HB259 Alabama 2020 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Prince ChestnutRepresentative

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2020

Title

County records, proceeds from campaign finance violations used to digitize records, Sec. 17-5-19.1 am'd.

Summary

HB259 would redirect civil penalties from campaign finance violations to fund grants for counties to digitize and publicly access their recorded documents.

What This Bill Does

The bill amends the law so that proceeds from civil penalties paid into the State General Fund for campaign finance violations must be used to provide grants to county probate courts or county commissions to digitize recorded documents. It retains the existing penalty framework (who can levy penalties and how amounts are determined) but changes how the collected funds are allocated, directing them toward county-level digitization efforts rather than through the statewide grant program. The grants would support preservation of records and placing digitized documents on a searchable online database for public access. The act becomes effective immediately after it is approved by the Governor.

Who It Affects

• County probate courts and county commissions would receive grants to digitize and publicly access their recorded documents.
• State and local entities that administer penalties (Secretary of State, judge of probate, State General Fund, and the State Executive Commission on Community Services Grants) would see funds redirected from a statewide grant program to county-level digitization grants.

Key Provisions

• Proceeds from civil penalties paid to the State General Fund for campaign finance violations must be used to provide grants to county probate courts or county commissions to digitize recorded documents.
• Penalties collected by a judge of probate go to the county's general fund; penalties collected by the Secretary of State go to the State General Fund, with the redirected use described to fund county digitization grants instead of grants via the State Executive Commission on Community Services Grants.
• Grants funded by these proceeds are intended to preserve recorded documents and place them on a searchable electronic database on the Internet for public access.
• The act becomes effective immediately following its passage and approval by the Governor.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Records