§ 14-3-30 — Temporary Confinement of Convict Pending Removal; Inmate Developing Medical Condition Which Requires Treatment

(a)(1) When any defendant is sentenced to the custody of the Department of Corrections, the judge of the court in which the sentence is rendered shall order the inmate to be confined in the nearest secure jail. Within five days of the court sentencing a defendant, the court or the court clerk shall enter the sentencing order and the transcript of record into the State Judicial Information System, or its successor system, and E-Transcripts, or its successor system. Except as provided in subdivision (2), upon receipt of the transcript, the Department of Corrections shall accept the transcript, accept the inmate for state confinement, and schedule the transfer of the physical custody of the inmate. The sheriff shall transfer physical custody of the inmate within 30 calendar days following the receipt of the original transcript by the department.
(2) If a transcript contains substantial errors, the Department of Corrections may reject the transcript. If the department rejects the transcript, the department shall immediately notify the court clerk of the rejection, along with any deficiencies in the transcript. No later than five days after the receipt of the validated transcript, the department shall accept the validated transcript, accept the inmate for state confinement, and schedule the transfer of the physical custody of the inmate. The sheriff shall transfer physical custody of the inmate within 35 calendar days following the receipt of the validated transcript.
(b)(1) When the Department of Corrections has received the original transcript of an inmate sentenced to its custody, and the inmate is being housed in a county jail, if the inmate has a health condition or develops a health condition that requires immediate treatment at a health care facility outside the county jail, the department shall be financially responsible for the cost of the treatment of the inmate.
(2) When the Department of Corrections has received the original transcript of an inmate sentenced to its custody, and the inmate is being housed in a county jail, if the inmate has a health condition, develops a health condition, or is diagnosed as having a health condition that, in the opinion of a physician licensed in Alabama, requires treatment, a medical procedure, or both, involving a cost of more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), the department shall transport the inmate within three calendar days of the notification of the condition to a state owned or operated correctional facility or to the physical custody of the department as determined by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. The inmate shall receive treatment in the same manner as other state inmates. If the department fails to take custody of the inmate, the county may transport the inmate to receive the recommended treatment, medical procedure, or both. The transportation of the inmate to the treatment or procedure does not relieve the department from the financial responsibilities of the costs of the treatment or procedure.
(3) Nothing in this section may be interpreted to relieve the department of its responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep, including the payment of health care costs, of an inmate sentenced to the custody of the department, nor shall this section be interpreted as conferring any additional responsibility upon a county for the maintenance and upkeep, or the payment of health care costs, of any inmate sentenced to the custody of the department.

Legislative History

(Code 1886, §4609; Code 1896, §4461; Code 1907, §6513; Code 1923, §3609; Code 1940, T. 45, §26; Acts 1995, No. 95-540, p. 1123, §1; Act 2021-249, §2.)