MONTGOMERY — Ahead of the March 7 legislative session, Alabama lawmakers have filed nearly 60 bills — many of them relating to inmates sentencing within the state’s criminal justice system.

One proposal, HB 18, would increase the frequency of Department of Corrections reports to the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee from quarterly to monthly.

The report includes inmate demographics, staffing levels, status of litigations, reports of sexual abuse or victimization, inmate deaths and contraband, among others.

The bill was filed by Rep. Christopher England (D-Dist. 70), who also filed a bill that would require the Board of Pardons and Paroles to use parole release guidelines created by the Criminal Justice Policy Development Council in its parole decisions.

Currently, the Board uses the parole release guidelines as an aid in the parole process. The bill (HB 16) would require the Board to state its reasons for the deviation from the release guidelines, and give appellate relief for prisoners through the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Bills would prolong early release of inmates

Also concerning inmate release, Sen. Chris Elliot (R-Dist. 32) sponsored a bill that would postpone the early release of inmates.

Legislators in 2021 approved a bill allowing for the early release of of certain inmates nearing the end of their sentence to be released to mandatory supervision by the Board of Pardons and Paroles for specified periods of time prior to their end of sentence.

Elliot’s bill, SB 7, would postpone any further releases until on or after Jan. 31, 2030.

Another Republican-sponsored bill, HB 9, would reduce the amount of time a prisoner may earn as correctional incentive time or for “good behavior.”

This bill would drastically increase the amount of time a prisoner must spend in a certain classification before he or she may move up in classification.

For example, the bill states that a prisoner who “faithfully observed the rules for a period of time” can earn a deduction from the term of his or her sentence as follows:

• 30 days (currently 75 days) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is classified as a Class I prisoner.
• 15 days (currently 40) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is a Class II prisoner.
• 5 days (currently 20) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is a Class III prisoner.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole (R-Dist. 11). The Senate version is sponsored by Republican April Weaver.

Jury to be unanimous in death penalty to decisions

Under current Alabama law, jurors in a capital murder case can impose the death penalty in a vote of 10 of 12 jurors. The proposed HB 14, if approved by state legislators, would require an unanimous vote by the jurors to impose a death sentence.

If HB 14 is approved, it would allow current prisoners who were sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury or prisoners who were sentenced by a judge in deviation from the jury’s advisory sentence to be resentenced.

Sentencing reform

Currently, judges can split the sentence of an offender who has received a sentence of 20 years or less.

HB 39 proposes to allow judges to order split sentences for someone convicted of a Class A or Class B felony and the imposed sentence is not more than 30 years.

According to the proposal, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hill (R-Dist. 50), the convicted person can be confined in a prison, jail-type institution or treatment institution for a period not exceeding 15 years, and the remainder of the sentence be suspended and be placed on probation for a period determined by the court.

Class A felonies are the more serious crimes that include murder, kidnapping, sexual crimes and 1st degree robbery; Class B felonies could include manslaughter, unlawful, distribution of drugs, and second degree crimes.