SB 92

Under existing law, when an inmate escapes from a penal facility, it is the duty of the Department of Corrections or other agency having custody of the prisoner to take all proper measures for his or her apprehension, including notification to the Governor, certain law enforcement officials and agencies, and certain electronic media outlets

This bill would expand the notification requirement under existing law to require the department or other agency having custody of a probationer or parolee who absconds from a residential facility, and has a prior conviction for a Class A felony or a crime in which the victim was a child less than 12 years of age, or is serving a life sentence, to notify the Governor, certain law enforcement officials and agencies, and certain electronic media outlets

Relating to inmate escapes; to expand the notification requirement under existing law to require the Department of Corrections or other agency having custody of a probationer or parolee who has absconded from a residential facility, and has a prior conviction for a Class A felony or a crime in which the victim was a child less than 12 years of age, or is serving a life sentence, to notify the Governor, certain law enforcement officials and agencies, and certain electronic media outlets.

Section 1

Section 14-3-58, Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows:

§14-3-58.

(a) This section shall be known as the "Joel Willmore Act."

(b) Whenever an inmate escapes from a penal facility, as defined in subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of Section 13A-10-30, or when a probationer or parolee, who has a prior conviction for a Class A felony or a crime in which the victim was a child less than 12 years of age, or is serving a life sentence, absconds from a residential facility, it shall be the duty of the department or other agency having custody of the prisoner to take all proper measures for his or her apprehension, and for that purpose, it shall notify the following as soon as possible, but not later than 12 hours after the escape:

(1) The Governor.

(2) The Department of Public Safety Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.

(3) The sheriff and district attorney of the county where the escape occurred.

(4) The chief of police where the escape occurred, if the escape occurred within a municipality.

(5) The sheriff and district attorney of the county where the last conviction of the escapee occurred, if known.

(6) The chief of police where the last conviction of the escapee occurred, if the conviction occurred within a municipality and if known.

(7) The sheriff of the county where the convict's home of record is located, if known.

(8) The chief of police where the convict's home of record is located, if the location is within a municipality and if known.

(9) All electronic media outlets broadcasting which are known by the department or agency, which have expressed an interest in being notified of the escape, and which broadcast within a radius of 75 miles from where the escape occurred, including all radio and television stations.

(c) The notification required in subsection (b) shall include the time when and the circumstances under which the escape was effected, together with a particular description of the inmate, including a copy of the inmate's most recent mug shot, and in what county convicted and for what offense and when.

(d) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsections (b) and (c), the department or other agency shall post a notification on its website, if a website is available, within a reasonable time of the escape. The notification shall include the time when and the circumstances under which the escape or absconding was effected, together with a particular description of the inmate, including a copy of the inmate's most recent mug shot, and in what county convicted and for what offense and when.

(e) The department or other agency shall enter the inmate, probationer, or parolee into the National Crime Information Center within 12 hours of the inmate's escape.

(f) The Department of Corrections shall offer a reward, not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400), for the apprehension of the state inmate, to be paid out of the proceeds of the labor of inmates in the State Treasury. But no warrant shall be issued for the payment of any such reward unless there is filed in the office of the Department of Finance the certificate of the Department of Corrections that the inmate has been recaptured and restored to custody."

Section 2

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.