Latest news with #HB410
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bail reform bills moving through Alabama Legislature in final days of session
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, looks over to a colleague while standing on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2025 in the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. England is sponsoring a bill that would give judges the power to allow those in pretrial detention to pay a percentage of a bond for release. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Two bills that would change Alabama's bail system are working their way through the Legislature in the waning days of the 2025 session. The Senate Judiciary Committee hosted a public hearing Wednesday for HB 42, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which gives judges the authority to allow defendants to pay a portion of their total bond to be released from pretrial detention. HB 410, sponsored by Rep. Shane Stringer, R-Citronelle, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee, modifies the composition of the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board, expands the exemptions for the fees that bail bond companies must pay the court, increases penalties for bail jumping and adds more regulations for bail bond companies when they operate in another state. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A message was sent to Stringer Monday seeking comment. HB 42 has passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House is scheduled to vote on HB 410 on Tuesday. England's bill adds three words, 'a part of' back into an Alabama statute that were removed when the same Legislature enacted the Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993. The removal of the words meant judges in the state could not allow defendants to pay a percentage of their bond to get release from pretrial detention. 'What that translates into is a large amount of money that would normally go to the court system, instead of going to the court system, it goes to a bondsman,' England said to the committee Wednesday. People can secure their release after an arrest if they pay a bail bond company. The premium, which is typically 10% of the total amount of the bond, is paid to the bail bond company, which then must ensure the individuals go to their court appearances. The money that people pay when released on a percentage bond would be retained by the court and kept if defendants fail to appear for their court dates. The Alabama Bail Bond Association has been a vocal opponent of the bill, speaking out against the legislation at a March public hearing and the House Judiciary Committee considered it then and eventually approved the bill a week later. Victor Howard, vice president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association and bail bond company owner, said that enacting the legislation would reduce accountability for defendants to appear for their court dates. Chris McNeil, the president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association, suggested Monday in an interview that the rates that people would not appear for court would increase. He also cited records from the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts saying that people who paid cash to be released from pretrial detention in 2022 and 2023 had a failure to appear (FTA) rate of 55%. 'The court just can't function when you have a failure to appear rate of 55%,' McNeil said Monday. 'The bonding companies were averaging about a 14%-15% failure to appear rate. And were able to trim that rate by returning defendants back to court.' England told the committee that the numbers do not present a fair comparison to percentage bonds. 'The numbers are obviously going to be off because there are more people on smaller offenses with cash bonds versus somebody who is on a large bond with a bondsman,' England said to the committee on Wednesday. 'Obviously, there is going to be a higher number of FTAs on smaller cases, traffic tickets, because they all count.' Jerome Dees, policy director from the Southern Poverty Law Center, supported the legislation. 'The vast majority of times when there was an FTA that was ultimately secured, and the defendant showed up in court, it largely was due to law enforcement bringing that individual in and not the bail bond company,' he said to the committee on Wednesday. 'That is not to say that it never happened, but the vast majority of time it was law enforcement bringing that particular individual in.' McNeil said in an interview Monday he supports HB 410, Stringer's bill. 'It expands the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board by adding a sheriff to the board, adding a layperson, so I think that is very important,' he said. It also states that any fees that bail bond companies pay to the court that have not been deposited within 90 days and that have an expiration date 'shall be deemed uncollected' and will no longer hold the bail bond company responsible for making the payment. The bill also exempts bail bond companies from fees that the courts or district attorneys have not attempted to collect past one year from the original due date. HB 410 also adds more conditions such that the bail bond company will not pay a fee, known as forfeiture, to the court when in cases that the defendant fails to appear in court. McNeil said the bill would cancel that forfeiture payment if someone was not placed in the National Crime Information Center and failed to appear in court, or if the bail bond company brings back a defendant that the jail refuses to accept. The bill also addresses instances when an individual travels out of state and enhances the penalty for bail jumping, going from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to study medically assisted death filed in North Carolina, sponsored by Triad representatives
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — A bill filed in the North Carolina House of Representatives would fund the study of medically assisted death. HB410, titled 'Medical Aid in Dying,' was filed on Tuesday. The bill directs the North Carolina Institute of Medicine to study the impacts of legalizing medically assisted death. 'Medical aid in dying (MAID) is a recognized end-of-life (EOL) option for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a life expectancy of less than 6 months to hasten the dying process,' the bill says. The bill directs NCIOM to 'study the advantages and disadvantages of legalizing medical aid in dying (MAID) in North Carolina.' Bill to raise North Carolina minimum wage filed by House Democrats It also directs NCIOM to look at factors that impact MAID, such as: The factors that contribute most to a person's decision to seek MAID. The characteristics and demographic backgrounds of persons who seek MAID. The social and emotional impacts on a person's family members when MAID is available to a person as an alternative to an extended dying process. Which medications have been or are currently being used for MAID, and whether intravenous self-administration would be an improvement over self-ingestion through the gastrointestinal tract. The best options for healthcare providers to opt out of participating in MAID. Available data from the current MAID states that are reporting on conclusions arising from the legalization of MAID, particularly with respect to the effectiveness of MAID laws in providing an end-of-life option. What end-of-life options are currently available in North Carolina and recommendations about whether MAID is an advisable additional alternative. To what extent the absence of MAID in North Carolina and other states increases the chance that a terminally ill person will choose to commit suicide by violent or other means.' Additionally, NCIOM would study advancements in MAID since the 'Death with Dignity Act' passed in Oregon, develop a hypothetical number of how many people may choose to use MAID based on data available from other states, and the impact on healthcare systems in states where MAID is already legal. The NCIOM would be required to hold at least one public hearing 'to ensure the general public has an opportunity to provide the NCIOM with comments regarding the advantages and disadvantages of legalizing MAID' before submitting a report to lawmakers, which is due by April 1, 2027. The bill would appropriate $150,000 to fund this study, if passed. MAID is legal in California, Colorado, Hawai'i, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Washington D.C. It's been legal in Oregon for the longest amount of time, since 1994. Reps. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth), Julia Howard (R-Davie) and Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe) are the primary sponsors of the bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
