What Happens During Your Loved One's First Two Weeks at an Alabama Prison (What Families Should Know)

Reception and classification is how the system figures out where your loved one will live, what custody level fits them, and which programs they'll be assigned. For women in Alabama prisons, this process usually wraps up within two weeks of arrival. That explains why the first days can feel like a holding pattern - decisions are being made behind the scenes.

Classification matters for a practical reason: it's tied to the paperwork your loved one will rely on to understand their sentence. Shortly after initial classification, they'll receive a "Time Sheet." This document shows how much time they have and a projected release date - it becomes the go-to reference when anyone's trying to make sense of timelines.

The goal is to complete reception and initial classification within the first two weeks. For women, Alabama DOC guidance says this process generally finishes within two weeks of arrival. The Time Sheet usually follows shortly after - so if you're waiting on an official projected release date, that's typically when it becomes available on paper.

Classification isn't a one-time decision. After your loved one is assigned a Classification Specialist and gets through initial placement, they're still on a schedule for future reviews. Alabama DOC guidance says inmates receive a classification review at least once each year - that's when custody and placement decisions can be formally revisited.

Between annual reviews, the file is still monitored. The guidance says an inmate's file gets reviewed every six months to determine eligibility for custody or placement changes. For families, this is helpful context: even if nothing changes right away, there's an ongoing process that periodically re-checks whether adjustments are warranted.

Contact Classification Specialist

• ✓ Submit a request slip to contact the Classification Specialist
• ✓ Sign up for the Classification Specialist’s Open House meetings

If your loved one isn't sure who to ask, the inmate handbook is meant to be kept in their personal property as a reference. When the handbook doesn't have the answer, they can ask their Classification Specialist or Social Service Caseworker for help.

During the first two weeks, the most reasonable big-picture question is timing: has initial classification been completed yet? For women, this process generally wraps up within two weeks of arrival, so that window helps you set expectations. If you're trying to pin down sentence math or a release projection, ask whether the Time Sheet has been issued - it's the document that shows sentence time and the projected release date.

If your loved one has a classification question - custody level, housing assignment, or program placement - encourage them to use the channels the system expects. They can reach their Classification Specialist by request slip or by signing up for Open House meetings. For basic "how does this work?" questions, the handbook is designed to be their first stop, with the Classification Specialist or Social Service Caseworker as the next step when something isn't covered.