Alabama top stories in brief

• A new system to notify Alabamians who were victims of violent crime to relevant information was recently unveiled. The Alabama Victim Notification System allows people to sign up to receive notifications related to particular convicted individuals, including upcoming parole hearings, supervised release, end of sentence and death. The system allows users to sign up to receive notification through email, text and mail. 

• Advocates for criminal justice reform held a rally last Thursday at the Alabama Statehouse in support of HB27, a bill that would allow over 30 death row inmates to be resentenced. Prior to 2017, judges in Alabama were allowed to override a jury’s decision on capital murder cases and impose the death penalty. Now, due to a bill passed in 2017, judges must abide by the jury’s decision in these cases. Bill HB27 would cause this decision to also be applied retroactively, allowing those on death row who had a judge overrule the jury’s sentence to petition for a resentencing of life without parole. 

• Andrew Foster, the former library director for the Autauga-Prattville Public Library is demanding an apology from the library board of directors and a possible reinstatement of his position. The library has been a focal point for much of the debate in Alabama regarding what books are appropriate for non-adult sections. Recently, the library board there fired Foster, “for revealing confidential information to the press and violation of criminal law.” According to Foster, the confidential information that the board referenced were emails between Foster and trustees requested by a journalist through an open records request. No criminal charges have been filed against Foster. Foster did record part of the board meeting during which he was terminated. A board member told him during the meeting that was against the law, that was incorrect, however, because Alabama is a one party consent state, which means only one person involved in a conversation has to consent to it being recorded. An attorney for Foster is accusing the board of violating the Open Meetings Act for holding an executive session without giving a reason, and is also demanding a retraction, correction and apology from members of the board for statements made about Foster made to the media. 

• Gov. Kay Ivey recently awarded $200,000 each to Alabama’s seven regional drug task forces and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to help cover overtime and operational and equipment expenses. The funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Alabama legislative update 

As of March 22, 641 bills had been filed by members of the Alabama State Legislature. Of these, seven have been signed into law. 

• SB1 criminalizes some forms of aid for those applying for absentee ballots. The new law prevents applicants from being given forms pre-filled with their names or other information on the application. Additionally, it makes it illegal for organizations or individuals to receive payment for distributing, ordering, collecting, requesting, pre-filling, completing or delivering absentee ballot applications. 

• SB129 limits how public funds can be used by diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which the bill defined as “any program, class, training, seminar, or other event where attendance is based on an individual’s identity, ethnicity, national origin, race, sex, gender or sexual orientation or that otherwise violates this act.” The bill also states that public institutions of higher education must designate use for all multiple occupancy bathrooms based upon individuals sex at birth. 

• SB48 requires public k-12 grade schools to post curriculum online for parents or guardians of students to view at the beginning of the school year or after changes have been made. It also requires teachers to provide summaries of classroom specific materials and education upon request by parents and guardians of students in their class. 

• SB39 allows public dams to be part of a program for voluntary dam inspections. It was an amendment to a bill passed last year which allowed private dam owners to opt into dam inspections. 

• SB28 amended the constitution to give the Houston County Commission the authority to appoint members to the Board of Houston County Health Care Authority.

• SB159 provides criminal and civil immunity to in vitro fertilization clinics and states that “no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization.”

• HB129 created the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students Education act, which created an education savings account to provide funds for parents to use on certain education expenses for eligible students. The program will come into effect in 2025 and will initially be restricted to family’s that make less than 300% of the federal poverty rate, which is around $75,000 for a family of three. After 2027, the program will be opened up to all Alabama students. The legislature will appropriate $100 million to fund the program. 

In addition to the bills signed into law, five bills were sent to Gov. Ivey last week to await her signature. 

• SB15 would change current law so that instead of there being a set number of pharmacy technicians for each pharmacist while preparing a compound, the number of technicians allowed would be based upon Board of Pharmacy ratios for supervision. 

• SB18 would lift the statue of limitations for individuals filing claims of sexual abuse against the Boy Scouts of America. 

• SB26 would change “nurse educator” to “advanced practice nurse” in the code of Alabama section 34-21-98. 

• SB47 would amend the Alabama constitution to create the Alabama Automobile Insurance Plan to distribute costs among insurance companies for the state established plans for people unable to acquire vehicle liability insurance through regular means. It would also let the Commissioner of Insurance appoint a governing body to manage the plan.

• SB100 would create the Board of Medical Scholarship Awards Fund, to gather funds to be used in granting scholarships and providing loans for medical students.