(a) In addition to any cost of court or docket fee for filing the petition in circuit court, an administrative filing fee of three hundred dollars ($300) shall be paid at the time the petition is filed and is a condition precedent to any ruling of the court pursuant to this chapter. The administrative filing fee shall not be waived by the court and shall be distributed as follows:
(1) Seventy-five dollars ($75) to the State Judicial Administrative Fund.
(2) Twenty-five dollars ($25) to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
(3) Fifty dollars ($50) to the district attorney's office.
(4) Fifty dollars ($50) to the clerk's office of the circuit court having jurisdiction over the matter, for the use and benefit of the circuit court clerk.
(5) Fifty dollars ($50) to the Public Safety Fund.
(6) Fifty dollars ($50) to the general fund of the county where the arresting law enforcement agency is located if the arrest was made by the sheriff's office to be used for law enforcement purposes, or, if the arrest was made by another law enforcement agency, to the municipality or other entity or state agency funding the law enforcement activity.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person seeking relief under this chapter may apply for indigent status by completing an Affidavit of Substantial Hardship and Order which shall be submitted with the petition. If the court finds the petitioner is indigent, the court may set forth a payment plan for the petitioner to satisfy the filing fee over a period of time, which shall be paid in full, prior to any order granting an expungement.
(c) If a petitioner seeks expungement of an arrest record and the court in the original case made a clear and unequivocal judicial finding on the record that the arrest had no foundation of probable cause, the court, in the expungement proceeding, shall waive all docket fees and court costs, except for the filling fee in subsection (a).
Last modified: May 3, 2021