Alabama

The published process

Placement during a dispute

"Except as provided below under the heading Discipline, once a due process complaint is sent to the other party, during the resolution process time period, and while waiting for the decision of any impartial due process hearing or court proceeding, unless you and the local public agency agree otherwise, your child must remain in his/her current educational placement." — Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards, §300.518, ALSDE Approved January 2025, retrieved Aug 25, 2026

Independent evaluation at public expense

"You have the right to an IEE of your child at public expense if you disagree with an evaluation of your child obtained by the local public agency. The local public agency must provide to parents, upon request for an IEE, information about where an IEE may be obtained, and the agency criteria applicable for IEEs." Subject to stated conditions, including: "If you request an IEE of your child at public expense, the local public agency must, without unnecessary delay, either: a. File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate; or b. Provide an IEE at public expense, unless the local public agency demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of your child that you obtained did not meet the local public agency’s criteria." "You are entitled to only one IEE of your child at public expense each time the local public agency conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree." — Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards, §300.502

Who may be present, and what record is made

"You have the right to represent yourself at a due process hearing. In addition, any party to a due process hearing (including a hearing relating to disciplinary procedures) has the right to:" and the list that follows includes the right to "Be accompanied and advised by an attorney and/or persons with special knowledge or training regarding the problems of children with disabilities", to "Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and require the attendance of witnesses", to "Prohibit the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed to that party at least five (5) business days before the hearing", to "Obtain a written, or, at your option, electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing", and to "Obtain written, or, at your option, electronic findings of fact and decisions." Parents specifically "must be given the right to: 1. Have your child present at the hearing; 2. Open the hearing to the public; and 3. Have the record of the hearing, the findings of fact, and the decisions provided to you at no cost." — Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards, Hearing Rights, §300.512. Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings: not stated in the sources reviewed (the safeguards notice and the ALSDE pages in the source map were searched); district policies may address it.

The three rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state’s own published documents, or record that a question is not answered in them.

Timelines, as stated in the sources

All quoted; none calculated. From Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards (ALSDE Approved January 2025) except where noted.

On state complaints: "the staff of the state educational agency generally must resolve a State complaint within a 60-calendar-day timeline, unless the timeline is properly extended". Extension is permitted "only if: (a) exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular State complaint; or (b) you and the local public agency voluntarily agree to extend the time to resolve the matter through mediation or alternative means of dispute resolution." "The complaint must allege a violation that occurred not more than one year prior to the date that the complaint is received".

On requesting a due process hearing: "You or the local public agency must request an impartial hearing on a due process complaint within two (2) years of the date you or the local public agency knew or should have known about the issue addressed in the complaint." An exception applies where "The local public agency specifically misrepresented that it had resolved the problem or issue that you are raising in your complaint" or "The local public agency withheld information from you that it was required to provide to you under Part B of IDEA."

On the resolution process: "Within 15 calendar days of receiving notice of your due process complaint, and before the due process hearing begins, the local public agency must convene a meeting with you and the relevant member or members of the IEP Team" who have relevant knowledge of the complaint. "If the local public agency has not resolved the due process complaint to your satisfaction within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the due process complaint (during the time period for the resolution process), the due process hearing may occur."

On the hearing decision: "The state educational agency must ensure that not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the 30-calendar day period for resolution meetings" — or an adjusted period — "1. A final decision is reached in the hearing; and 2. A copy of the decision is mailed to each of the parties." A hearing officer "may grant specific extensions of time beyond the 45-calendar day time period described above at the request of either party. Each extension shall be for no more than 45 days."

On appeal: "Any party who does not agree with the fndings and decision in the due process hearing (including a hearing relating to disciplinary procedures) has the right to bring a civil action with respect to the matter that was the subject of the due process hearing" — "fndings" as printed, the same dropped-ligature artifact for "findings." "The party bringing the action shall have 30 calendar days from the date of the decision of the hearing offcer to fle a civil action" — again "offcer" and "fle" as printed. (Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards, Civil Actions, §300.516)

On discipline: "To the extent that they also take such action for children without disabilities, school personnel may, for not more than 10 school days in a row, remove a child with a disability who violates a code of student conduct from his/her current placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting, another setting, or suspension." "Within 10 school days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the local public agency, you, and other relevant members of the IEP Team" must hold a manifestation determination review. Where a student "Carries a weapon" (as the notice defines that term), or "Knowingly has or uses illegal drugs (see definition at right), or sells or solicits the sale of a controlled substance (see definition at right), while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the SEA", or "Has inflicted serious bodily injury (see definition at right) upon another person while at school, on school premises, or at a school function under the jurisdiction of the SEA", school personnel "may remove a student to an interim alternative educational setting (determined by the child’s IEP Team) for not more than 45 school days" regardless of the manifestation determination. Expedited disciplinary hearings: "The SEA must arrange for an expedited due process hearing, which must occur within 20 school days of the date the hearing request is filed and must result in a determination within 10 school days after the hearing."

What any of this means for a particular situation is for the agency and its processes to determine.

Change log

Aug 25, 2026 · Page created (pilot). Captured first-party: Alabama’s Procedural Safeguards (PDF text, full 26-page document retrieved; quotations verified against the text layer), Dispute Resolutions knowledge-base page (HTML), Quick Tips for Dispute Resolution (PDF), Parent Tips for Conflict and Dispute Resolution of Special Education Issues (PDF), Policies and Procedures page (HTML, document-title text only). Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) the safeguards notice gives the state-complaint mailing address as P.O. Box 30201, Montgomery, AL 36130, while the notice’s own document footer and the Quick Tips PDF both give the general Special Education Services address as PO Box 302101, Montgomery, AL 36130-2101 — a different box number, not merely a formatting difference; both reproduced, neither corrected; (2) the safeguards notice prints the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program’s web/email field as "www.adap@adap.ua.edu", which reads as a malformed mix of a URL and an email address, while the separately dated Parent Tips PDF gives ADAP’s site as "www.adap.net"; both reproduced as published; (3) the safeguards notice’s own text contains a dropped-ligature extraction artifact in places — "filing" prints as "fling" and "specific" as "specifc" — preserved verbatim in the packet and avoided in direct quotation on this page where a cleaner instance of the same phrase existed elsewhere in the same document; (4) the notice’s mediation section contains what appears to be the state’s own typo, "the medication process" where "the mediation process" is clearly meant, in a sentence not quoted on this page; (5) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not addressed in the sources reviewed. Capture pending: the State Complaint, Due Process Complaint, and Mediation Request model forms; the full text of Alabama Administrative Code 290-8-9.08 (cited extensively by page number in the Quick Tips PDF but not itself fetched); non-English translations of the safeguards notice. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.