SB90 Alabama 2017 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur OrrSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2017

Title

Courts, judges, Judicial Resources Allocation Commission, established, membership, duties, authority to reallocate judgeships under certain conditions

Summary

SB90 creates a permanent Judicial Resources Allocation Commission to study and reallocate Alabama district and circuit court judgeships based on defined criteria.

What This Bill Does

It establishes a commission to review the need for more or fewer judges and to rank districts and circuits annually. It uses criteria like caseload, population, judicial duties, and case accounting to decide allocations, and it can reallocate a vacant judgeship within 30 days with a two-thirds vote, subject to safeguards. It specifies how vacancies are filled after reallocation, renumbers remaining seats, and requires funding to follow the moved position, while also mandating open meetings/records and updates to caseload methods.

Who It Affects

• Judges and the court system (district and circuit judges) — their number and which district or circuit they sit in may change due to reallocations, with vacancies filled in the new location and seats renumbered.
• Counties and Alabama residents — each county must continue to have at least one district judge, and the public may access commission records and meeting information; the distribution of court resources across the state may shift based on the commission's rankings.

Key Provisions

• Creation of the Judicial Resources Allocation Commission with specified members (Chief Justice as chair; governor's legal advisor; Attorney General; three circuit judges; three district judges; and three licensed attorneys) and terms.
• Criteria for need: Judicial Weighted Caseload Study, population, judicial duties, case accounting uniformity, and other relevant information, plus annual ranking provided to the Governor and Legislature.
• Vacancy reallocation mechanism: 30-day decision window, two-thirds vote, safeguards to prevent harming counties or circuits, and requirement that each county maintain at least one district judge.
• Post-reallocation procedures: vacancy filled in the new district/circuit, seats renumbered, funding follows the moved judgeship, and the judge serves the remaining term before facing election in the new location.
• Judges reassigned to a new seat retain full authority and duties; compensation aligned with existing law.
• Caseload data and allocation timing: Supreme Court to revise caseload factors; no reallocations until three years of data after revision; no circuit losing more than one judgeship in two years.
• Open meetings/records requirement for the Commission; repeal of conflicting laws; immediate effectiveness upon signing.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Courts