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HB34 • 2026

Crimes and offenses; crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer, established; crime of refusing to give a law enforcement officer information, established

Crimes and offenses; crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer, established; crime of refusing to give a law enforcement officer information, established

Crime
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Bolton
Last action
2026-01-21
Official status
Read Second Time in House of Origin
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific penalties for refusing to give information, leaving this detail unsupported in the candidate explanation.

Crimes and Offenses; False Information to Law Enforcement

This bill establishes new criminal offenses for giving false information to a law enforcement officer and refusing to provide required information during an investigatory stop.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates the crime of providing false name, address, or date of birth to a police officer during official duties as a Class A misdemeanor.
  • Establishes that willfully refusing to answer questions about identity or actions during a lawful investigatory stop is a Class C misdemeanor.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Law enforcement officers conducting official duties.
  • Individuals who interact with law enforcement during investigatory stops or provide personal information.

Terms To Know

Class A misdemeanor
A serious offense that can result in jail time and fines.
Investigatory stop
When a police officer briefly stops someone to ask questions if they suspect criminal activity.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify the exact penalties for refusing to give information.
  • It is unclear how this law will be enforced in practice.

Amendments

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

QNWKL15-1

Public Safety and Homeland Security

Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

Plain English: QNWKL15-1 01/21/2026 CMH (H) HSE 2025-2342 House Public Safety and Homeland Security Reported Substitute for HB34 Page 1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT Relating to crimes and offenses; to add Section 13A-10-9.2 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish the crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer; to add Section 13A-10-3.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish the crime of refusing give a law enforcement officer information; to provide criminal penalties for a violation; to amend Section 15-5-30, Code of Alabama 1975, to further provide for warrantless investigatory stops; and to repeal Section 13A-9-18.1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to giving false information to a law enforcement officer.

  • QNWKL15-1 01/21/2026 CMH (H) HSE 2025-2342 House Public Safety and Homeland Security Reported Substitute for HB34 Page 1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT Relating to crimes and offenses; to add Section 13A-10-9.2 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish the crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer; to add Section 13A-10-3.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish the crime of refusing give a law enforcement officer information; to provide criminal penalties for a violation; to amend Section 15-5-30, Code of Alabama 1975, to further provide for warrantless investigatory stops; and to repeal Section 13A-9-18.1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to giving false information to a law enforcement officer.
  • BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: Section 1.
  • Section 13A-10-9.2 is added to the Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows: §13A-10-9.2 (a) A person commits the crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer if, during the course of a law enforcement officer's official duties, the person knowingly and with intent to deceive gives to the law enforcement officer a false name, address, or date of birth.
  • (b) A violation of this section is a Class A 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 QNWKL15-1 01/21/2026 CMH (H) HSE 2025-2342 House Public Safety and Homeland Security Reported Substitute for HB34 Page 2 (b) A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
  • This amendment summary is using official source text because generated interpretation was skipped for this run.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-21 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  2. 2026-01-21 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  3. 2026-01-13 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  4. 2026-01-13 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security

Official Summary Text

Crimes and offenses; crime of giving false information to a law enforcement officer, established; crime of refusing to give a law enforcement officer information, established

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB34 INTRODUCED
Page 0
HB34
TBSXT95-1
By Representative Bolton
RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
First Read: 13-Jan-26
PFD: 14-Aug-25
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TBSXT95-1 08/06/2025 CMH (L)CMH 2025-2342
Page 1
PFD: 14-Aug-25
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, giving a false name or
address to a law enforcement is a Class A misdemeanor.
This bill would re-establish the criminal
offense as giving false information to a law
enforcement officer.
Under existing law, a law enforcement officer
who has a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity
has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur may
conduct a brief investigatory stop.
This bill would provide that if a person
willfully refuses to answer certain questions during
the course of an investigatory stop, the person is
guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to crimes and offenses; to add Section
13A-10-9.2 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to establish the crime
of giving false information to a law enforcement officer; to
add Section 13A-10-3.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to
establish the crime of refusing give a law enforcement officer
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HB34 INTRODUCED
Page 2
establish the crime of refusing give a law enforcement officer
information; to provide criminal penalties for a violation; to
amend Section 15-5-30, Code of Alabama 1975, to further
provide for warrantless investigatory stops; and to repeal
Section 13A-9-18.1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to giving
false information to a law enforcement officer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 13A-10-9.2 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§13A-10-9.2
(a) A person commits the crime of giving false
information to a law enforcement officer if, during the course
of a law enforcement officer's official duties, the person
knowingly and with intent to deceive gives to the law
enforcement officer a false name, address, or date of birth.
(b) A violation of this section is a Class A
misdemeanor.
Section 2. Section 13A-10-3.1 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
13A-10-3.1
(a) A person commits the crime of refusing to give a
law enforcement officer information if all of the following
occur:
(1) A law enforcement officer, acting within his or her
official duties, develops a reasonable suspicion that a person
has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a felony
or misdemeanor and conducts an investigatory stop.
(2) The law enforcement officer reasonably identifies
himself or herself to the person as a duly sworn law
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HB34 INTRODUCED
Page 3
himself or herself to the person as a duly sworn law
enforcement officer and provides the reason for the stop.
(3) The law enforcement officer asks the person for the
person's name, address, date of birth, or an explanation of
his or her actions.
(4) The person willfully refuses to answer the law
enforcement officer.
(b) Nothing in this section shall require a person to
give any information that would be deemed self-incriminating.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class C
misdemeanor.
Section 3. Section 15-5-30, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§15-5-30
A sheriff or other officer acting as sheriff, his
deputy or any constable, acting within their respective
counties, any marshal, deputy marshal or policeman of any
incorporated city or town within the limits of the county or
any highway patrolman or state trooper law enforcement officer,
acting in the course of his or her official duties, may stop
any person abroad in a public place whom hethe officer
reasonably suspects is committing, has committed , or is about
to commit a felony , misdemeanor, or other public offense and
may demand of him that the person give his or her name,
address , date of birth, and an explanation of his or her
actions."
Section 4. Section 13A-9-18.1, Code of Alabama 1975,
relating to giving false information to a law enforcement
officer, is repealed.
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HB34 INTRODUCED
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officer, is repealed.
Section 5. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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