# Alabama

The Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission (APOSTC) certifies Department of Corrections (ADOC) correctional officers as well as police. County jails are run by sheriffs, and no state body sets or inspects jail standards. Since 2023 the State has given ADOC canine officers police powers, let facility administrators serve without APOSTC certification, made drone flights and drops over prisons crimes, named probation and parole officers in the APOSTC definitions, and brought jail and prison officers under the 2025 officer immunity law.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/alabama

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** APOSTC. Its definitions name the Department of Corrections and the Board of Pardons and Paroles as law enforcement agencies ([Code of Ala. 36-21-40](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-21-40)). Rule chapter 650-X-11 is titled “Certification of Correctional Officers,” and rule 650-X-2-.01 says the term law enforcement officer “includes Correctional Officers employed by the Alabama Department of Corrections” ([Ala. Admin. Code ch. 650-X, Aug. 2025 compilation](https://www.apostc.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/All-Rules-August_2025.pdf)). County jail staff are employed by the sheriff (14-6-1); no statute or APOSTC rule was found that requires a separate state certificate for jailers who are not deputies. See the [Alabama Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/alabama) for APOSTC certification in general.
- **Statute:** Code of Ala. Title 14 (Corrections): 14-1-1.1 et seq. (Department of Corrections), 14-1-4 (employees), 14-3-9 (Law Enforcement Services Division), 14-3-13 (correctional officer oath), 14-3-14 (police powers of officers and guards at the prison), 14-6-1 (sheriff’s custody of the jail), 14-6-19.1 (pregnant and postpartum inmates). Probation and parole: 15-22-20 et seq. APOSTC: 36-21-40 to 36-21-52. Rules: Ala. Admin. Code ch. 650-X, with ch. 650-X-11 for correctional officers.
- **Minimum standards:** The APOSTC standards apply to ADOC correctional officers through rule 650-X-2-.01: at least 19, a high school diploma or GED, physician-certified fitness, good moral character, no felony conviction, and APOSTC training within a provisional appointment of up to 6 months ([36-21-46](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-21-46)). The Officer Ledger page covers the rest of the APOSTC standards, including the 2025 English-fluency rule. ADOC’s recruiting site lists further hiring criteria for Correctional Officer Trainees (a physical fitness assessment and a psychological evaluation) and a separate, non-APOSTC Correctional Security Guard class with a minimum age of 18; these are agency criteria, not law.
- **Basic training:** By APOSTC rule, a correctional officer trainee “must successfully complete 480 hours of correctional officer training at an approved Academy” within the provisional period, with at least 70% on the written, first aid, and legal exams, a physical agility test, handgun and shotgun qualification, and no more than 5% absence (650-X-11-.01, last amended 2006). ADOC’s recruiting site describes “the 10-week APOSTC Academy” for trainees and a 1-week on-site course for Correctional Security Guards ([ADOC security positions page](https://www.join.doc.alabama.gov/career-paths/security-positions)). Whether a newer curriculum rule replaces the 480-hour figure was not found.
- **In-service training:** By rule, APOSTC-certified officers “shall annually complete and report twelve (12) hours of continuing education” (650-X-12-.02). The rule speaks of certified officers “who have arrest powers”; whether APOSTC applies it to ADOC correctional officers was not confirmed from an official source. Probation and parole officers must complete statutory training within 2 years of hire (see below).
- **Decertification:** APOSTC “shall” revoke certification on a felony conviction and may revoke for failing continuing education or the 36-21-46 standards ([36-21-45, 36-21-52](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-21-52)). Since October 1, 2025, knowingly being employed or appointed as a peace officer while one's APOSTC certification is revoked or suspended, or knowingly hiring such a person, is a Class C felony (13A-10-11). No public revocation list was found. APOSTC must keep a confidential Law Enforcement Officer Employment Database (statutory deadline October 1, 2023) whose contents may not be released under the Open Records Act (36-21-55.1(c)). Details are on the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/alabama).
- **Jail standards:** No state body that sets or inspects county jail standards was found in the Code of Alabama. The sheriff has legal custody and charge of the county jail and may employ persons to operate it ([14-6-1](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-6-1)), and the county commission must build and maintain a jail (11-14-10).
- **Probation and parole officers:** Employed by the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Since October 1, 2025, the APOSTC definitions list the Board as a law enforcement agency and include its enforcement officers as law enforcement officers (36-21-40). Probation officers have arrest powers and the same right to execute process as sheriffs (15-22-53(a)). The Board “shall require all probation and parole officers” to complete, within 2 years of hire, training in assessment techniques, case planning, risk reduction, effective communication, behavioral health needs, and core correctional practices such as motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral skills ([15-22-24(m)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-22-24)).
- **Restrictive housing:** No statutory limit on solitary confinement or restrictive housing in prisons or jails was found; the old “sentence of solitary confinement” section (14-11-5) was repealed in 2015. The only related provision found is in 14-6-19.1(j) and (k): a pregnant or postpartum woman may be placed alone in a cell or hospital room for medical safety, and the custodian must document the circumstances and “the length of time of the solitary confinement” within 2 days, for review by the officer in charge.
- **Corrections use of force:** Pregnancy (Act 2022-440): a custodian, defined to include a warden, sheriff, jailer, deputy, police officer, or other law enforcement officer, “shall not use any leg or waist restraint” on a woman in the second or third trimester, in labor or delivery, or in the 6-week postpartum period. A pregnant or postpartum woman may be restrained only with leg or wrist handcuffs, with her wrists held in front of her body, and only on a finding of an immediate flight risk or an immediate risk of harm that other means cannot reasonably contain; postpartum use must be documented within 2 days ([14-6-19.1](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-6-19.1)). General force: since October 1, 2025, a law enforcement officer, now defined to include detention facility officers, is justified in force within the officer’s discretionary authority unless it violates the constitutional right to be free from excessive force (13A-3-27). Every correctional officer swears to “in no case, ill treat or abuse any prisoner” (14-3-13).

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Oct 1, 2026 — **Study commission on the 2025 officer protections, including correctional officer recruitment** — Act 2025-423 (HB 202), sec. 5 · Approved May 15, 2025; sec. 5 effective October 1, 2026 — The Joint Legislative Study Commission on Law Enforcement Legal Protections is established effective October 1, 2026 and must first meet by November 1, 2026. Among the topics it may study is the effect of the 2025 immunity act on “the recruitment and retention of correctional officers through the Department of Corrections.” Its recommendations are due by the 10th legislative day of the 2027 Regular Session. The [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/alabama) lists its members. — **For corrections staff:** No new duty. The commission may recommend changes to the immunity law that now covers jail and prison officers. — [Enrolled HB 202 (2025)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/HB202-enr.pdf)
- Jun 1, 2026 — **ADOC may jam, hack, or capture drones flying unlawfully over prisons** — Act 2026-187 (HB 274), adding Code of Ala. 13A-7-94.1 · Approved March 5, 2026; effective June 1, 2026 — “The Department of Corrections may take reasonable and necessary measures against an unmanned aircraft system operating in violation of this article,” the 2024 prison drone article. The listed measures include jamming to the extent consistent with federal law, hacking, physical capture, and other mitigation. Existing immunities and defenses of ADOC and its officers are preserved. — **For corrections staff:** State law now authorizes drone countermeasures at prisons, but jamming must still be consistent with federal law. — [Enrolled HB 274 (2026)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2026RS/HB274-enr.pdf)[Act 2026-187 record](https://arc-sos.state.al.us/cgi/actdetail.mbr/detail?page=act&year=2026&act=187)
- Oct 1, 2025 — **Jail and prison officers brought under the officer immunity law; jail employees’ immunity standard rewritten** — Act 2025-423 (HB 202), secs. 1 to 3, adding Code of Ala. 6-5-338.1 to 6-5-338.4 and amending 14-6-1 and 13A-3-27 · Approved May 15, 2025; effective October 1, 2025; civil immunity applies to causes of action that accrued on or after that date — For the new immunity sections, “law enforcement officer” includes a “detention facility officer”: “Any peace officer, guard, or detention or jail officer employed in a facility used for the confinement, pursuant to law,” of people charged or convicted, juveniles, extradition holds, or people under court-ordered confinement (6-5-338.1). Jail employees hired by the sheriff keep the sheriff’s immunities. Section 14-6-1 formerly conditioned that on acting within the line and scope of their duties and in compliance with the law; it now conditions it on conduct “performed within a law enforcement officer’s discretionary authority as defined in Section 6-5-338.1.” Section 3 rewrote the use-of-force justification in 13A-3-27 and added pretrial criminal immunity hearings. The [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/alabama) covers the pleading, discovery-stay, and justification rules. — **For corrections staff:** Jail and prison officers sued over conduct within their discretionary authority have the same immunity, pleading, and discovery-stay protections as police. — [Enrolled HB 202 (2025)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/HB202-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 6-5-338.1](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=6-5-338.1)[Code of Ala. 14-6-1](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-6-1)
- Oct 1, 2025 — **Board of Pardons and Paroles officers named in the APOSTC definitions** — Act 2025-308 (HB 88), amending Code of Ala. 36-21-40 · Approved May 13, 2025; effective October 1, 2025 — “Law enforcement agency” now lists the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency, the Department of Corrections, and the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and “law enforcement officer” includes “enforcement officers of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency, the Department of Corrections, and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.” The act’s title says its purpose is “to specify probation and parole officers are law enforcement officers.” The plain text of the enrolled bill does not mark new language, so which words were new could not be confirmed. — **For corrections staff:** Probation and parole officers fall within the APOSTC definitions, including felony revocation under 36-21-52. — [Enrolled HB 88 (2025)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/HB88-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 36-21-40](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-21-40)
- Jun 1, 2024 — **ADOC canine staff become state law enforcement officers; investigators’ arrest powers widened** — Act 2024-402 (SB 248), amending Code of Ala. 14-3-9 · Approved May 15, 2024; effective June 1, 2024 — The Investigation and Intelligence Division is renamed the Law Enforcement Services Division. “Employees of the Department of Corrections classified as correctional investigative services officers, correctional canine classifications, and their supervisors performing criminal investigative duties are considered law enforcement officers of this state,” with full police powers to investigate violations relating to prisons, employees, and inmates, and must meet state law enforcement minimum standards. Canine classifications are new to the list. A comparison of the enrolled text with the current code shows that the act struck the sentence limiting investigators’ powers “to investigations and arrests involving inmates or employees of the Department of Corrections and associates of inmates or employees.” — **For corrections staff:** ADOC canine staff now hold police powers and must meet APOSTC law enforcement standards. — [Enrolled SB 248 (2024)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/SB248-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 14-3-9](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-3-9)
- Jun 1, 2024 — **Facility administrators need not be APOSTC-certified; up to five deputy commissioners** — Act 2024-307 (SB 322), amending Code of Ala. 14-1-1.5, 14-1-4, 29-2-20 and adding 14-1-1.7 · Approved May 9, 2024; effective June 1, 2024 — The cap on deputy commissioners rises from 3 to 5. New 14-1-1.7 lets the commissioner appoint exempt administrators to run correctional facilities, and 15 exempt constituent-services employees. They serve at the commissioner’s pleasure and “shall not be required to be certified as either a corrections officer or a law enforcement officer by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission.” The existing bar on replacing a “correctional officer” position with a lower classification or pay stays in place (14-1-4(b)). The act also expanded the duties of the Joint Prison Oversight Committee. — **For corrections staff:** Administrators appointed to run correctional facilities can be at-will appointees without APOSTC certification; line correctional officer positions remain protected from downgrading. — [Enrolled SB 322 (2024)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/SB322-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 14-1-4](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-1-4)
- Jun 1, 2024 — **Drone Regulation Over Alabama Prisons Act** — Act 2024-222 (HB 345), adding Code of Ala. 13A-7-90 to 13A-7-95 · Approved May 6, 2024; effective June 1, 2024 — Operating an unmanned aircraft system over a Department of Corrections facility in listed circumstances, or introducing or attempting to introduce contraband by drone, is unlawful. “Facility” includes prisons, ADOC or contractor property to the outermost barrier, and public roads within 100 yards. Drones and attached contraband are subject to civil forfeiture. — **For corrections staff:** Drone drops at prisons are a specific offense, and the drone and its cargo can be forfeited. — [Enrolled HB 345 (2024)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/HB345-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 13A-7-91](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=13A-7-91)
- Sep 1, 2023 — **Warrantless arrest of parolees narrowed; sheriffs may refuse parolees at a full or unsafe jail** — Act 2023-475 (SB 157), amending Code of Ala. 15-22-31 and 15-22-54 · Approved June 14, 2023; effective September 1, 2023 — A parole officer or a law enforcement officer with arrest power may arrest a parolee without a warrant if the parolee violates parole conditions in the arresting officer’s presence, and must notify the Board of Pardons and Paroles within 24 hours. The act struck the old arrest-on-request language and the written-statement procedure from 15-22-31(b). For probationers, an officer may arrest without a warrant when the probation officer requests it and the violation occurs in the officer’s presence (15-22-54(d)). A parolee may not be held more than 20 days awaiting a Department of Corrections warrant. “If the parolee is presented to the county jail with a serious medical condition, if the admittance of the parolee would create a security risk to the county jail, or if the jail is near, at, or over capacity, the sheriff may refuse to admit the parolee.” The sheriff may also release such a parolee on notice to the parole officer unless a warrant has issued, and the sheriff and staff are immune for that discretion. The Board and the courts must send parole and probation conditions to the State Law Enforcement Agency for the Law Enforcement Tactical System. — **For corrections staff:** Jail intake staff may decline a parolee hold for medical, security, or capacity reasons; parole officers must track the 20-day warrant limit. — [Enrolled SB 157 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB157-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 15-22-31](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-22-31)
- Sep 1, 2023 — **Corrections commissioner and deputies with APOSTC certification count as correctional officers for hazardous duty time** — Act 2023-533 (SB 129), amending Code of Ala. 36-27-59(a)(1), (e) · Approved June 14, 2023; effective September 1, 2023; applies retroactively to March 1, 2022 — For hazardous duty retirement credit, “correctional officer” now also includes the Commissioner of Corrections and a deputy commissioner who has earned and keeps APOSTC certification as a correctional or law enforcement officer. “The designation of the Commissioner of Corrections and a deputy commissioner of corrections as correctional officers or law enforcement officers for purposes of this section shall be applied retroactively to March 1, 2022.” — **For corrections staff:** ADOC leaders who keep APOSTC certification keep hazardous duty retirement treatment. — [Enrolled SB 129 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB129-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 36-27-59](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-27-59)
- Sep 1, 2023 — **Facility policy can define contraband for the promoting-contraband crimes** — Act 2023-336 (SB 120), amending Code of Ala. 13A-10-30 and 13A-10-36 to 13A-10-38 · Approved June 1, 2023; effective September 1, 2023 — Contraband now means “Any article or thing which a person confined in a detention facility is legally prohibited from obtaining or possessing by statute, rule, regulation, detention center policy, or order.” A facility’s own policy can therefore define contraband for the promoting-prison-contraband offenses. The offenses now also cover providing items to a juvenile. Promoting prison contraband in the first and second degree remain Class C felonies. — **For corrections staff:** Bringing in or passing an item banned only by facility policy can be charged as a crime. — [Enrolled SB 120 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB120-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 13A-10-30](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=13A-10-30)
- Sep 1, 2023 — **Specialists, not only probation officers, may conduct court-ordered investigations** — Act 2023-364 (HB 72), amending Code of Ala. 15-22-51 and 15-22-53 · Approved June 1, 2023; effective September 1, 2023 — “A probation officer, or a specialist, shall investigate all cases referred to him or her for investigation by any court or by the Board of Pardons and Paroles and shall report in writing thereon,” using a validated risk and needs assessment. The act restates the probation officer’s duty to monitor each probationer according to measured risk of reoffending and to keep detailed records. Probation officers keep arrest powers equal to sheriffs’. — **For corrections staff:** Board specialists can now prepare presentence and other investigation reports. — [Enrolled HB 72 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/HB72-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 15-22-53](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=15-22-53)
- Aug 1, 2023 — **Certified retirees may work as ADOC correctional officers without losing their pension, through 2026** — Act 2023-334 (HB 41), amending Code of Ala. 36-27-8.2(d) · Approved May 31, 2023; effective August 1, 2023 (computed: the first day of the third month after approval, as the act provides) — A person retired under the Employees’ Retirement System who has the applicable APOSTC certification may work as a correctional officer with the Department of Corrections without suspension of the retirement allowance, if pay does not exceed $52,000 a year. This covers retirees who were classified as law enforcement officers under 36-27-59 before retirement, and retirees who were classified as correctional officers and retired under 36-27-16(a)(1)c. The subsection also covers former law enforcement officers serving as school resource officers. “No individual may be employed pursuant to this subsection after December 31, 2026.” — **For corrections staff:** A certified retiree can return to ADOC as a correctional officer and keep the pension, within the $52,000 cap, only until the end of 2026. — [Enrolled HB 41 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/HB41-enr.pdf)[Act 2023-334 record](https://arc-sos.state.al.us/cgi/actdetail.mbr/detail?page=act&year=2023&act=334)
- Aug 1, 2023 — **No deadline to buy hazardous duty credit for prior correctional service** — Act 2023-101 (HB 66), amending Code of Ala. 36-27-59(c) · Approved May 3, 2023; effective August 1, 2023 — Tier I members of the Employees’ or Teachers’ Retirement System who are APOSTC-certified correctional officers, law enforcement officers, or firefighters may buy hazardous duty credit for eligible prior service by paying 1% of earnable compensation for each year claimed. The act struck the requirement that the purchase be made “within two years of January 1, 2001,” and the current code no longer contains that deadline. — **For corrections staff:** Tier I correctional officers can still buy hazardous duty time for earlier service; Tier II members are excluded (36-27-59(d)). — [Enrolled HB 66 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/HB66-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 36-27-59](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-27-59)
- May 30, 2023 — **APOSTC-certified Corrections officers, including canine handlers, may assist any law enforcement agency** — Act 2023-318 (SB 225), adding Code of Ala. 14-1-4.2 · Approved May 30, 2023; effective on approval — “Any Department of Corrections officer certified by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, including a K-9 handler, may use a police animal or search and rescue animal, as defined in Section 13A-11-260, Code of Alabama 1975, to assist any law enforcement agency with public safety.” — **For corrections staff:** ADOC canine teams may lawfully assist outside agencies, not only work inside prisons. — [Enrolled SB 225 (2023)](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB225-enr.pdf)[Code of Ala. 14-1-4.2](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=14-1-4.2)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

- **Retiree correctional officers (Act 2023-334):** no one may be employed under 36-27-8.2(d) after December 31, 2026.
- **Study commission (Act 2025-423, sec. 5):** recommendations due by the 10th legislative day of the 2027 Regular Session.
- **Pretrial supervision by the Board of Pardons and Paroles (Act 2023-474, SB 153, Code of Ala. 15-13-3.1):** took effect September 1, 2023, but is “operative upon certification by the Director of Finance that sufficient funds have been appropriated.” Whether that certification has been made was not found. When operative, a judge may order, as a bond condition, that a defendant charged with an offense listed in 15-13-3 be supervised by the Board.

Not enacted: SB 316 (2026 Regular Session), which would have created a Prison Oversight Coordinator in the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts and a Corrections Oversight Board; the Legislature’s record shows it pending committee action in the house of origin when the session ended. The [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/alabama) lists other 2026 bills that died, including SB 48 (ban on four-point restraint). No full list of failed corrections bills from 2023 to 2026 was compiled.

## Checked and unchanged

- Code of Ala. 36-21-46 (standards) and 36-21-52 (felony revocation): no 2023 to 2026 amendment.
- Ala. Admin. Code 650-X-11-.01 (480-hour correctional officer course): last amended 2006, per the August 2025 APOSTC compilation.
- Code of Ala. 14-6-19.1 (pregnant and postpartum inmates): enacted by Act 2022-440, before the period tracked here.
- Not reviewed: ADOC administrative regulations on use of force and segregation, which are agency policy rather than statute or APOSTC rule.