SB242 Alabama 2015 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur Orr Senator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2015

Title

Cyber-bullying of students and school employees, crime created, penalties, restitution, reporting requirement, deferred prosecution and expungement authorized

Description

Existing law provides for the adoption of policies by public school systems pertaining to the prevention of harassment of one student against another student and requires the Department of Education to develop a model policy for local boards of education pertaining to student harassment prevention.

This bill would create the crime of cyber-bullying of another student or school employee by a student in a public K-12 school and provide for penalties and restitution.

This bill would allow prosecutors to defer prosecution of cyber-bullying crimes and provide for the expungement of the criminal record of the student under certain conditions.

This bill would require school employees to report cyber-bullying incidents and would provide immunity from civil liability for persons reporting cyber-bullying.

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.

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Subjects

Cyber-bullying