Latest news with #HB188
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some ‘Safe Alabama' bills pass House, others raise concerns
ALABAMA (WHNT) — A series of public safety bills Gov. Kay Ivey has called her number one priority this session is making its way through the Alabama Legislature. Some of the safety measures have bipartisan support. Two pieces of legislation, House Bill 188 and House Bill 199, passed unanimously. HB 188 creates a scholarship program for the families of law enforcement officers. HB 199 expands the state's ability to electronically monitor juvenile offenders. Hanceville says Cullman County Sheriff's Office will temporarily take over police jurisdiction Other bills are raising concerns among House Democrats. 'We will not negotiate something that's going to be harmful to the public or something that is going to protect those individuals that are not acting in good faith,' said House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels. House Bill 202, known as the Back the Blue Legal Protection Act, would expand police officers' legal immunity. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rex Reynolds, said he wants Alabama officers to know lawmakers have their backs. 'We want to create an environment that we can recruit good officers and retain good officers in our profession,' Reynolds said. Indictments shed new light on charges against Hanceville Police chief, officers and spouse The legislation would bar lawsuits that could not show an officer's conduct was reckless and did not have a law enforcement purpose. Daniels said he is worried the bill would make it almost impossible to prosecute a bad cop. 'We do not want to have any loopholes into prosecuting the person that's acting, that's not acting in good faith,' Daniels said. Daniels said Alabama Democrats support law enforcement and they are working across the aisle to make sure the language of these bills best protects Alabamians. Another proposed Republican bill would make possessing a Glock switch a Class C felony. 'We continue to focus on these other pieces of the governor's package, and we feel like it makes it makes Alabama a safer place,' Reynolds said. Another public safety bill that would create a criminal penalty for parents whose child is found to have a gun on a public school campus died in a house committee this week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Law enforcement scholarship program passes Alabama House
Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, sponsors HB 188, which would create a scholarship program for law enforcement dependents. The bill passed the Alabama House 101-0 Tuesday.(Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill that would allow dependents and spouses of Alabama law enforcement to claim a $3,000 scholarship for post-secondary education. HB 188, sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, passed 101-0 with some changes made by the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee. The committee added language allowing money collected from blackout license plates as a source of funding for the program. The scholarship will also be funded by private donations and a $10 million allocation from the Education Trust Fund, according to the bill. The legislation is part of a broader public safety package aimed in part at improving recruiting of law enforcement officers. Birmingham, Montgomery and other cities in the state have struggled to fill vacancies in their police ranks in recent years. Treadaway, a retired assistant Birmingham police chief, later told reporters he believes the bill will help incentivize current law enforcement to stay in the field, but doubted it would help recruitment for young people that are not thinking about children. 'There were times when my kids were in high school and things that I thought about getting out of the profession,' Treadaway said. 'We just want to let them know we appreciate the job that they're doing.' Rep. Travis Hendrix, D-Birmingham, a police officer, said he'd be one of the first to apply for the scholarship for his son that is in college. 'A lot of men and women in blue need any type of assistance we can get, especially helping our family and our kids,' Hendrix said. Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, thanked Treadaway, a former police officer, and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, for bringing the bill to recruit law enforcement because of the lack of law enforcement and abundance of gun violence in Birmingham. '1,077 deaths… this is just the city of Birmingham since 2017,' Givan said, adding that over 150 people were killed in Birmingham in 2024. The bill moves to the Alabama Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
