victim has the right to be present throughout all criminal proceedings pursuant to Section 15-14-50 et seq.
- Section 15-23-68 Waiting area for victim; court to minimize contact of victim with defendant
The court shall provide a waiting area for the victim separate from the defendant, relatives of the defendant, and defense witnesses, if an area is...
- Section 15-23-69 Testimony concerning information about victim; information about victim in court file
(a) Based upon the reasonable apprehension of the victim of acts or threats of physical violence or intimidation by the defendant, the family of the...
- Section 15-23-70 Right to refuse defendant's request for interview
The victim has the right to refuse a request by the defendant, the attorney of the defendant, or by any other person acting on behalf...
- Section 15-23-71 Plea agreement
The victim has the right to be present at any proceeding at which a negotiated plea for the person accused of committing the criminal offense...
- Section 15-23-72 Right to pre-sentence information
The prosecuting attorney shall provide to the victim the date of a conviction, acquittal, or dismissal of the charges filed against the defendant and prior...
- Section 15-23-73 Impact statement; right to review pre-sentence investigative report
(a) The victim may submit a written impact statement or make an oral impact statement to the probation officer for use in preparing a pre-sentence...
- Section 15-23-74 Right to present evidence, statement, etc., during sentencing or restitution proceedings
The victim has the right to present evidence, an impact statement, or information that concerns the criminal offense or the sentence during any pre-sentencing, sentencing,...
- Section 15-23-75 Right to information concerning defendant's sentence, request for notice, post-conviction review, etc
The victim has the right to the following information: (1) As soon as practicable, after the date of sentencing, the office of the prosecuting attorney...
- Section 15-23-76 Right to be present and heard at court proceeding
It is the discretion of the victim to exercise the right to be present and heard, where authorized by law, at a court proceeding. The...
- Section 15-23-77 Right to have property returned
(a) Prior to the admission of evidence to the court, on request of the victim, after consultation and written approval by the district attorney or...
- Section 15-23-78 Right to information from agency having physical custody of prisoner
Any custodial agency having physical custody of the prisoner, if provided a request for notice, shall mail to the victim the following information: (1) Notice...
- Section 15-23-79 Submission of victim's statement into prisoner's records
(a) The victim shall have the right to be notified, upon written request, that he or she may submit a written statement, or recorded oral...
- Section 15-23-80 Facility with custody of defendant to send victim release opinion
Upon written request of the victim, the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, or other facility with custody of the criminal defendant, shall...
- Section 15-23-81 Victim to respond to subpoena or to participate in proceeding preparation without loss of employment or fear of loss
The victim shall respond to a subpoena to testify in a criminal proceeding or participate in the reasonable preparation of criminal proceeding without the loss...
- Section 15-23-82 Clerk of court to accept and disburse restitution
The clerk of the court is authorized and shall accept partial payments from defendants when directed to do so by the court, pursuant to the...
- Section 15-23-83 Assertion of rights by Attorney General or district attorney
The Attorney General or district attorney may assert any right to which the victim is entitled.
- Section 15-23-84 Failure to provide right or notice not grounds for setting aside sentence
The failure to provide a right, privilege, or notice to a victim under this article shall not be grounds for the defendant to seek to...
- Article 4 Testing of Person Charged with Certain Sex Crimes on Request of Alleged Victim.
- Section 15-23-100 Definitions
As used in this article, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) ALLEGED VICTIM. A person or persons to whom transmission of body...
- Section 15-23-101 Motion to order person charged to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases
When a person has been charged with the crime of rape, sodomy, sexual misconduct, sexual torture, sexual abuse, assault by bodily fluids, or any other...
- Section 15-23-102 Order to submit to testing; designation of attending physician; additional testing; access to results; post-test counseling
(a)(1) If the district attorney files a motion under Section 15-23-101, the court shall order the person charged to submit to testing if the court...
- Section 15-23-103 Confidentiality of results
(a) The results of tests or reports, or information therein, obtained under Section 15-23-102 shall be confidential and shall not be divulged to any person...
- Section 15-23-104 Payment of costs
This article shall be implemented by the Department of Public Health to the extent state funds are available to pay all costs associated with the...
Last modified: May 3, 2021