MONTGOMERY, Ala. — More than half of Gov. Kay Ivey’s Safe Alabama package – an eight-point collection of public safety bills and funding requests to improve public safety – has been signed into law, with the remaining bills expected to be taken up in the final days of the 2025 legislative session.
“We look forward to the entire package reaching the governor’s desk and being signed into law,” said Ivey spokesperson Gina Maiola on Friday to Alabama Daily News.
Ivey unveiled the package in February during her State of the State address, naming it her No. 1 priority for the year.
Of the eight-point package, three still await final passage, with House Bill 202, a bill expanding police immunity, being the most controversial.
Carried by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Hazel Green, HB202 would impose higher legal thresholds to prosecute members of law enforcement, entitle officers to pre-trial immunity hearings, and allow for the early dismissal of charges that don’t reach the proposed higher legal threshold. The bill has been championed by its supporters as a tool to improve police recruitment and retention, with Alabama’s major cities facing severe police shortages.
“I think it’s going to help us retain police officers, I think it’s going to let them know we’ve got their backs,” Ledbetter told reporters last Tuesday outside the House floor at the Alabama State House, speaking on HB202. “…I think the message with that is that we want to back the blue.”
The bill, however, has been fiercely opposed by Democrats, most of whom warn that it would further remove law enforcement accountability for excessive use of force.
House Bill 202 still requires approval on the Senate floor, and concurrence in the House due to the bill being modified in a Senate committee last week. Democrats have pledged to oppose the bill when it reaches the Senate.
The two remaining bills in the package not yet passed by the Legislature are House Bill 188, which would establish a scholarship program for law enforcement officers and their families and House Bill 199, which seeks to expand electronic monitoring for juvenile delinquents.
Both are near final passage; HB188 requires only Senate approval assuming it’s not modified on the Senate floor and HB199 requires only the House to concur with Senate changes. Unlike HB202, the aforementioned bills have not proved controversial and have received strong bipartisan support.
The lone inclusion in the Safe Alabama package that isn’t legislation, lawmakers also approved additional funding for the continuation and expansion of the state’s Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit, a coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement officers tasked with improving public safety and reducing crime in Montgomery, and with the additional funding, potentially in other metro areas. A total of $3 million was included in the General Fund budget, which lawmakers approved last week, though it still requires Ivey’s signature before being enacted.
“We’ve seen the results, it’s been positive,” Ledbetter said, speaking on the MACS Unit’s performance. “We put that unit together full time with the budget, we’ll be able to use them anywhere in the state where they’re needed, so I think that’s a move in the right direction to make Alabama safer for its citizens.”
Three bills included in the Safe Alabama package have already been enacted.
Signed into law in March, Senate Bill 116, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, bans at the state level devices known as Glock switches, firearm modifications that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at rates similar to that of fully-automatic weapons. The bill was carried in the House for years by Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery.
Sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, Senate Bill 115, which enhances criminal penalties for impersonating an officer, was also signed into law in March. Signed into law last week, Senate Bill 118, carried by Barfoot, will place a constitutional amendment on the 2026 statewide primary election ballot that would expand the list of criminal offenses for which judges may deny bail, including acts of shooting into occupied dwellings and conspiring to commit murder.
Meanwhile, Senate Bill 119, which enhances criminal penalties for various crimes when a firearm is involved, was sent to the governor and awaits her signature.
On the prospects of seeing the entirety of the package signed into law before the 2025 legislative session concludes, likely next week, Ledbetter said he was confident all bills would get across the finish line, largely due to the cooperation between leadership of both chambers.
“We meet with (Senate) Pro Tem (Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman) every Tuesday, we’ve talked about the package of bills and getting them out,” he said. “The positive impact I think it’ll have on our state is important, I think we’ll see that.”