The Colbert County color code is a random drug-testing program run out of the Community Corrections office in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When you enter probation, drug court, or a community corrections sentence, your supervising officer assigns you a color. You call a designated phone line every day, and if your color is announced, you report that day for a drug screen. Missing the call counts the same as missing the test.
Your Color and the Daily Check
The color you’re assigned at intake stays with you for the length of your supervision. Each day the system randomly selects one or more colors for testing. With roughly 67 colors in rotation at the Colbert County office, yours won’t be called every day, but there is no way to predict when it will. That unpredictability is the point.
The system typically updates during late evening or early the following morning. Checking every single day is your single most important obligation in this program. A skipped check with a missed test carries the same weight as a failed test, so make the check part of your morning before anything else.
How to Check Your Color Each Day
The primary method is calling a designated phone line and listening to a recorded message that lists the active colors. Your supervising officer gives you the correct number at enrollment. Some Alabama color code programs use a toll-free call-in line for this.1Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. Alabama Certain Enforcement Supervision If you lose the number or aren’t sure which line to call, contact the Colbert County Community Corrections office rather than guessing.
Some programs also post daily colors on authorized websites or social media. Whether that’s an option depends on your supervising office. Either way, the responsibility to check is yours. “I forgot” and “I didn’t know” don’t excuse a missed test.
Where to Report and What to Bring
The Colbert County Community Corrections office is at 108 North Water Street, Tuscumbia, AL 35674.2Alabama Department of Corrections. Community Corrections Program Testing hours vary and can shift around holidays. Call ahead if you have any doubt about the current schedule. Arriving outside the testing window is treated the same as not showing up at all.
Bring the following every time your color is called:
- A government-issued photo ID. An Alabama driver’s license or state ID card works. Expired IDs may be rejected.
- Payment. Most testing sites charge per screen, commonly in the range of $25 to $35, though the exact amount varies. Bring exact cash or a money order made out to the monitoring agency. Many sites do not accept credit cards or personal checks.
- Your case number and supervising officer’s name. Staff use these to match your specimen to the correct file. If you don’t know your case number, ask your officer before test day.
What Happens at the Test
You sign in with facility staff, present your ID, and pay. Staff check your name against the daily testing list before collection begins. You then provide a urine sample under direct or indirect observation, with a staff member involved throughout to maintain the chain of custody.
After collection, you get a receipt or a log entry confirming the test. Keep it. If the system ever shows you as a no-show by mistake, that receipt is your proof of compliance. File it with your other court documents.
Prescription Medications
If you take a prescribed medication that could trigger a positive result, such as certain pain medications, anxiety drugs, or ADHD stimulants, tell your supervising officer as early as possible. Bring documentation from your prescribing doctor showing your name, the medication, the dosage, and the date prescribed.
When a test comes back positive, many programs use a Medical Review Officer to determine whether a prescription explains the result. That process goes far better when the medication is already on file. An undisclosed prescription that causes a positive can look indistinguishable from illicit use until you prove otherwise, and that burden is on you.
Consequences of a Missed or Failed Test
A no-show is one of the fastest ways back in front of a judge. Most programs treat it as a failed test, and your probation officer reports the violation to the court.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 15 Criminal Procedure – Section 15-22-54 A judge can then issue a warrant.
Alabama law doesn’t jump straight to revocation in most cases. It uses a graduated system:
- Short-term confinement. For most probationers, the court can impose up to 45 consecutive days in a county jail or residential transition center for each violation, sometimes called a “dip.”3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 15 Criminal Procedure – Section 15-22-54
- A three-strike threshold before full revocation. A court generally cannot revoke probation entirely until you’ve received three separate periods of confinement under this system. After the third, revocation is on the table.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 15 Criminal Procedure – Section 15-22-54
- Immediate revocation for serious offenses. If your underlying conviction was for a violent Class A felony, a sex offense, or aggravated theft by deception, the court skips the graduated sanctions.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 15 Criminal Procedure – Section 15-22-54
Revocation means serving the balance of your original sentence in a state prison facility, calculated from the date of your rearrest.
Your Rights at a Violation Hearing
If you’re accused of a violation, Alabama’s Rules of Criminal Procedure give you protections before your probation status changes. You’re entitled to a hearing before the sentencing court, and you cannot be held waiting for that hearing longer than 20 business days unless you also have new criminal charges pending.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 15 Criminal Procedure – Section 15-22-54
At the hearing you have the right to be present, to have a lawyer (appointed if you can’t afford one and you’re contesting the violation or have complex mitigating circumstances), and to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The court can consider any reliable, relevant evidence, including hearsay.4Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 27.6 – Revocation of Probation
One detail matters a lot: the court cannot revoke your probation for violating a condition you never received in writing. If you were never given written notice that you had to participate in color code testing, that’s a valid defense.4Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 27.6 – Revocation of Probation The judge must also state on the record or in writing what evidence was relied upon and the reasons for revocation.
Challenging a Dilute or Wrong Result
A dilute sample means the lab couldn’t detect substances at a reliable concentration, usually because the urine was too watery. It can happen from drinking a lot of water, but many programs treat it with suspicion, and some drug courts sanction a dilute the same as a positive. That treatment doesn’t always hold up if challenged, since the state typically can’t prove what caused the dilution without evidence of a masking agent.
If you believe a result is wrong, ask about requesting a confirmation test from an independent lab. Confirmation testing uses more precise methods than the initial screen and can distinguish between substances that sometimes cross-react. Cost usually falls to you, but it’s worth it if the alternative is a violation on your record. Raise the issue with your attorney before the violation hearing so the challenge is on the record.
Work Conflicts and Travel
Your color doesn’t care about your work schedule. Alabama’s state court referral coordinator has acknowledged that the program cannot accommodate every participant’s work hours.5AL.com. How Court-Ordered Drug Testing in Alabama Poses Impossible Choices If you know in advance that work or an emergency will take you out of the county, talk to your supervising officer before the conflict, not after. Some officers can arrange testing at an alternative facility or adjust expectations if you communicate early.
Explaining a missed test after the fact is dramatically less effective than calling ahead. If your job regularly overlaps with testing hours, raise it formally with your officer and document the conversation in writing.