FISCAL NOTE

Senate Bill 36 as amended and reported by the Committee on Ways and Means General Fund: (1) requires the Alabama Department of Corrections, on or before October 1, 2021, to enter into agreements with at least three counties whose jails will be used for the care and housing of parole and probation violators; (2) requires the Department to pay the counties the agreed upon daily housing rate plus 20%; and (3) provides that the Department is responsible for the health care costs of parole and probation violators and inmates awaiting transfer to the Department’s custody. This will increase the financial obligations of the Department by: (1) an estimated $23 per day according to the Association of County Commissioners for each parolee and probationer in the custody of a consenting county jail; (2) an undetermined amount to reimburse counties for health care costs of parole and probation violators incurred while in the custody of a consenting county jail; and (3) an undetermined amount for increased costs of liability insurance premiums attributed to the increased state inmate population housed in county jails.

Also, this bill will increase the administrative obligations of the Department by requiring the Department, in consultation with the Association of County Commissions and the Alabama Sheriffs Association, to develop an application and memorandum of agreement no later than October 1, 2021 between the Department and county jails to house and care for parolees and probationers charged with, sanctioned, or that have had their parole or probation revoked.

In addition, this bill provides that if the Legislature does not make a specific appropriation to the Department sufficient to reimburse the counties for health care costs of probation and parole violators, those individuals may not be delivered to the custody of a county facility until the State Finance Director certifies the availability of sufficient funds for reimbursement.

Further, the provisions of this bill could increase the obligations of the county liability self-insurance fund, by an undetermined amount, dependent upon the number of claims paid due to the expanded liability coverage permitted by this bill.