Site Summaries
Alabama Sites
In terms of victim assistance, the Alabama Attorney General's Office offers information and support to crime victims and their families in capital murder trials and pardons/parole hearings, as well as notification of change of offender incarceration status. In addition, the state's district attorneys' offices provide assistance to victims when their cases reach district court.
The Attorney General's Office recognized, however, that many victims were left without these structured forms of assistance because their cases were not prosecuted. Rural areas that had few community resources available to assist victims were particularly affected by this gap in victim service programs in the criminal justice system. Through funding under the OVC Victim Services in Rural Law Enforcement grant program, the Attorney General's Office was able to support law enforcement agencies that served rural areas of the state in establishing or enhancing their services to victims. Out of 24 agencies that submitted grant applications, 10 were selected to participate in the project. The project ended with seven participating subgrantees:
- Calera Police Department
- Hartford Police Department
- Luverne Police Department
- Mobile County Sheriff's Office
- Montgomery County Sheriff's Office
- Pell City Police Department
- Washington County Sheriff's Office
Some statistics on Alabama help frame the demographic information provided on the sites: 16 percent of individuals in the state live in poverty, and the median household income for the state is $37,062 (2004 census). The 2000 census reported 19 percent of individuals over 25 have attained a college degree. According to the 2005 census, the vast majority of the population is White (71 percent) and Black (26 percent). The state averages 88 persons per square mile (2000 census).