Campaign finance; require preservation of campaign records for specified period of time

Elections

Enacted

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

Sponsor: Figures
Last action: 2026-04-17
Official status: Enacted
Effective date: 2026-10-01

Plain English Breakdown

The official text does not define specific penalties for early destruction.

Campaign Finance Record Retention Rule

This law allows campaign groups in Alabama to destroy their financial records and reports after four years.

What This Bill Does

Adds a new rule, Section 17-5-6.1, to the Code of Alabama 1975.
Allows certain groups to destroy required records after four years have passed.
Defines 'records' as accounts needed by law and copies of filed reports or statements.

Who It Names or Affects

Political action committees
Principal campaign committees
Other people required to file reports under the Fair Campaign Practices Act

Limits and Unknowns

The law does not specify what happens if records are destroyed before the four-year mark.
It is unclear from this text whether other state agencies can still ask for these old records after they are gone.

Amendments

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

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R 224 • Givhan

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment changes the law to allow people involved in campaigns to destroy their records after four years have passed.

Campaign groups can now get rid of old documents once they are more than four years old.

The provided text is incomplete and only shows small parts of the bill, so it does not explain what types of records must be kept or if there are any exceptions to this rule.
It is unclear from these fragments whether other laws might still require keeping some documents for longer than four years.

Bill History

2026-04-17 Senate
Enacted
2026-04-08 Senate
Delivered to Governor
2026-04-08 House
Signature Requested
2026-04-08 Senate
Delivered to Governor
2026-04-08 Senate
Enrolled
2026-04-08 Senate
Ready to Enroll
2026-04-07 House
Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 1233 (Yeas 105, Nays 0)
2026-04-07 House
Third Reading in Second House (Yeas 105, Nays 0)
2026-02-19 House
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-02-18 House
Reported Out of Committee Second House
2026-02-03 Senate
Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 225 (Yeas 34, Nays 0)
2026-02-03 Senate
Givhan motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 224 (Yeas 33, Nays 0)
2026-02-03 Senate
Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 33, Nays 0)
2026-02-03 House
Pending Committee Action in Second House
2026-02-03 House
Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Constitution, Campaigns and Elections
2026-02-03 Senate
Engrossed
2026-02-03 Senate
Givhan 1st Amendment Offered
2026-01-29 Senate
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-01-28 Senate
Reported Out of Committee House of Origin
2026-01-14 Senate
Pending Committee Action in House of Origin
2026-01-14 Senate
Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development

Official Summary Text

This act adds Section 17-5-6.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to authorize political action committees, principal campaign committees, and other persons required to file reports or statements under the Fair Campaign Practices Act to destroy any record, account, report, or statement required under the act, and all relevant records thereto, after four years.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB166 ENROLLED
Page 0
SB166
YMVMV6N-3
By Senators Figures, Coleman, Stewart, Kelley,
Coleman-Madison, Smitherman, Sessions, Chesteen, Kitchens,
Williams, Melson, Hatcher
RFD: Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development
First Read: 14-Jan-26
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SB166 Enrolled
Page 1
First Read: 14-Jan-26
Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to campaign finance; to add Section 17-5-6.1
to the Code of Alabama 1975, to allow persons that are
required to file any report or statement under the Fair
Campaign Practices Act to destroy records after a period of
four years.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 17-5-6.1 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§17-5-6.1
Each political action committee, principal campaign
committee, or other person required to file any report or
statement under this chapter may destroy any records after the
expiration of four years. For purposes of this section,
records include: (i) any record or account required under this
chapter; and (ii) a copy of each report or statement filed
under this chapter and all records relevant to the report or
statement.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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SB166 Enrolled
Page 2
1, 2026.
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
SB166
Senate 03-Feb-26
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and passed
the Senate, as amended.
Patrick Harris,
Secretary.
House of Representatives
Passed: 07-Apr-26
By: Senator Figures
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