Code of Alabama - Title 31: Military Affairs and Civil Defense - Section 31-13-14 - Dealing in false identification documents; vital records identity fraud

Section 31-13-14 - Dealing in false identification documents; vital records identity fraud.

(a) A person commits the crime of dealing in false identification documents if he or she knowingly reproduces, manufactures, sells, or offers for sale any identification document which does both of the following:

(1) Simulates, purports to be, or is designed so as to cause others reasonably to believe it to be an identification document.

(2) Bears a fictitious name or other false information.

(b) A person commits the crime of vital records identity fraud related to birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates if he or she does any of the following:

(1) Supplies false information intending that the information be used to obtain a certified copy of a vital record.

(2) Makes, counterfeits, alters, amends, or mutilates any certified copy of a vital record without lawful authority and with the intent to deceive.

(3) Obtains, possesses, uses, sells, or furnishes, or attempts to obtain, possess, or furnish to another a certified copy of a vital record, with the intent to deceive.

(c)(1) Dealing in false identification documents is a Class C felony.

(2) Vital records identity fraud is a Class C felony.

(d) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) A person less than 21 years of age who uses the identification document of another person to acquire an alcoholic beverage.

(2) A person less than 19 years of age who uses the identification documents of another person to acquire any of the following:

a. Cigarettes or tobacco products.

b. A periodical, videotape, or other communication medium that contains or depicts nudity.

c. Admittance to a performance, live or film, that prohibits the attendance of the person based on age.

d. An item that is prohibited by law for use or consumption by such person.

(e) As used in this section, identification document means any card, certificate, or document or banking instrument, including, but not limited to, a credit or debit card, which identifies or purports to identify the bearer of such document, whether or not intended for use as identification, and includes, but is not limited to, documents purporting to be drivers' licenses, nondriver identification cards, certified copies of birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates, Social Security cards, and employee identification cards.

(f) Any person convicted of dealing in false identification documents as defined in this section shall be fined up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for every card or document he or she creates or possesses and be subject to any and all other state laws that may apply. A court shall collect the fines prescribed by this subsection and shall remit 50 percent of the fines to the general fund of the local government that apprehended the person to be earmarked for law enforcement purposes, 25 percent of the fines to the Alabama Department of Homeland Security, and 25 percent of the fines to the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.

(Act 2011-535, p. 888, §14.)

Last modified: May 3, 2021