Read the full stored bill text
SB298 ENGROSSED
Page 0
SB298
2JN1VIS-2
By Senator Barfoot
RFD: County and Municipal Government
First Read: 12-Feb-26
1
2
3
4
5
SB298 Engrossed
Page 1
First Read: 12-Feb-26
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to Class 3 municipalities; to mandate minimum
staffing requirements for municipal law enforcement agencies;
to authorize the State of Alabama to assume operational
oversight of a municipal police department under certain
conditions; to authorize the Alabama State Law Enforcement
Agency to establish a corrective action plan and take other
remedial measures for municipalities in default; and to
authorize the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency to adopt
rules.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) Each Class 3 municipality shall maintain
a minimum ratio of 1.9 full-time law enforcement officers for
every 1,000 residents of the municipality, as determined by
the 2020 federal decennial census.
(b) A Class 3 municipality that does not meet the
requirements of subsection (a) on October 1, 2026, shall be
granted an initial grace period of five years to achieve full
compliance. The municipality shall be exempt from satisfying
the requirements of subsection (a) during the grace period,
provided the municipality complies with the requirements of
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
SB298 Engrossed
Page 2
provided the municipality complies with the requirements of
subsection (c) and the other applicable provisions of this
act.
(c) During the grace period under subsection (b), the
municipality shall make annual improvements of not less than
10 percent of the deficit between the current officer ratio
and the required ratio provided under subsection (a). Annually
during the grace period, the governing body of the
municipality and the chief of police shall submit a report to
the Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency
demonstrating that the municipality is making the required
annual improvements.
Section 2. On an annual basis by December 1, the
governing body of each Class 3 municipality shall submit all
of the following to the Secretary of the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency:
(1) The number of law enforcement officers as of
October 31 of the current year.
(2) The population used for compliance calculation.
(3) Steps taken to recruit, hire, or train additional
officers.
Section 3. (a) If a Class 3 municipality is in
violation of Section 1 on or before October 1, 2031, the State
of Alabama, through the Secretary of the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency (ALEA), may assume operational oversight of
the police department of the municipality and may execute one
or more of the following actions:
(1) Establish a corrective action plan for the
municipality to regain compliance.
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
SB298 Engrossed
Page 3
municipality to regain compliance.
(2) Deploy supplemental law enforcement personnel or
resources.
(3) Appoint a Chief Administrative Law Enforcement
Officer who shall have the authority to act in all matters and
for all purposes regarding the police department of the
municipality, including, but not limited to, personnel
actions, administrative procedures, enforcement strategies,
and recruitment and retention methods.
(4) Enter into cooperative enforcement agreements with
the county sheriff, adjacent jurisdictions, or state agencies.
(b) The operational oversight of the Class 3 municipal
police department pursuant to subsection (a) shall continue
until the passage of 365 calendar days following the
municipality's compliance with the requirements of this act.
Section 4. (a) The State of Alabama and its affected
agencies and any supporting political subdivision of the state
may petition the local circuit court for restitution to
enforce this act. Upon a finding that a Class 3 municipality
violated Section 1, the court shall award the state full
restitution for the cost to deploy supplemental law
enforcement officers during any period of operational
oversight of a Class 3 municipal police department pursuant to
Section 3. Restitution shall include, but not be limited to,
payment, payable to the state and its affected agencies, for
costs incurred implementing and administering a period of
operational oversight, the costs to deploy any supplemental
law enforcement officers, and the full costs of
indemnification of the state, its affected agencies, and any
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
SB298 Engrossed
Page 4
indemnification of the state, its affected agencies, and any
supporting political subdivisions.
(b) On behalf of the State of Alabama and its affected
agencies and any supporting political subdivision of the
state, the Attorney General shall submit a petition for
restitution that shall include all of the following:
(1) The name of the agency requesting restitution.
(2) The name and rank of each supplemental law
enforcement officer deployed for operational oversight of the
Class 3 municipality.
(3) The number of hours each supplemental law
enforcement officer was deployed.
(4) The hourly rate at which each supplemental law
enforcement officer was paid, including fringe benefits,
mileage, and per diem.
(5) The total amount of non-personnel operational costs
incurred, including costs for equipment, vehicles, and fuel.
(6) The cost of indemnification of any claims arising
from the deployment of the state, its affected agencies, and
any supporting political subdivisions.
(7) Any other additional expense incurred by the state,
its affected agencies, and any supporting political
subdivisions.
(8) The total amount of money requested as restitution
by the agency.
(9) Any supporting documentation necessary to establish
any expenditure under this subsection.
(c) ALEA shall maintain a detailed record of all
expenditures made in furtherance of this act and shall submit
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
SB298 Engrossed
Page 5
expenditures made in furtherance of this act and shall submit
a report quarterly on those expenditures to the Governor, the
Chair of the Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, the
Chair of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, and
the mayor of any municipality subject to operational
oversight.
(d) The Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court,
upon request from the Attorney General, may appoint a sitting
or retired circuit judge to preside over all proceedings under
this section. If the Chief Justice determines that approving
the request would serve the public interest, he or she shall
appoint a visiting judge. The visiting judge shall serve until
the final adjudication of the matter for which he or she was
appointed. A visiting judge appointment shall confer on the
visiting judge all powers, authority, and jurisdiction of the
respective judgeship to which he or she has been appointed.
(e) The court shall hold a hearing on the petition and
shall grant the petition if the court is reasonably satisfied
from the evidence that the petitioner is entitled to
restitution pursuant to this section.
(f)(1) Following any award of restitution under this
section, the Class 3 municipality shall have not less than six
months to make complete the payment of the restitution.
Thereafter, if the restitution payments have not been
completed, the Class 3 municipality shall become ineligible to
receive any of the following:
a. Any state grant, gift, endowment, or any other sum
of money or aid from the State of Alabama or a department,
board, or agency thereof.
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
SB298 Engrossed
Page 6
board, or agency thereof.
b. Any allocation of state revenues directly shared
with local governing bodies not otherwise guaranteed by the
Constitution of Alabama of 2022, including, but not limited
to, revenue from the Rebuild Alabama Act, Act 2019-2, 2019 1st
Special Session; and the net profits derived from the proceeds
of the Alabama liquor stores as provided under Section
28-3-74, Code of Alabama 1975.
(2) The Finance Director shall direct the Comptroller
to withhold the distribution of revenue described under this
subsection to which the Class 3 municipality would otherwise
be entitled into a special fund within the State Treasury. The
Legislature, by independent supplemental appropriation, may
use monies in the special fund to satisfy the restitution
payments.
Section 5. The Secretary of the Alabama State Law
Enforcement Agency may adopt rules to implement and administer
this section.
Section 6. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
SB298 Engrossed
Page 7
1, 2026.
Senate
Read for the first time and referred
to the Senate committee on County
and Municipal Government
................12-Feb-26
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
0 amendments
................24-Feb-26
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 28
Nays 7
Abstains 0
................31-Mar-26
Patrick Harris,
Secretary.
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180