(a) An applicant shall be assessed a fee when the applicant is approved for the program. The amount of the assessment for participation in the program shall be in addition to any court costs and assessments for victims or drug, alcohol, or anger management treatment required by law, and are in addition to costs of supervision, treatment, and restitution for which the person may be responsible. Pretrial diversion program fees as established by this part may be waived or reduced for just cause at the discretion of the district attorney. A schedule of payments for any of these fees may be established by the district attorney.
(b) The following fees shall be applied to applicants accepted into the pretrial diversion program:
(1) Felony offenses: up to eight hundred fifty dollars ($850).
(2) Misdemeanor offenses, excluding traffic: up to five hundred dollars ($500).
(3) Traffic offenses: up to three hundred dollars ($300).
(4) Violations: up to two hundred dollars ($200).
(c) The following additional fees shall be applied to each applicable case in the following amounts:
(1) Clerk of court in the filing county on all offenses: up to one hundred dollars ($100).
(2) Arresting/ticketing agency on all offenses:
a. Felony offenses: up to one hundred dollars ($100).
b. Misdemeanor/violation offenses: up to fifty dollars ($50).
c. Traffic offenses: up to twenty-five dollars ($25).
(3) Department of Forensic Sciences Dothan Lab on drug-related offenses, including unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia:
(4) Up to fifty dollars ($50) which shall be allocated to the district attorney who may use the proceeds to fund other organizations that pertain to law enforcement.
(5) The Houston County Commission, to be deposited into the Houston County General Fund, for offenses filed in Houston County, and to the Henry County Commission, to be deposited into the Henry County General Fund, for offenses filed in Henry County:
a. Felony offenses: up to one hundred dollars ($100).
b. Misdemeanor offenses: up to fifty dollars ($50).
c. Traffic/violation offenses: up to twenty-five dollars ($25).
(6) The Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center:
a. Felony offenses: up to one hundred dollars ($100).
b. Misdemeanor offenses: up to fifty dollars ($50).
c. Traffic/violation offenses: up to twenty-five dollars ($25).
(d) All fees collected under subsections (b) and (c) allocated to each individual entity are to be used at that entity’s discretion to support its operations. These uses may include, but are not limited to, hiring employees, buying needed equipment and supplies, providing training opportunities, or any other lawful purposes.
(e) The district attorney may use fees collected by the pretrial diversion program to help support local and state law enforcement, or any agency or department of city or county government which assists local law enforcement. This support may be provided to help employ more officers or staff, buy needed equipment and supplies, provide training opportunities, or any other law enforcement purposes.
(f) All fees required by this part, including those set out in subsections (b) and (c), shall be collected and disbursed by the circuit clerk’s office in which the offense was filed. Those fees due to the district attorney shall then be disbursed to the district attorney and shall be deposited by the district attorney into the pretrial diversion fund as described in Section 45–34–82.09. The circuit clerk shall make the disbursement in a timely manner.
(g) The district attorney shall be allowed without further legislative action to raise all fees (monies) to meet and equal those prescribed by the Alabama Legislature in the event a state pretrial diversion program is enacted after April 30, 2010. Any state pretrial diversion program may supersede this part or its amendment, but may be construed to require further and additional penalties.
Last modified: May 3, 2021