Bay Minette, AL – The city council in Bay Minette will seek an Alabama attorney general's opinion before embarking on a new program that aims to give first-time, nonviolent offenders the choice of jail time or going to church each week for a year.
The Restore Our Community program was to begin in Bay Minette Municipal Court, but the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama has complained that the alternative sentencing program was unconstitutional.
Police Chief Mike Rowland worked with churches to develop the program for misdemeanor offenders.
If approved for the program, an offender could go to the church of his choice one day a week each week for a year rather than face jail time and fines.
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