• Technology Work Group
• Juvenile Offenders Work Group
• Structured Sentencing Work Group
• Mandatory Minimum and Enhanced Sentences Work Group
• Community-Based Punishment Work Group
• Truth-in-Sentencing & Post-Incarceration Supervision Work Group

The Technology Work Group was charged with obtaining services of a consulting firm which specializes in research, planning, statistical analysis and empirical research to develop a sentencing research database of convicted felony offenders and inmates.  The Sentencing Commission contracted with Applied Research Services, Inc. (ARS), an Atlanta-based consulting firm, to develop a sentencing research database that will be a baseline clearinghouse of knowledge and facts about the State's criminal justice system to guide formulation of policy by the Commission.

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The Juvenile Work Group was charged with studying components of the Alabama Juvenile Justice System, such as commitments of nonviolent or status offenders to the department of youth services, the backlog of juveniles being held in local or regional detention facilities, the need to establish community-based programs, the need to ensure that mental health youths receive appropriate treatments, providing adequate resources, providing valid, reliable risk assessment instruments to assist judges, and the authority for blended sentencing.

The mission of the Structured Sentencing Work Group was to review sentencing structure in Alabama and other states to report to the Sentencing Commission recommended changes in keeping with the mission of the Sentencing Commission and the goals set out by law.

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The purpose of the Mandatory Minimum and Enhanced Sentences Work Group was to assist the Sentencing Commission by examining Alabama's mandatory minimum and enhanced punishment statutes, data reflecting the impact of their adoption on the prison population and sentencing disparity, and the purposes for which they were adopted, in order to make recommendations to the Commission as to their retention, revision and/or elimination.

The Community-Based Punishment Work Group was established to assist the Alabama Sentencing Commission by reviewing and evaluating existing community based punishment programs in Alabama and in other states; reviewing current statutes to ensure that alternative sanctions and programs are authorized statewide and exploring effective means to implement community correction programs statewide, addressing such issues as funding, training, risk-assessment tools and the ways in which to acquire community support.

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The Truth-in-Sentencing & Post Incarceration Supervision Work Group was established to assist the Alabama Sentencing Commission by reviewing and evaluating existing sentencing structures to determine if truth-in-sentencing exist.