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HB478 • 2026

Public restrooms; Restroom Access Act created, penalty for violation provided for

Public restrooms; Restroom Access Act created, penalty for violation provided for

Crime Healthcare Labor
Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
Ingram
Last action
2026-02-19
Official status
Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official bill text specifies that three or more employees must be present for a customer to use an employee bathroom, which was not mentioned in the candidate explanation.

Restroom Access Act

This law allows customers with certain medical conditions to use employee restrooms in retail stores when public restrooms are not available, and it sets penalties for businesses that do not comply.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows people with specific health issues to use employee bathrooms if the store does not have a customer bathroom nearby.
  • Requires customers to show proof of their medical condition before using an employee restroom.
  • States that stores are not responsible for any accidents or injuries while someone is in the employee restroom.
  • Doesn't require businesses to make changes to their facilities to accommodate this law.
  • Makes it a crime if a store owner refuses to let someone use the bathroom when they should.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Customers with medical conditions that need immediate access to a toilet.
  • Retail stores and their employees.

Terms To Know

Customer
A person who is legally allowed in the store to buy things or use services.
Eligible Medical Condition
Health issues like Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or other conditions that need quick access to a toilet.
Retail Establishment
A place open to the public where people can buy goods or services.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law only applies if there is no customer bathroom available.
  • Stores do not have to make physical changes to their facilities for this law.
  • Violations are punishable by a fine, but it does not specify how the fine will be enforced.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-19 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  2. 2026-02-19 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Commerce and Small Business

Official Summary Text

Public restrooms; Restroom Access Act created, penalty for violation provided for

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB478 INTRODUCED
Page 0
HB478
JP873YN-1
By Representative Ingram
RFD: Commerce and Small Business
First Read: 19-Feb-26
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JP873YN-1 02/13/2026 EGC (L)EGC 2026-703
Page 1
First Read: 19-Feb-26
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would require a retail establishment
that has an employee toilet facility to allow customers
with medical conditions that require immediate access
to a toilet facility to use an employee toilet facility
under certain conditions.
This bill would require that a customer
requesting access to an employee toilet facility
provide evidence of his or her medical condition to the
retail establishment.
This bill would provide that a retail
establishment providing access to an employee toilet
facility does not owe a customer a greater degree of
care than is owed to a licensee on the premises.
This bill would not require a retail
establishment to make any physical changes to an
employee toilet facility.
This bill would establish that a refusal to
comply with this act is a misdemeanor offense
punishable by a fine.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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HB478 INTRODUCED
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AN ACT
Relating to public restrooms; to create the Restroom
Access Act; to require retail establishments to provide
restroom access to customers with eligible medical conditions;
to provide that a retail establishment does not owe a greater
duty of care to a customer accessing employee toilet
facilities than is owed to a licensee on the premises; and to
provide that a violation of this act is a misdemeanor
punishable by fine.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) This section shall be known as and may
be cited as the "Restroom Access Act."
(b) For the purposes of this section, the following
terms have the following meanings:
(1) CUSTOMER. An individual who is lawfully on the
premises of a retail establishment.
(2) ELIGIBLE MEDICAL CONDITION. Crohn's disease,
ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or any other
permanent or temporary medical condition that requires
immediate access to a toilet facility.
(3) RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT. A place of business open to
the general public for the sale of goods or services.
(c) A retail establishment that has a toilet facility
for its employees shall allow a customer to use that facility
during normal business hours if all of the following
conditions are met:
(1) The retail establishment does not have a public
restroom that is immediately accessible to the customer.
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HB478 INTRODUCED
Page 3
restroom that is immediately accessible to the customer.
(2) The employee toilet facility is not located in an
area where providing access would create an obvious health or
safety risk to the customer or an obvious security risk to the
retail establishment.
(3) The customer requesting the use of the employee
toilet facility suffers from an eligible medical condition,
and the customer provides the retail establishment with
evidence of the customer's eligible medical condition,
including:
a. A copy of a statement signed by a physician,
registered nurse, physician assistant, or a person acting
under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician,
that indicates the customer suffers from an eligible medical
condition or uses an ostomy device; or
b. An identification card issued by the Crohn's &
Colitis Foundation of America that indicates the customer
suffers from an eligible medical condition or uses an ostomy
device.
(4) Three or more employees of the retail establishment
are working and physically present on the premises of the
retail establishment at the time the customer requests to use
the employee toilet facility.
(d) In providing access to an employee toilet facility
under this section, the retail establishment or employee does
not owe the customer to whom access is provided a greater
degree of care than is owed to a licensee on the premises.
(e) A retail establishment is not required to make any
physical changes to an employee toilet facility under this
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HB478 INTRODUCED
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physical changes to an employee toilet facility under this
section.
(f) An employee of a retail establishment who refuses
to provide a customer with access to an employee toilet
facility as required by this section commits a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars
($100).
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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