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HB227 • 2026

Administrative Office of Courts, creation of judicial education nonprofit

Administrative Office of Courts, creation of judicial education nonprofit

Education Taxes
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Hill (J)
Last action
2026-03-17
Official status
Enacted
Effective date
2026-05-01

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Creation of a Nonprofit for Judicial Education

This law allows the Administrative Office of Courts to create and use a nonprofit organization to manage judicial education programs and funds, and it exempts certain funds from sales taxes.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows the Administrative Office of Courts to form a nonprofit entity to handle judicial education activities.
  • Permits this nonprofit to keep nonpublic funds in accounts outside the State Treasury if they are audited annually.
  • Enables state agencies to transfer money to the nonprofit for judicial education purposes.
  • Exempts the Alabama Judicial College Education Fund from paying sales and use taxes until August 31, 2031.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Administrative Office of Courts
  • Judges, circuit clerks, and court-supportive personnel who benefit from judicial education programs.
  • State agencies that transfer funds to the nonprofit entity.

Terms To Know

Nonprofit entity
A group organized for a specific purpose, like providing educational services, without making money as its main goal.
Sales and use taxes
Taxes charged on the sale or purchase of goods and services.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify how much funding will be transferred to the nonprofit entity.
  • It is unclear what specific educational programs the nonprofit will manage.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

I3S2S6Z-1

R 404

Adopted

Plain English: I3S2S6Z-1 02/04/2026 VSM (H) HSE 2025-3061 House Judiciary Reported Substitute for HB227 Page 1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT Relating to the Administrative Office of Courts; to amend Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975; to authorize the Administrative Office of Courts to form and use a nonprofit entity for judicial education expenses; to authorize the entity to maintain accounts outside the State Treasury which would be audited or reviewed annually; to authorize the Administrative Office of Courts and other state agencies to transfer funds to the entity to support judicial education; to provide that this act is remedial and curative; to exempt the Alabama Judicial College Education Fund from paying sales and use taxes; and to make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style .

  • I3S2S6Z-1 02/04/2026 VSM (H) HSE 2025-3061 House Judiciary Reported Substitute for HB227 Page 1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT Relating to the Administrative Office of Courts; to amend Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975; to authorize the Administrative Office of Courts to form and use a nonprofit entity for judicial education expenses; to authorize the entity to maintain accounts outside the State Treasury which would be audited or reviewed annually; to authorize the Administrative Office of Courts and other state agencies to transfer funds to the entity to support judicial education; to provide that this act is remedial and curative; to exempt the Alabama Judicial College Education Fund from paying sales and use taxes; and to make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style .
  • BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: Section 1.
  • Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows: "§12-5-11 In connection with the continuing judicial education of justices, judges , circuit clerks, and court-supportive personnel, the Administrative Office of Courts and the Administrative Director of Courts is authorized to may: (1) direct Direct the expenditure of funds appropriated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 I3S2S6Z-1 02/04/2026 VSM (H) HSE 2025-3061 House Judiciary Reported Substitute for HB227 Page 2 (1) direct Direct the expenditure of funds appropriated to the account of the National College of State Trial Judges or any college of judges by whatever name the account appears , or to any accounts or judicial education for the judicial education of any justice, judge , circuit clerk, or court-supportive personnel ; (2) and may direct Direct that the actual and reasonable expenses incurred by a justice, judge , circuit clerk, or court-supportive personnel attending the National College of State Judiciary or any other college, institute, conference, seminar , or organization be paid ;.
  • (3)a.
  • This amendment summary is using official source text because generated interpretation was skipped for this run.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-17 House

    Enacted

  2. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 756 (Yeas 35, Nays 0)

  3. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Third Reading in Second House (Yeas 35, Nays 0)

  4. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Signature Requested

  5. 2026-03-10 House

    Enrolled

  6. 2026-03-10 House

    Ready to Enroll

  7. 2026-03-03 Senate

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  8. 2026-03-03 Senate

    Reported Out of Committee Second House

  9. 2026-02-18 Senate

    Pending Committee Action in Second House

  10. 2026-02-17 Senate

    Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary

  11. 2026-02-12 House

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 405 (Yeas 102, Nays 0)

  12. 2026-02-12 House

    Motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 404 (Yeas 103, Nays 0)

  13. 2026-02-12 House

    Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 102, Nays 0)

  14. 2026-02-12 House

    Engrossed

  15. 2026-02-12 House

    Judiciary Engrossed Substitute Offered

  16. 2026-02-05 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  17. 2026-02-04 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  18. 2026-01-14 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  19. 2026-01-14 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Judiciary

Official Summary Text

This act amends Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975, to: (1) authorize the Administrative Office of Courts to create a nonprofit entity to administer and fund judicial education; and (2) authorize such an entity to maintain accounts holding nonpublic funds outside of the State Treasury, subject to certain conditions. This act also exempts the Alabama Judicial College Education Fund from sales and use taxes from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2031.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB227 ENROLLED
Page 0
HB227
I3S2S6Z-3
By Representative Hill
RFD: Judiciary
First Read: 14-Jan-26
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HB227 Enrolled
Page 1
First Read: 14-Jan-26
Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to the Administrative Office of Courts; to
amend Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975; to authorize the
Administrative Office of Courts to form and use a nonprofit
entity for judicial education expenses; to authorize the
entity to maintain accounts outside the State Treasury which
would be audited or reviewed annually; to authorize the
Administrative Office of Courts and other state agencies to
transfer funds to the entity to support judicial education; to
provide that this act is remedial and curative; to exempt the
Alabama Judicial College Education Fund from paying sales and
use taxes; and to make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to
update the existing code language to current style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 12-5-11, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§12-5-11
In connection with the continuing judicial education of
justices, judges , circuit clerks, and court-supportive
personnel, the Administrative Office of Courts and the
Administrative Director of Courts is authorized to may:
(1) direct Direct the expenditure of funds appropriated
to the account of the National College of State Trial Judges
or any college of judges by whatever name the account appears ,
or to any accounts or judicial education for the judicial
education of any justice, judge , circuit clerk, or
court-supportive personnel ;
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HB227 Enrolled
Page 2
court-supportive personnel ;
(2) and may direct Direct that the actual and
reasonable expenses incurred by a justice, judge , circuit
clerk, or court-supportive personnel attending the National
College of State Judiciary or any other college, institute,
conference, seminar , or organization be paid ;.
(3)a. Create and use a nonprofit entity as defined by
26 U.S.C § 501(c)(3) to develop, implement, manage, and fund
judicial educational plans, conferences, and programs. The
entity may collect nonpublic funds to support this purpose;
b. An entity created under paragraph a. may hold
nonpublic funds in an account or accounts maintained outside
of the State Treasury, provided the account or accounts are
audited or reviewed annually by a certified, independent
accounting entity;
c. Any money received by the nonprofit entity that
exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) from a
single nonpublic source within a fiscal year shall be made
publicly available as part of the entity's audit obligations
under paragraph b. Conference registration fees or other
similar payments for participation in educational events shall
not be considered outside funds for purposes of this
paragraph; and
d. Funds received by an entity created under this
subsection may not be conditioned upon, directed to, or
restricted for the benefit of a particular justice, judge or
judges, circuit clerk, or court-supportive personnel. General
support provided to develop or expand judicial education
programs shall not be considered a prohibited restriction;
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HB227 Enrolled
Page 3
programs shall not be considered a prohibited restriction;
(4) Transfer state funds to the nonprofit to support
judicial education purposes; and
(5) House the entity created under paragraph (3)a. at
the Administrative Office of Courts and staff the entity with
employees of the Administrative Office of Courts. "
Section 2. (a) The Alabama Judicial College Education
Fund is exempt from paying state sales and use taxes.
(b) Any county or municipality may exempt this entity
from the payment of county or municipal sales and use taxes in
accordance with Section 40-23-4.01, Code of Alabama 1975.
(c) The exemption provided by this section is effective
September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2031.
Section 3. The provisions of Section 1 of this act are
remedial and curative and any actions taken by the
Administrative Office of Courts in conformance with this act
are ratified and confirmed.
Section 4. This act shall become effective on May 1,
2026.
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HB227 Enrolled
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2026.
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 12-Feb-26, as amended.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 10-Mar-26 Passed
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