Alabama House recap: Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights among several criminal justice bills to pass

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives passed several bills on Tuesday; among them were several involving criminal justice, including one that would create a Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights.

Other notable pieces of legislation approved by the lower chamber included the unanimous passage of “Aniah’s Law” and the passage of a bill requiring students to attend kindergarten or demonstrate readiness via a state test in order to enroll in 1st grade.

Tuesday was the seventh day of the legislature’s 2021 regular session.

The legislation to create a Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights, HB 137, is sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island)

The bill establishes certain standards for how the government handles evidence collection and storage in sexual assault cases. It would also require the government to inform each victim of how their evidence will be treated, what they can request of law enforcement, and what other resources are available to them as survivors.

More information on the legislation is available here.

Several of the other criminal justice measures were sponsored by Rep. Jim Hill (R-Moody).

Among those was HB 73 that requires every judicial circuit to establish a community punishment and corrections program. Such programs provide alternatives to traditional sentencing methods while improving communities, and are cited as ways to reduce prison overpopulation.

Also from Hill that passed Tuesday was HB 23 that allows judges to have greater flexibility in the time a parolee who has their parole revoked must serve if the judge had previously handed down a split sentence.

HB 110 was also from Hill. It holds that an individual who violates the terms of their probation can serve their required confinement period in county jails instead of state facilities. The State of Alabama would be required to reimburse the county facilities for the costs associated.

The House also approved several smaller measures on Tuesday, including:

HB 187 from Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur) making small changes to the regulations governing how local governments carry out competitive bids for contracts.

HB 191, also from Collins, that makes small changes to annexation policy for property in overlapping police jurisdictions.

HB 162 from Rep. Kyle South (R-Fayette) creating a lease tax exemption for certain entities.

HB 99 from Rep. Jeremy Gray (D-Opelika) that adds electric bicycles as a type of vehicle the state has classified in law and can regulate.

HB 77 from Rep. Ritchie Whorton (R-Owens Cross Roads) that adds a one-dollar fee on firefighter license plates with the proceeds from the fee being split between the Alabama Joint Fire Council and the Alabama Fire College.

HB 76 from Rep. Thomas Jackson (D-Thomasville) that allows parents of students who suffer from seizures to submit a seizure treatment plan to their school. The bill also has other seizure-related measures.

HB 143 from Rep. Joe Lovvorn (R-Auburn) requiring the Alabama Emergency Management Agency to adopt guidelines for identifying and designating places that can serve as shelters during extreme weather events.

HB 335 from Rep. Alan Baker (R-Brewton) revising the laws around competitive bids for waste collection and disposal contracts.

HB 201 from Rep. Hill making minor changes to where on courthouse grounds a sale of land for taxes can take place.

HB 210 from Rep. Paul Lee (R-Dothan) requiring the Alabama Department of Public Health to collect and make public more types of anonymized data about who is admitted to and discharged from hospitals in the state.