(a) There is hereby established a special fund to be known as the Alabama DNA Database Fund.
(b) The fund shall be placed under the management or administration of the Director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for the exclusive purposes of implementing the provisions of this article.
(c) The fund shall consist of all moneys received by the director pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(d) The director shall have control of those funds as shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this article and with the laws of the State of Alabama.
(e) Monies deposited in the Alabama DNA Database Fund may be expended by the Director of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in accordance with the provisions of this article. The investment of monies in the fund by the State Treasurer shall remain in the Alabama DNA Database Fund. At the end of each fiscal year any unexpended or unencumbered monies shall remain in the fund. However, no funds shall be withdrawn or expended except as budgeted and allotted according to law and only in the amounts authorized by the Legislature in the general appropriation bill or other appropriation bills.
(f) Neither the director nor any member of the director's staff nor any employee of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences shall have any financial interest in any such investments or receive any reward, thing of value, or commission in respect thereto.
(g) It shall be the duty of the director to keep detailed permanent records of all expenditures and disbursements from such fund or account.
(h) In all municipal, district, and circuit court civil cases, and upon initiation of attachment, garnishment, or execution proceedings, a fee in the amount of two dollars ($2) shall be assessed and collected. In all municipal, district, and circuit court criminal cases, in bond forfeiture proceedings, and upon the issuance of any alias or capias warrant of arrest, a fee in the amount of twelve dollars ($12) shall be assessed and collected. The fee shall be collected by the court clerk and remitted as follows:
(1) Alabama DNA Database Fund.
a. For fiscal years 2009 and 2010, seven dollars ($7).
b. For fiscal year 2011, eight dollars ($8).
c. For fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, eleven dollars ($11).
(2) Citizenship Trust pursuant to Section 16-44A-30, for the purposes described in Section 36-18-32.1.
(i) The amount of the fees shall be remitted by the person or authority collecting the same to the director on the 10th day of each month next succeeding that in which the fee is paid. It shall be the duty of the clerk or other authority collecting those court fees to keep accurate records of the amounts due the director for the benefit of the fund established under this section.
Last modified: May 3, 2021