§15-22-24. Board of Pardons and Paroles - Duties generally; annual report; badge and pistol of probation and parole officer included in retirement benefits; representation of applicant by state official.

(a) The Board of Pardons and Paroles, hereinafter referred to as "the board," shall be charged with the duty of determining what prisoners serving sentences in the jails and prisons of the State of Alabama may be released on parole and when and under what conditions. Such board shall also be charged with the duty of supervising all prisoners released on parole from the jails or prisons of the state and of lending its assistance to the courts in the supervision of all prisoners placed on probation by courts exercising criminal jurisdiction and making such investigations as may be necessary in connection therewith, of determining whether violation of parole or probation conditions exist in specific cases, deciding, in the case of parolees, what action should be taken with reference thereto, causing, in the case of probationers, reports of such investigations to be made to the judges of the courts having jurisdiction of the probationers and of aiding parolees and probationers to secure employment. It shall also be the duty of the board to personally study the prisoners confined in the jails and prisons of the state so as to determine their ultimate fitness to be paroled.

(b) Between October 1 and December 31 of each year, the board shall make a full report of its activities and functions during the preceding year, and such report shall be prepared in quadruplicate, with one copy thereof lodged with the Governor, one filed in the office of the Secretary of State, one filed in the office of the Department of Archives and History, and one copy retained in the permanent records of the board.

(c) The board may accept grants, devices, bequeaths [bequests] or gifts and make expenditures therefrom for the operations of the board and not individually as board members.

(d) The board shall have the power and authority to enter contracts to accomplish the objectives of the board.

(e) The board may adopt policy and procedural guidelines for establishing parole consideration eligibility dockets based on its evaluation of a prisoner's prior record, nature and severity of the present offense, potential for future violence, and community attitude toward the offender.

(f) Any person who, at the time of his retirement, is employed by the Board of Pardons and Paroles as a probation and parole officer, shall receive as part of his retirement benefits, without cost to him, his badge, and pistol.

(g) The board is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate rules and regulations to establish a program that will authorize the board to expend state moneys not to exceed $250.00 per year for awarding recognition incentive awards for outstanding employees.

(h) No state official shall appear or otherwise represent an applicant before the board for any consideration or thing of value unless said official was counsel of record for the applicant during a trial or hearing in the regular judicial process that led to said applicant's present status; however, no state official shall be prohibited from appearing without consideration before the board or board panel on behalf of an applicant.

(i) The board shall have the power, authority, and jurisdiction to conditionally transfer a prisoner to the authorities of the federal government or any other jurisdiction entitled to his custody to answer pending charges or begin serving a sentence in response to a properly filed detainer from the other jurisdiction. Such conditionally transferred prisoner shall remain in the legal custody of the warden of the institution from which he was transferred. Should any such conditionally transferred prisoner satisfy all detainers against him prior to completion of his Alabama sentence, said prisoner shall not be released from custody without further order of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

(j) The board and its agents shall have the power and authority to administer oaths and affirmation, examine witnesses and receive evidence on all matters to be considered by the board.

(Acts 1939, No. 275, p. 426; Code 1940, T. 42, §5; Acts 1951, No. 599, p. 1030; Acts 1982, No. 82-153, §4.)