Ala. R. Juv. P. 33
Committee Comments to Adoption of Rule 33 Effective October 6, 2021
This rule allows the juvenile courts of this State to conduct juvenile-detention and shelter-care hearings and to enter pleas and dispositions in juvenile-delinquency, child- in-need-of-supervision, and dependency cases using two-way interactive audiovisual technology. To test the practicality of using audiovisual technology in hearings and proceedings conducted in the juvenile courts, the Alabama Supreme Court, beginning in 2006, approved, by order, pilot projects in several counties permitting the use of audiovisual technology in juvenile-detention hearings.
Audiovisual technology may be used to allow participants in a juvenile court hearing or proceeding to communicate with each other and with the juvenile court judge or referee from separate locations.
This technology has the potential to reduce travel requirements for parties and attorneys in these cases. In addition, it has the potential to reduce travel requirements for law-enforcement officers who are charged with the duty to transport children in juvenile-delinquency cases between juvenile-detention facilities and juvenile courts pursuant to § 12-15-208(k), Ala. Code 1975. This practice has created a substantial expense to local governments and law-enforcement offices. The goal is to establish a reliable alternative to transportation while ultimately increasing the efficiency of the juvenile-justice system.
Juvenile court judges who conduct hearings and proceedings by using audiovisual technology pursuant to this rule are exempt from the provisions of Canon 3.A(7) and Canon 3.A(7A) of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics with regard to such hearings and proceedings.