Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed House Bill 165 into law, officially establishing Juneteenth as a permanent state holiday in Alabama. Sponsored by Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, and Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, the legislation ensures that state offices will close each year on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
“Since President Trump observed Juneteenth in June of 2020, we have proclaimed it each year, and I am pleased the Legislature has made it an official state holiday,” Ivey said in a statement following the bill’s signing.
Juneteenth marks the date in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans of their freedom — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The day has been recognized as a federal holiday since 2021.
The bill passed the Alabama House by a vote of 85-4 and cleared the Senate with a 13-5 vote. Many Republican senators abstained. Previous efforts to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday failed in part due to proposals to combine it with Confederate-linked holidays, including Jefferson Davis’s birthday.
HB165 avoids that controversy by establishing Juneteenth as a standalone holiday.
With the bill’s passage, Alabama becomes one of the last Southern states to formally recognize Juneteenth, signaling a broader commitment to acknowledging the painful legacy of slavery and the continued importance of freedom and equality in American life.
