SB 10

This bill would provide for the rights and responsibilities of an individual with a disability who uses a service animal and would prohibit discrimination against the person for using a service animal in a public accommodation or a housing accommodation

This bill would provide criminal penalties for a person who misrepresents himself or herself as using a service animal or as a trainer of a service animal or for denying or interfering with the right of an individual with a disability to use a service animal or the trainer of a service animal to have a service animal in a public accommodation under certain conditions

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

To amend Sections 21-7-1 to 21-7-9, inclusive, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the use of service animals; to provide for the rights and responsibilities of an individual with a disability who uses a service animal in a public accommodation or a housing accommodation; to provide criminal penalties for a person who misrepresents the use of a service animal or as a trainer and for denying or interfering with the right of an individual with a disability to use a service animal or the trainer of a service animal to have a service animal in a public accommodation under certain conditions; and in connection therewith to have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of 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.

Section 1

Sections 21-7-1 to 21-7-9, inclusive, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§21-7-1.

It is the policy of this state to encourage and enable the blind, the visually handicapped, and the otherwise physically disabled to participate fully in the social and economic life of the state and to engage in remunerative employment.

(a) For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) HANDLER. Includes an individual with a disability and a trainer.

(2) HOUSING ACCOMMODATION. Any real property or portion thereof which is used or occupied, or intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied, as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more persons, but may not include any single-family residence, the occupants of which rent, lease, or furnish for compensation not more than one room therein.

(3) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY. A person who has a physical or mental impairment, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability, that substantially limits one or more major life activities of the individual.

(4) MAJOR LIFE ACTIVITY. A function such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

(5) PHYSICAL OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENT. A physiological disorder or condition, disfigurement, or anatomical loss that affects one or more bodily functions, or a mental or psychological disorder that meets one of the diagnostic categories specified in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, such as an intellectual or developmental disability, organic brain syndrome, traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, or an emotional or mental illness.

(6) PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION. A common carrier, airplane, motor vehicle, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar, boat, or other public conveyance or mode of transportation, a hotel, a timeshare that is a transient public lodging establishment, a lodging place, a place of public accommodation, amusement, or resort, and other places to which the general public is invited, subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons. The term does not include air carriers covered by the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, 49 U.S.C. Section 41705, and by regulations adopted by the United States Department of Transportation to implement that act.

(7) SERVICE ANIMAL. An animal that is trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The work done or tasks performed shall be directly related to the disability of the individual and may include, but are not limited to, guiding an individual who is visually impaired or blind, alerting an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing, pulling a wheelchair, assisting with mobility or balance, alerting and protecting an individual who is having a seizure, retrieving objects, alerting an individual to the presence of allergens, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to an individual with a mobility disability, helping an individual with a psychiatric or neurological disability by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors, reminding an individual with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming an individual with post traumatic stress disorder during an anxiety attack, doing other specific work, or performing other special tasks. A service animal may not be a pet. For the purposes of Sections 21-7-3, 21-7-4, and 21-7-5, the term

service animal" shall be limited to a dog or a miniature horse. The crime-deterrent effect of the presence of an animal and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship may not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.

(8) TRANSIENT PUBLIC LODGING ESTABLISHMENT. Any unit, group of units, dwelling, building, or group of buildings within a single complex of buildings which is rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or which is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests.

§21-7-2.

The blind, the visually handicapped, and the otherwise physically disabled have An individual with a disability has the same right as the able-bodied a person who is not disabled to the full and free use of the streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, public facilities, and other public places.

§21-7-3.

The blind, the visually handicapped, and the otherwise physically disabled are (a) An individual with a disability is entitled to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of all common carriers, airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad trains, motor buses, streetcars, boats or any other public conveyances or modes of transportation, hotels, lodging places, places of public accommodation, amusement or resort, and other places to which the general public is invited, subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons in every public accommodation.

(b) A public accommodation shall modify its policies, practices, and procedures to permit the use of a service animal by an individual with a disability.

(c) This act may not require a person, firm, business, or corporation, or an agent thereof, to modify or provide a vehicle, premises, facility, or service to a higher degree of accommodation than is required for a person who is not disabled.

§21-7-4.

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.

(b) Every person with a disability, including a person who is totally or partially blind, hearing-impaired, or diagnosed on the autism spectrum shall have (a) An individual with a disability has the right to be accompanied by a service animal in any public place all areas of a public accommodation, including a public or private school, and any of the places listed in Section 21-7-3 that the public or customers are normally permitted to occupy. The person may not be required to pay an extra charge for the service animal.

(c) The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler's disability. (b) A service animal shall be under the control of its handler and shall have a harness, leash, or other tether, unless either the handler is unable because his or her disability prevents him or her from the use of a harness, leash, or other tether, or the use of a harness, leash, or other tether would interfere with the safe, effective performance of work or tasks by the service animal, in which case the service animal shall be otherwise under the control of the handler by means of voice control, signals, or other effective means.

(d) A person training a service animal shall be entitled to the same privileges granted to a person with a disability pursuant to subsection (b). (c) The trainer of a service animal, while engaged in the training of the animal, has the same rights and privileges with respect to access to areas of public accommodation and the same liability for damage as is provided for an individual with a disability who is accompanied by a service animal.

(d) Documentation that the service animal is trained is not a precondition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal.

(1) A public accommodation may not ask about the nature or extent of the disability of an individual.

(2) To determine the difference between a service animal and a pet, a public accommodation may ask if an animal is a service animal required because of a disability and what work or tasks the animal has been trained to perform.

(3) A public accommodation may not impose a deposit or surcharge on an individual with a disability as a precondition to permitting a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if a deposit is routinely required for pets.

(e) In the case of a disabled child minor with a disability, including a child minor diagnosed on the autism spectrum, any aide assigned to assist the child minor shall be trained with the service animal in basic commands in order to assist the child minor as a team.

(f) This section does not relieve a person accompanied by a service animal from liability for any damages done to the premises or facilities by the service animal. An individual with a disability is liable for damage caused by a service animal if it is the regular policy and practice of the public accommodation to charge a person who is not disabled for damages caused by a pet.

(g) The care or supervision of a service animal is the responsibility of the individual owner of the service animal.

(1) A public accommodation may not be required to provide care or food or a special location for a service animal or assistance with removing animal excrement.

(2) A public accommodation may exclude or remove an animal from the premises, including a service animal, if the animal is out of control and the handler of the animal does not take effective action to control the animal, the animal is not housebroken, or the behavior of the animal poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others.

(3) Allergies and fear of animals are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to an individual with a service animal.

(4) If a service animal is excluded or removed for being a direct threat to others, the public accommodation shall provide the individual with a disability the option of continuing access to the public accommodation without having the service animal on the premises.

(h) A person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents himself or herself, through conduct or verbal or written notice, as using a service animal and being qualified to use a service animal or as a trainer of a service animal is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, and in addition to any fines and penalties provided by law, shall perform 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves individuals with disabilities, or for another entity or organization, at the discretion of the court, to be completed in not more than six months.

§21-7-5.

Any A person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of any a person, firm, or corporation, who denies or interferes with admittance to or enjoyment of the public facilities enumerated in Sections 21-7-2 and 21-7-3 or a public accommodation, or with regard to a public accommodation, otherwise interferes with the rights of a totally or partially blind or otherwise disabled person under Sections 21-7-2 through 21-7-4 an individual with a disability or the trainer of a service animal while engaged in the training of the animal pursuant to Section 21-7-4, shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, and in addition to any fines and penalties provided by law, shall perform 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves individuals with disabilities, or for another entity or organization, at the discretion of the court, to be completed in not more than six months.

§21-7-6.

(a) The driver of a vehicle approaching a totally or partially blind pedestrian who is carrying a cane predominantly white or metallic in color, with or without a red tip, or using a guide dog service animal, or a person employed by an accredited school for training guide dogs a service animal who provides notice through a sign or other method that he or she is training a dog an animal as a guide dog service animal shall take all necessary precautions prescribed by law to avoid injury to the blind pedestrian, and the dog trainer.

(b) Any driver who fails to take all necessary precautions shall be liable in damages for any injury caused to the pedestrian, or the guide dog trainer.

§21-7-7.

A totally or partially blind pedestrian not carrying a cane as described in Section 21-7-6 or any totally or partially blind person not using a guide dog service animal in any of the places, accommodations, or conveyances listed in Sections 21-7-2 and 21-7-3 a public accommodation shall have all of the rights and privileges conferred by law upon other persons, and the failure of a totally or partially blind pedestrian to carry such a cane or of a totally or partially blind person to use a guide dog service animal in any such places, accommodations, or conveyances shall a public accommodation may not be held to constitute nor be evidence of contributory negligence.

§21-7-8.

It is the policy of this state that the blind, the visually handicapped, and the otherwise physically disabled an individual with a disability shall be employed in the state service, the service of the political subdivisions of the state, in the public schools, and in all other employment supported in whole or in part by public funds on the same terms and conditions as the able-bodied a person who is not disabled, and an employer may not refuse employment to an individual with a disability on the basis of his or her disability alone, unless it is shown that the particular disability prevents the satisfactory performance of the work involved.

§21-7-9.

(a) Blind persons, visually handicapped persons, and other physically disabled persons An individual with a disability shall be entitled to full and equal access, as are other members of the general public, to all any housing accommodations offered for rent, lease, or compensation in this state, subject to the conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons.

(b) Housing accommodations" means any real property or portion thereof which is used or occupied or is intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more human beings, but shall not include any accommodations included within subsection (a) of this section or any single-family residence, the occupants of which rent, lease, or furnish for compensation not more than one room therein.

(c)(b) Nothing in this section shall require any person renting, leasing, or providing for compensation real property to modify his or her property in any way or provide a higher degree of care for a blind person, visually handicapped person, or other physically disabled person an individual with a disability than for a person who is not physically disabled.

(d) Every totally or partially blind person (c)(1) An individual with a disability who has a guide dog service animal or who obtains a guide dog service animal shall be entitled to full and equal access to all any housing accommodations provided for in this section, and he shall. (2) An individual with a disability may not be required by the housing accommodation to pay extra compensation for such guide dog a service animal, but shall be liable for any damage done to the premises or to another person on the premises by such guide dog the service animal.

(3) A housing accommodation may request proof of compliance with vaccination requirements for a service animal.

(d) This act does not limit the rights or remedies of a housing accommodation or an individual with a disability that are granted by state or federal law with regard to other assistance animals."

Section 2

Although this bill would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds, the bill is excluded from further requirements and application under Amendment 621, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, because the bill defines a new crime or amends the definition of an existing crime.

Section 3

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.