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HB154 INTRODUCED
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HB154
NR5BQJJ-1
By Representative Lee
RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
First Read: 13-Jan-26
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NR5BQJJ-1 01/07/2026 THR (L)THR 2025-2209
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First Read: 13-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, an individual may be
arrested without a warrant if the individual has been
charged in another state with a crime punishable by
death or life imprisonment.
This bill would provide that an individual may
be arrested without a warrant if the individual has
been charged in another state with a felony.
This bill would also authorize out-of-state law
enforcement officers to arrest individuals suspected of
committing a felony in the officer's home state at the
conclusion of a fresh pursuit.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to criminal procedure; to amend Section
15-9-41, Code of Alabama 1975; to further provide for the
conditions under which an individual may be arrested without a
warrant; and to add Section 15-9-50 to the Code of Alabama
1975, to authorize arrests by out-of-state law enforcement
officers in certain circumstances.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 15-9-41, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§15-9-41
(a) The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by
an officer or a private citizen An officer or private citizen,
without a warrant , may lawfully arrest an individual upon
reasonable information that the accused individual stands
charged in the courts of another state with any of the
following:
(1) a A crime punishable by death or life .
(2) A crime punishable by imprisonment in the courts of
another state for a term exceeding one year.
(3) Any crime otherwise punishable as a felony .
(b) When so arrested Following an arrest pursuant to
subsection (a) , the accused arrestee must be taken receive a
hearing before a district or circuit court judge with all
practicable speed and. A complaint must be made against him or
her under oath setting forth the ground for the arrest as in
Section 15-9-40 ,. and thereafter Thereafter, his or her answer
shall be heard as if he or she had been arrested on a
warrant."
Section 2. Section 15-9-50 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§15-9-50
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following
terms have the following meanings:
(1) ARRESTING OFFICER. An officer, employee, or agent
of any state or of any political subdivision of a state who is
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HB154 INTRODUCED
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of any state or of any political subdivision of a state who is
required by law to: (i) maintain public order; (ii) make
arrests for offenses, whether that duty extends to all
offenses or is limited to specific offenses; and (iii)
investigate the commission or suspected commission of
offenses.
(2) FELONY. Any of the following crimes committed in
any state:
a. A crime punishable by death.
b. A crime punishable by imprisonment for a term
exceeding one year.
c. Any crime otherwise punishable as a felony.
(3) FRESH PURSUIT. a. The term includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
1. The term as defined by the common law.
2. The pursuit of an individual who has committed a
felony or who is reasonably suspected of having committed a
felony.
3. The pursuit of an individual suspected of having
committed a supposed felony, though no felony has actually
been committed, if there is reasonable ground for believing
that a felony has been committed.
b. The term does not necessarily imply instant pursuit,
but pursuit without unreasonable delay.
(4) POWER TO ARREST. The legal authority to arrest and
hold an individual in custody that is equivalent in scope to
an Alabama law enforcement officer's authority to arrest and
hold in custody an individual believed to have committed a
felony in this state.
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felony in this state.
(b) Any arresting officer of another state, while
engaged in fresh pursuit of an individual believed to have
committed a felony in that state, shall have the power to
arrest that individual in this state.
(c) Subsection (b) shall not be construed to make any
arrest in this state unlawful that would otherwise be lawful.
(d)(1) If an arrest is made in this state pursuant to
subsection (b), the arresting officer, without unnecessary
delay, shall take the individual before a district or circuit
judge for the county in which the arrest was made. The judge
shall conduct a hearing to determine the lawfulness of the
arrest.
(2)a. If the judge determines that the arrest was
lawful, he or she shall commit the individual to custody for a
reasonable time to await the issuance of an extradition
warrant or admit the individual to bail for the same purpose.
b. If the judge determines that the arrest was not
lawful, he or she shall discharge the individual.
Section 3. This act shall become effective immediately.
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