Alabama debuts new system to notify crime victims of parole dates, prison releases

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The state of Alabama has a new online system to automatically notify crime victims when a state inmate has a parole date or is being released from prison.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and other state officials on Wednesday announced the debut of the Alabama Victim Notification System, which lets victims and others know when convicted criminals are up for parole, released, are being moved or are being released.

The new system is designed to augment existing notification procedures. Marshall said the new system will give victims almost “instantaneous knowledge” so they will know when a release or parole date is near or about other changes to an offender’s status.

“It is what the state of Alabama owes victims across this state — notice and knowledge of what is going on,” Marshall said.

The system is designed to pull information from multiple state agencies, including the Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, to be a one-stop source to distribute to victims and others.

Victims, family members and others can register with the system. It will provide notice of releases, parole dates, furloughs, changes in status or custody and when an inmate has reached the end of their sentence or died while in custody. Notices can be provided by email, text message or mail.

“The Victim Notification System can provide peace of mind to survivors of violence and families of victims,” Darlene Hutchinson Biehl, a commissioner with the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission, said.

The system was established by state law in 2011. A task force oversaw the creation and the rollout of the system.