The Alabama House of Representatives is slated to kick off the third week of the legislative session by tackling a handful of bills covering scholarships for police officers' dependents, voluntary gun surrendering, electronic monitoring of youthful offenders, wiretapping and more.
The bills are a part of the House's proposed special-order calendar, which lawmakers are slated to take up when they convene in Montgomery on Tuesday.
House Bill 188 (HB188).
First on the calendar is HB188, sponsored by State Rep. Allen Treadaway (R-Morris), one of many bills touted by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State Address. The bill establishes a program to pay tuition and associated expenses on behalf of children and spouses of long-term city, county, and state law enforcement officers. The scholarship money may be used for undergraduate courses offered by a public or private technical school, college, or university in the state.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Officers' Family Scholarship Program would only be available for officers employed for at least seven years by a single law enforcement agency in the state or at least 12 continuous years on a full-time basis.
House Bill 199 (HB199).
HB199, sponsored by State Rep. Travis Hendrix (D-Birmingham), would authorize the Board of Pardons and Paroles or any other state agency to provide electronic monitoring services for an allegedly delinquent child who has been released subject to electronic monitoring.
The bill would also remove previous restrictions on so-called status offenders – juveniles charged with conduct that would not be crimes were they adults, such as truancy, violating curfew, running away from home, or general ungovernability.
The bill would repeal the restriction for status offenders who violate a valid court detained in a juvenile facility for no more than 72 hours within a six-month period.
Senate Bill 70 (SB70).
SB70, sponsored by State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre) and backed by Ivey, would create a public corporation operating in a public/private partnership for a veterans' resource center to provide services and programs to the state's veterans.
The center would not be considered a state agency. However, it would be overseen by a board appointed by the governor, speaker of the House, senate pro tem., lieutenant governor, and several other legislative and executive heads.
When the bill passed out of the house committee, a representative from Alabama Power Company spoke in favor of the legislation, saying Alabama Power had already begun coordinating with businesses in the state to aid in funding for the resource center and to eventually make the center self-sustaining through private-sector funds. However, Ivey's proposed budget includes an initial $5 million expenditure to get it started.
Some took issue that the initial bill excluded the board from Alabama's Open Meetings Act. However, it was amended to reverse that provision.
House Bill 216 (HB216)
HB216, sponsored by State Rep. Russell Bedsole (R-Alabaster), would allow individuals to voluntarily surrender their firearms to a federal firearms licensee for an agreed-upon period.
The bill would permit a private transaction between a federal firearm licensee and an individual firearm owner. In this transaction, the licensee agrees to take possession of the owner's firearm at the owner's request, hold the firearm for an agreed-upon period, and return the firearm to the owner.
It would also free the federal licensee from any legal action after returning the firearm to the owner. In committee, Bedsole touted the bill as a way to provide help for those experiencing suicidal ideation without permanently removing their Second Amendment rights.
House Bill 137 (HB137)
HB137, sponsored by State Rep. Rex Reynolds (R-Huntsville), would permanently establish the state's laws permitting the wiretapping of specific suspects under certain circumstances. It would also permit the use of interpreters to monitor wire and digital communications.
In 2022, the legislature passed the Billy Clardy Act. The namesake is derived from a Huntsville law enforcement officer who was killed in an undercover drug bust in December 2019. Clardy was killed while attempting to arrest a man who was there to sell Clardy and others over 100 pounds of marijuana. Reynolds said he believes the proposed wiretapping technology would prevent another death like Clardy's in the future.
The law allows state law enforcement to intercept phone, internet, and related communications. The bill would allow an officer or agent of the law to obtain authorization for a wiretap by submitting a request to the Attorney General (AG). The AG would then review the evidence and, upon determining probable cause, would submit the request to a judge in the district of the alleged crime. The district judge would then determine the veracity of the evidence and conclude if the requesting agency has probable cause to request the wiretap.
The Act contained a sunset provision, causing it to expire next year. HB137 would remove the sunset provision, making it a permanent part of state law. It would also grant interpreters access to tapped communications when needed.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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