A pre-filed bill for the 2026 legislative session seeks to increase sanctions for Alabama cities removing or renaming historical monuments honoring Confederate figures.

The pre-filed bill, SB6, from Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, builds on the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017, which prohibits Alabama municipalities from removing or relocating historical monuments on public land older than 40 years old and requires municipalities to seek permission from the Committee on Alabama Monument Protection to remove or relocate monuments that are older than 20 years old. Under this legislation, cities that have removed historical monuments are fined a one-time fee of $25,000.

The pre-filed bill increases this fine, instead fining municipalities $5,000 per day for each day there is a violation of the law. 

“I think protecting history speaks well of where we’ve been not only as a state but as a nation. And certainly it’s important for us to protect history,” Allen told Alabama Reflector of his motivations for filing the bill.

However, both the 2017 legislation and the pre-filed bill have raised concerns from critics that levying fines will discourage municipalities from removing, relocating or altering public historical monuments that honor the Confederacy. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Whose Heritage?” report, released in April, shows that 175 monuments honoring the Confederacy remain in Alabama. Removal, relocation or alteration of these monuments has been a fraught subject for many years — gaining and losing momentum from year to year. 

The report, which includes data from the past decade, shows that nationwide momentum for the removal or alteration of Confederate monuments picked up in 2017 — the same year the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act was passed — with a recorded 64 Confederate monuments nationwide getting removed or renamed. 

Momentum on these efforts waned until 2020, wherein the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer led to increased scrutiny of Confederate monuments. In 2020, 169 monuments nationwide were either removed or renamed. Twelve monuments in Alabama were removed or renamed that year. 

Research from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that a slim majority, 52%, of Americans support preserving Confederate monuments. 

Alabama top stories in brief

Birmingham-area immigration advocate detained by ICE

• Birmingham-area immigration advocate Giovanna Martinez was detained last week after a traffic stop on Interstate 20 in Leeds. Since being detained on Aug. 5, Martinez has been transferred to an ICE detention facility, Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana.

• Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin says Martinez was stopped for speeding and, when Martinez identified herself with a Mexican identification card instead of a driver’s license, the department called in federal agents who detained her.

• Martinez worked with the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama, a Birmingham-based immigration advocacy center. Martinez’s advocacy role has increased public outcry about her detention, with HICA saying in a release that they have been working “to support her in every possible way” since her detention.

• Martinez’s family has also started a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of legal expenses that, as of Aug. 10, has raised more than $30,000.

No charges filed in Jabari Peoples shooting

• Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr announced last week that no charges would be filed against the Homewood police officer who shot and killed Aliceville teenager Jabari Peoples in June.

• Carr said that the shooting, which occurred when an officer was attempting to arrest Peoples for possession of marajuana, was “deemed justified” after viewing body cam footage of the incident that showed Peoples retrieving a gun from his car when the police officer shot him in the back.

• The Peoples’ family and their attorney were allowed to view the body cam footage last week as well. At a press conference, their attorney claimed the family was only able to see a “small clip of an edited ALEA video.” They are now demanding to see the full video footage.

Public Service Commission approves AL Power Autauga plant purchase

• The Alabama Public Service Commission voted to allow Alabama Power to purchase a natural gas power plant in Autauga County last week.

• The commission also approved the utility company’s plans to raise monthly electric rates for residential customers by $3.32 to offset costs of acquiring the plant.

• Alabama Power said that it needs the new plant to provide roughly 1,200 megawatts in new power capacity by the end of the decade. 

• This price increase is also the third rate increase levied by the company since 2020 to offset costs of purchasing new plants in 2020 and 2022.

Alabama congressional map ruled unusable for second time

• A three judge court in Alabama’s Northern District has unanimously determined that the Alabama legislature’s 2023 congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act and cannot be used in future elections. This is the second time that this map has been deemed in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

• The ruling comes in response to an appeal filed by Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen in June asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the original ruling, which said that the state’s congressional district map sought to dilute the voting powers of Black Alabamians.

• The state must use a congressional district map drawn by a court-appointed special master until regular redistricting is set to take place in 2030.

Tuberville has raised more than $5 million in campaign contributions

• U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville has raised more than $5 million in campaign contributions for his gubernatorial campaign according to his latest campaign finance report, raising more than $720,000 over the course of July.

• Two of Tuberville’s biggest donors in July were Birmingham-based Protective Life Insurance Co. and Tennessee-based hospital network Community Health Systems; both of whom issued $100,000 donations to Tuberville’s campaign.

• Alabama does not have campaign contribution limits for state office campaigns.

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