HB819 Summary

• Establishes the Autauga County Work Release Board composed of the circuit clerk, chief jailer, and sheriff to develop and administer a work release program for inmates at the Autauga County Metro Jail.

• Allows qualified inmates to be released from jail during employment hours, including travel time, and requires employers to pay wages directly to the board for deposit into the Autauga County Work Release Fund.

• Authorizes the board to apply up to 40 percent of inmate gross wages for program operation costs and law enforcement purposes, with remaining wages applied to court-ordered child support and then credited to the inmate's account.

• Requires employment at prevailing wages without displacing existing workers, prohibits strike-breaking and inmate exploitation, and makes willful failure to return to jail punishable as escape.

• Provides immunity from negligence claims for Autauga County, the sheriff, and board members; requires fund audits by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts within 30 days; and repeals Act 419 of the 1975 Regular Session.