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HB33 ENGROSSED
Page 0
HB33
5V8Z866-2
By Representative Bolton
RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
First Read: 13-Jan-26
PFD: 14-Aug-25
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PFD: 14-Aug-25
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to driver licenses; to amend Section 16-28-40,
as last amended by Act 2025-326, 2025 Regular Session, Code of
Alabama 1975, to change the age in which the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency (ALEA) may deny a driver license or learner
permit application due to failure to provide or satisfy
certain graduation requirements or other criteria; and to
further provide for approved criteria accepted by ALEA during
the driver license and learner permit application process.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 16-28-40, as last amended by Act
2025-326, 2025 Regular Session, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§16-28-40
(a) The Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency shall deny
a driver license or a learner permit for the operation of a
motor vehicle to any individual under 19 17 years of age who
does not, at the time of application, present a diploma or
other certificate of graduation issued to the individual from
a secondary high school of this state or any other state, or
documentation that the individual satisfies satisfy one of the
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documentation that the individual satisfies satisfy one of the
following:
(1) The individual is enrolled and making satisfactory
progress in a nontraditional high school diploma option
program or a course leading to a high school diploma or
general educational development certificate (GED) from a state
approved institution or organization, or has obtained the
certificate.
(2) The individual is enrolled in a secondary school of
this state or any other state and has not at the time of
application accumulated disciplinary points while a student in
school which would extend the age of eligibility for the
student to apply for a driver license.
(3) The individual is participating in a job training
program approved by the State Superintendent of Education.
(4) The individual is gainfully and substantially
employed.
(5) The individual is a parent with the care and
custody of a minor or unborn child.
(6) A physician certifies that the parents of the
individual depend on him or her as their sole source of
transportation.
(7) The individual is exempted from this requirement
due to circumstances beyond his or her control as provided in
this chapter.
(8) The individual has graduated from a high school or
secondary school in this state.
(b)(1) The attendance officer or chief attendance
administrator, upon request, shall provide documentation of
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administrator, upon request, shall provide documentation of
enrollment status and disciplinary points on a form approved
by the State Department of Education to any student 15 years
of age or older who is properly enrolled in a school under the
jurisdiction of the official, for presentation to the Alabama
State Law Enforcement Agency, on application for, or renewal
or reinstatement of, a driver license or a learner permit to
operate a motor vehicle.
(2) Upon the request of a student seeking a fee
exemption on the basis of his or her homelessness, the staff
member designated to act as the local educational agency
liaison for homeless children and youth, pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii), shall provide documentation that the
student is a qualified student, on a form approved by the
State Department of Education, for presentation to the Alabama
State Law Enforcement Agency, on application for, or renewal,
reinstatement, or replacement of a driver license. The term
"qualified student" refers to a student who the local
educational agency liaison for homeless children and youth
verifies as meeting the definition of a "homeless child or
youth" as provided by 42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2) and whose
enrollment status and disciplinary points have been documented
pursuant to subdivision (1).
(3) Whenever a student 16 years of age or older
withdraws from school, the attendance officer or chief
attendance administrator shall notify the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency of the withdrawal. Withdrawal shall be
defined as more than 10 consecutive or 15 days total unexcused
absences during a single semester.
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absences during a single semester.
(c) Within five days of receipt of a notice of
withdrawal, the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency shall
send notice to the licensee that his or her driver license or
learner permit will be suspended under this article on the
30th day following the date the notice was sent unless
documentation of compliance with this article is received by
the agency before the 30th day.
(d) Whenever the withdrawal from school of the student,
or the failure of the student to enroll in a course leading to
or to obtain a GED or high school diploma, is beyond the
control of the student, or is for the purpose of transfer to
another school as confirmed in writing by the parent or
guardian of the student, or is for the purpose of
participating in a job training program approved by the State
Superintendent of Education, no notice shall be sent by the
proper school official to the Alabama State Law Enforcement
Agency to suspend the license of the student. If the student
is applying for or renewing a driver license or a learner
permit, the attendance officer or chief attendance
administrator, upon request, shall provide the student with
documentation to present to the Alabama State Law Enforcement
Agency to exempt the student from this section. The local
superintendent of education with the assistance of the county
or city school attendance director as the case may be, and any
other staff or school personnel, or the appropriate school
official of any private secondary school, shall be the sole
judge of whether the withdrawal is due to circumstances beyond
the control of the individual. Suspension or expulsion from
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the control of the individual. Suspension or expulsion from
school or imprisonment in a jail or penitentiary is not a
circumstance beyond the control of an individual.
(e)(1) Any individual over 14 years of age who is
convicted of the crime of possession of a pistol on the
premises of a public school, or a public school bus, or both,
under Section 13A-11-72 shall be denied issuance of a driver
license or learner permit for the operation of a motor vehicle
for 180 days from the date the individual is eligible and
applies for a license or permit for the operation of a motor
vehicle. Any adjudication as a juvenile delinquent or youthful
offender where the underlying charge is the possession of a
pistol on the premises of a public school, or a public school
bus, or both, under Section 13A-11-72 shall be considered a
conviction under this subsection, and the adjudication of an
individual as a juvenile delinquent or youthful offender where
the underlying charge is a violation under Section 13A-11-72
shall be reported to the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.
(2) If an individual over 14 years of age possesses a
driver license on the date of conviction, the Alabama State
Law Enforcement Agency, within five days of receipt of a
notice of conviction from the court, shall send notice to the
licensee that his or her driver license will be suspended. The
notice shall state that the license will be suspended for 180
days commencing on the 30th day following the date the notice
was sent unless documentation is received by the agency before
the 30th day that the individual was not convicted of the
crime. Upon the appropriate date, the agency shall suspend the
license.
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license.
(3) Upon the written request of the individual whose
license is denied or suspended, the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency shall afford the individual an opportunity
for a hearing in the same manner and under the procedure used
for other driver license suspensions. If the suspension or
denial of issuance determination is sustained by the Secretary
of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency or the authorized
agent of the secretary, upon such hearing, the individual may
file a petition in the appropriate court to review the final
order of suspension or denial by the secretary or the
authorized agent of the secretary in the same manner and under
the same conditions as is provided in the case of suspensions
and denials.
(4) If the conviction is reversed within the 180-day
period, the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency, upon receipt
of notice of the reversal from the Administrative Office of
Courts, shall reinstate a suspended license and shall accept
an application for a license and shall issue the license
according to law and regulation.
(5) The court shall notify the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency of the conviction of an individual over 14
years of age of a crime involving the possession of a pistol
on the premises of a public school or a public school bus, or
both, under Section 13A-11-72 and any reversal of the
conviction. The Administrative Office of Courts may adopt
necessary rules and regulations to implement this notification
procedure."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on August 1,
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Section 2. This act shall become effective on August 1,
2026.169
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2026.
House of Representatives
Read for the first time and referred
to the House of Representatives
committee on Public Safety and
Homeland Security
................13-Jan-26
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
0 amendments
................21-Jan-26
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 98
Nays 0
Abstains 5
................05-Feb-26
John Treadwell
Clerk
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