SB84 • 2026

Incarceration; to require the Alabama Department of Public Health to adopt and enforce sanitation standards for food services in corrections facilities, county, and municipal jails

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: Stutts
Last action: 2026-02-25
Official status: Read Second Time in Second House
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official status indicates the bill passed both chambers but reached final enrollment; however, the effective date is set for October 1, 2026.

SB84: Food Safety Rules for Jails and Prisons

This law requires the Alabama Department of Public Health to create and enforce food safety rules for cafeterias in state prisons, county jails, and city jails.

What This Bill Does

Requires the Alabama Department of Public Health to adopt sanitation standards specifically for correctional facilities.
Allows health officers to inspect kitchens and food areas inside prisons and jails regularly.
Gives inspectors the power to find violations, give scores, and order fixes for unsafe conditions.
Updates existing laws so that inmate meals must follow these new public health standards.
Keeps private companies hired by jails subject to standard food safety rules.

Who It Names or Affects

The Alabama Department of Public Health
State prisons operated by the Department of Corrections
County and municipal jails
Private contractors who serve food in correctional facilities

Terms To Know

Sanitation standards: Rules about how clean a place must be to keep food safe from germs.
Food service establishment: Any kitchen, cafeteria, canteen, or commissary that prepares and serves meals in these facilities.

Limits and Unknowns

Inspectors cannot shut down a prison food program without first getting permission from the Commissioner of Corrections.
Inspectors cannot shut down a county or municipal jail food program without first getting permission from the governing body of that area.
The law does not take effect until October 1, 2026.

Amendments

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

5VX5R33-1

Health

Reported Out of Committee Second House

Plain English: This amendment requires the Alabama Department of Public Health to create and enforce food safety rules for prisons, county jails, and city jails.

It updates state law so that inmate meals must follow sanitation standards set by the health department.
The health department can inspect these facilities, find violations, give scores, and suggest fixes.
New specific food safety rules will be written to fit the unique needs of correctional centers.
Private companies hired to cook for inmates must also follow existing state sanitation laws.

The health department cannot shut down a prison or jail kitchen unless they get permission from corrections officials or local leaders first.
This law will not take effect until October 1, 2026.

Bill History

2026-02-25 House
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-02-25 House
Reported Out of Committee Second House
2026-02-19 Senate
Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 492 (Yeas 30, Nays 0)
2026-02-19 Senate
Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 30, Nays 0)
2026-02-19 House
Pending Committee Action in Second House
2026-02-19 House
Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Health
2026-02-12 Senate
Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar
2026-02-11 Senate
Reported Out of Committee House of Origin
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 Healthcare

Official Summary Text

Incarceration; to require the Alabama Department of Public Health to adopt and enforce sanitation standards for food services in corrections facilities, county, and municipal jails

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB84 INTRODUCED
Page 0
SB84
L5FHUYA-1
By Senators Stutts, Sessions, Butler
RFD: Healthcare
First Read: 13-Jan-26
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L5FHUYA-1 01/05/2026 JC (L)lg 2025-3598
Page 1
First Read: 13-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
Existing law requires that the food served to
state inmates be wholesome, but otherwise sets no
standards for food sanitation prepared in or for
correctional facilities and county and municipal jails.
This bill would require the Alabama Department
of Public Health to assume jurisdiction over sanitation
in cafeterias and other food services operated by the
Department of Corrections and county and municipal
jails by tailoring appropriate requirements which would
include regular sanitation inspections and the
reporting and correction of sanitary violations.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to inmate food; to amend Section 14-3-45, Code
of Alabama 1975, to make conforming changes; to add Section
22-20-5.5 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to require the Alabama
Department of Public Health to adopt rules governing food
service sanitation in facilities controlled or operated by the
Department of Corrections and county and municipal jails for
the feeding of inmates; and to authorize sanitation
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SB84 INTRODUCED
Page 2
the feeding of inmates; and to authorize sanitation
enforcement and inspection of government food services that
serve correctional facilities and jails.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 14-3-45, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§14-3-45
The diet of convicts inmates in quantity and quality
mustshall be such as may be directed by the BoardDepartment of
Corrections, and shall be sound and wholesome , and shall be
prepared and served subject to the standards established by
the Alabama Department of Public Health pursuant to Section
22-20-5.5 ."
Section 2. Section 22-20-5.5 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§22-20-5.5
(a) A food service establishment as defined in the
sanitation rules adopted by the Alabama Department of Public
Health shall include any cafeteria, canteen, commissary, or
other location that purchases or receives delivery of food for
storage, and prepares, stores, serves, or dispenses food in
individual portion size to inmates, which is operated by the
Department of Corrections or any county or municipality.
(b)(1) The Alabama Department of Public Health may
enforce existing rules that govern food service establishments
which may also be applied to facilities operated by the
Department of Corrections or a county or municipality as
described in subsection (a).
(2) The Alabama Department of Health shall adopt rules
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SB84 INTRODUCED
Page 3
(2) The Alabama Department of Health shall adopt rules
that are appropriate for food service establishments operated
by the Department of Corrections and county and municipal
jails, to ensure the sanitary conditions of food storage,
preparation, and service, the enforcement of which shall be
under the jurisdiction of the health officer in the county
where the facility is located.
(3) Pursuant to subdivision (1), the Alabama Department
of Public Health shall consider the unique requirements and
limitations of correctional facilities and jails, and may
inspect food service establishments operated therein, identify
sanitary violations, issue scores, and prescribe corrective
action, but may not order the suspension or termination of any
food service establishment that is:
a. Operated by the Department of Corrections without
the agreement of the Commissioner of Corrections; or
b. Operated by a county or municipal jail without the
agreement of the governing body of the county or municipality.
(4) In any case in which the Department of Corrections,
or a county or municipality, contracts with a private
individual or entity to serve or dispense food in individual
portion size to inmates, the individual or entity shall remain
subject as a food service establishment to existing,
applicable sanitation rules of the Alabama Department of
Public Health.
Section 3. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2026.
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