SB107 Alabama 2021 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris ElliottSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2021

Title

Municipalities, police jurisdictions may not be expended, municipal planning jurisdiction limited, audit of expenditure of fees in police jurisdiction, Secs. 11-40-10, 11-52-30 am'd.

Summary

SB107 tightens how Alabama municipalities can regulate areas outside their city limits by narrowing police and planning jurisdictions, updating building-code enforcement rules, and adding revenue reporting and auditing requirements.

What This Bill Does

It sets fixed outer limits for police jurisdiction (3 miles for larger towns, 1.5 miles for smaller towns) and requires municipal votes to extend beyond those boundaries; it allows reductions of police jurisdiction in half-mile steps, with notices to the county and limits on how often reductions can occur. It allows building-code enforcement outside corporate limits to continue under municipal control, but may shift enforcement to the county over time and requires fees to reflect enforcement costs; counties may enter agreements to keep or transfer regulation of building construction in those areas. It reduces and clarifies the municipal planning jurisdiction outside city limits (focusing mainly on subdivisions) and outlines when counties or municipalities regulate subdivisions, including possible intergovernmental agreements and map/record procedures. It adds reporting and auditing requirements for license and other revenue collected in the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits, including annual reports and potential audits, and sets notice and timing requirements for implementing these provisions.

Who It Affects

• Municipalities and county governments: must adjust police and planning jurisdictions, potentially modify or stop providing services outside city limits, and comply with new reporting, auditing, and intergovernmental agreement requirements.
• Businesses, landowners, developers, and residents within the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits: may face new or capped licensing costs, changes to building-permit rules and building-code enforcement responsibilities, and subdivision regulation rules that differ from those inside city limits.

Key Provisions

• Amends Section 11-40-10 to limit police jurisdiction to a fixed distance from the municipality's corporate limits (three miles for larger municipalities, 1.5 miles for smaller ones) and requires an affirmative municipal vote to extend beyond those boundaries after certain dates; allows reductions to 1.5 miles by ordinance with notices and limits reductions to once every 24 months.
• Allows municipalities to cease providing services outside their corporate limits or to reduce police jurisdiction, with written notice to the county and limited to once every 24 months; clarifies that some licenses or fees must cease within removed areas.
• Amends building-code enforcement rules (within 11-40-10) to permit continued municipal enforcement outside corporate limits or shift to county enforcement under certain agreements; requires building-permit fees to reflect enforcement costs and tie revenue to building-code services.
• Amends Section 11-52-30 to narrow planning jurisdiction outside corporate limits over time (starting in 2023, within 1.5 miles outside the limits unless extended to 3 miles by local law), and sets boundary rules when more than one municipality is involved; outlines how subdivision regulation may be shared or transferred between county and municipal planning commissions through agreements.
• Provides for intergovernmental arrangements governing subdivision regulation outside municipal boundaries, including process, bonds, and county-maintained roads/drainage, with thresholds for withdrawal or reinstatement of such authority.
• Amends Section 11-51-91 to require municipalities to report and audit license and tax revenue collected in the police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits, with annual reporting starting in 2022, notices to state auditors, and penalties (including potential suspension of license collections) for noncompliance.
• Includes general technical and transitional provisions, notice requirements for ordinances affecting police jurisdiction, and protections against liability from reductions/eliminations of police jurisdiction.

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

Subjects

Municipalities