Alabama House committee OKs bills creating new fines and fees, increasing existing one

The Alabama House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee Wednesday passed two bills to increase the fines and fees that Alabama residents could pay.

HB 315, sponsored by Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, increases the fine for people who violate the state’s Move Over Law when driving along Alabama’s roads by $100.

“A towing company in Enterprise asked me to bring this bill before the committee to enforce how difficult of a job you all have as law enforcement, and they have, in assisting people,” Marques said.

Drivers are currently required to move as far as possible from the right lane when law enforcement, utility, or service vehicles are posted along the side of the road to perform a service. If that is not possible, they must slow their speed to 15 miles under from the posted speed limit. A violation is a misdemeanor.

The bill increases the fines from $100 to $200 for the first offense; $150 to $250 for the second violation and $200 to $300 for any additional violation.

These fines are doubled if the person violates this rule along with other laws, from reckless driving to racing their vehicles along the roads. The fines are on top of any other fines and fees that may be charged stemming from the incident.

Rep. Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley, opposed the bill because of what he called “all these continual increases in fees.”

“Most of the time, fines are not what is imposed that has an impact,” he said. “It is really the court costs because court costs continue to go up because we keep adding more fees.”

Members of the committee also approved HB 255, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, which allows sheriffs’ offices throughout the state to enter into a contract agreement to serve papers for a fee.

“This bill would authorize all sheriffs within our state to do this across the state, and also some provisions in it if there is a local act, they are able to continue to operate under their local act,” Bedsole said.

The committee adopted an amendment to the bill prior to approval authorizing a sheriff to charge $50 per case instead of $50 per document. It also stipulates that $5 from the fee will go toward the local clerk’s office and $3 to the county district attorney’s office with the remaining amount allocated to the sheriffs.

Alabama relies on fines and fees to fund local governments. In 2021, the state collected $567 per person in property taxes while taking in $1,346 in fees for each individual, according to data from the Urban Institute.

Those fines and fees fall disproportionately hard on people who are less wealthy, especially the poor, who are unable to pay the fines and fees for a host of government services, such as registering a vehicle or paying the court costs to deal with the simplest infractions.

Legislators have filed bills allocating money to the sheriffs after a 2022 law allowing permitless carry eliminated a significant source of funding for sheriffs.

“Some of the concerns that I have is that filing fees have just continually gone up,” Wadsworth said but opposed the bill. “In Alabama, you could pay up to $1,000 to file a civil case.”