News Post

Legislative Tracking

The Alabama State Bar provides legislative status reports concerning pending legislation that may be of interest to our members, with direct links to the actual legislation. The reports divide legislation into the following categories for your convenience: criminal, domestic relations, judicial, court costs, elections ethics and government relations (EEGR), civil/ general and tax.

You can find our comprehensive updated bill-tracking spreadsheet here.

Legislative Summary

Days 25 and 26 of the 2021 Legislative Session are now in the books.  Amidst the two-day session week, there was a flurry of committee meetings on Wednesday, as the end of session is in sight. The introduction of new bills has completely slowed and special order calendars are full of bills. There have been 642 bills introduced in the House of Representatives and 400 in the Senate.

Some bills debated in committee this week included public hearings in House Judiciary involving conservatorships and guardianships as well as a bill involving gun enforcement laws. Additionally, in House Judiciary there was discussion of a law allowing officers to take into protective custody those with mental illness in certain situations as well as a change to the grand jury secrecy act. In Senate Judiciary, the guardianship/ conservatorship proposals were sent to the Alabama Law Institute to be part of their ongoing update of those laws to be completed this summer. A bill allowing community corrections programs in every circuit as well as the electronic monitoring of certain parolees also passed out of Senate committee and now await final passage.

There continued to be extended debate of bills on the House and Senate calendars involving changes to election laws. The Senate passed the long-awaited civil asset forfeiture legislation that is now headed to the House. The bill addressing some electronic notarization also achieved final passage and is headed to the Governor’s office for signature.

As always, the Alabama State Bar encourages all members to be aware of legislation that may impact court costs and fees. Access to justice is a priority. Please be aware of advertisements that may be occurring for local bills and those that may already be filed to use the courts as a fundraiser for non-court entities. We encourage you to be informed and notify us as well.

Legislative Calendar

The regular session of the 2021 Legislative Session is proceeding as follows:

• The Senate has adjourned until Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 2:00 pm.
• The House has adjourned until Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 1:00 pm.