Alabama
Ala. Code § 26-14-3 — Alabama mandatory-reporting statute
- Clergy named as mandatory reporter?
- Yes
- Confessional exemption?
- Yes
- Statute
- Ala. Code § 26-14-3
- Clergy named
- Expressly
- Pending
- —
Alabama already has a strong mandated-reporting law on the books. Ala. Code § 26-14-3(a) expressly names members of the clergy as mandatory reporters, using the clergy definition from Alabama Rule of Evidence 505. The statute requires an immediate oral report, followed by a written report, when a covered reporter knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected. Alabama also attaches a criminal penalty for knowing failure to report and protects employees from employer retaliation when they make a report. The remaining problem is not whether clergy are named. They are. The problem is § 26-14-3(f), which preserves the clergy-penitent privilege for information gained solely in a confidential Rule 505 communication. Alabama courts have read that privilege narrowly, but the carveout still leaves a place where a disclosure can be heard and lawfully kept from child-protection authorities. UCO tracks states like Alabama because even strong reporting statutes can still carry the exact exception that keeps a survivor's voice from being heard.