Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed the remaining bills in the Safe Alabama public safety package, House Bill 202 and House Bill 199.
HB202, sponsored by Sen. Lance Bell and Rep. Rex Reynolds, “provides law enforcement with enhanced legal protections that allow them to carry out their duties courageously and effectively,” Ivey’s release shared.
The governor issued the following comment after signing HB202:
“I was very proud to have two former law enforcement agents sponsoring this important bill in the House and the Senate. Rep. Rex Reynolds, a former police chief in Huntsville, and Sen. Lance Bell, a former deputy sheriff in St. Clair County, both did an excellent job moving the bill through the legislative process. I couldn’t agree more with Senate-sponsor Lance Bell’s remarks from the Senate floor yesterday when he so rightly stated, ‘this is about protecting them while they’re protecting us.’ And as far as Backing the Blue goes, Rep. Reynolds was spot on with his comments yesterday when he said this bill will, ‘restore some faith among our officers and show them that we have their backs in Alabama.’ With HB202 signed into law, I am proud Alabama is now the most pro-law enforcement state in the country.”
HB199, the Juvenile Accountability and Monitoring Act, was sponsored by Sen. Bobby Singleton and Rep. Travis Hendrix to enhance pretrial detention and pretrial electronic monitoring of juveniles.
After making it official with her signature, the governor said, “I am pleased that our Safe Alabama public safety package passed with bipartisan support, and I am confident that each of these bills will help protect communities across our state. In Alabama, unfortunately, juveniles are part of the crime problem, and HB199 is an important step to addressing this very real issue.”
