SB116 • 2026

Retirement benefits, circuit clerks authorized to participate in supernumerary program and Employees' Retirement System based on separate years of service

Labor

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: Bell
Last action: 2026-01-13
Official status: Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about how eligibility for separate years of service will be determined or what happens in cases where total years of service do not meet requirements separately.

Circuit Clerks Can Join Two Retirement Programs

This bill allows circuit clerks to join both a supernumerary program and the Employees' Retirement System if they qualify based on different years of service.

What This Bill Does

Allows circuit clerks who independently qualify for a supernumerary program and the Employees' Retirement System based on separate years of service to participate in both programs.

Who It Names or Affects

Circuit clerks who meet eligibility requirements for both retirement programs based on different years of service.

Terms To Know

supernumerary program: A special retirement plan for certain employees, often allowing them to work part-time after reaching a certain age or length of service.
Employees' Retirement System: A pension system that provides retirement benefits to public employees based on their years of employment and salary.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how the eligibility for separate years of service will be determined.
It is unclear what happens if a circuit clerk's total years of service do not meet both programs' requirements separately.

Bill History

2026-01-13 Senate
Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
2026-01-13 Senate
Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation Education

Official Summary Text

Retirement benefits, circuit clerks authorized to participate in supernumerary program and Employees' Retirement System based on separate years of service

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB116 INTRODUCED
Page 0
SB116
MS5L7HH-1
By Senator Bell
RFD: Finance and Taxation Education
First Read: 13-Jan-26
1
2
3
4
5
MS5L7HH-1 01/06/2026 KMS (L)cr 2025-3363
Page 1
First Read: 13-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, circuit clerks are not
authorized to participate in both a supernumerary
program and the Employees' Retirement System.
This bill would authorize circuit clerks who
independently qualify for a supernumerary program and
the Employees' Retirement System based on separate
years of service to participate in both programs.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to retirement benefits; to add Section
12–18–166 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to authorize qualifying
circuit clerks to participate in both a supernumerary circuit
clerk program and the Employees' Retirement System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 12-18-166 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§12-18-166
(a) No individual may participate in both a
supernumerary circuit clerk program and the Employees’
Retirement System based on the same service.
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
SB116 INTRODUCED
Page 2
Retirement System based on the same service.
(b) An individual who independently qualifies for a
supernumerary circuit clerk program and the Employees'
Retirement System based on separate years of service may
participate in both programs.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on July 1,
2026.
29
30
31
32
33
34