HB97 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Kenneth PaschalRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

City of Pelham, creation of new civil service system

Summary

HB97 creates a new City of Pelham Civil Service System with a three‑member Personnel Board, a Human Resources Director, and formal merit‑based rules for hiring, classification, pay, discipline, and employee appeals—replacing the old Pelham civil service framework.

What This Bill Does

The bill establishes the City of Pelham Personnel Board and appoints a Human Resources Director to administer a merit system. It divides city employees into Regular Classified Service (merit‑based, with open or promotional hiring, probation, promotions, transfers, demotions, and an appeals process) and Exempt Service (including elected or statutory positions, at‑will, with limited or different rights). It requires a Classification Plan and a Compensation Plan, plus an Employee Handbook, to govern job classifications, pay grades, benefits, leaves, discipline, and open competition; and it creates a process for disciplinary actions and appeals that can lead to board hearings and court review. The act applies only to the City of Pelham and takes effect on October 1, 2024.

Who It Affects

• Regular Classified Service employees in the City of Pelham—subject to merit-based rules for hiring, classification, pay, promotion, discipline, and the right to appeal disciplinary actions to the Pelham Personnel Board.
• Exempt Service employees (including elected officials, certain city officials, and others listed as exempt)—generally at‑will, with rights defined by the employee handbook and policies but different from the regular classified staff, and not eligible for board appeals under this act.

Key Provisions

• Section 4: Establishes the City of Pelham Personnel Board with three members and outlines how they are selected and the initial terms.
• Section 5: Appoints a Human Resources Director to administer the merit system, serve as secretary to the board, and implement rules and policies.
• Section 6: Creates two service categories—Regular Classified Service and Exempt Service—with defined eligibility and appeal rights (exempt positions are at‑will).
• Section 8: Requires a Classification Plan that inventories all positions, standardizes titles, describes duties and qualifications, and assigns each position to a class and pay grade.
• Section 9: Requires an Employee Handbook detailing rules, policies, benefits, discipline, grievances, and other topics; it must be consistent with state/federal law and adopted by the city.
• Section 10: Establishes a Compensation Plan with pay grades, minimum/maximum steps, and procedures for pay adjustments, promotions, demotions, and transfers.
• Section 11: Outlines vacancy filling processes (promotion, open‑competitive, transfer, etc.) and how eligible candidates are certified for appointment.
• Section 12: Describes tenure, dismissal, demotion, suspension, and appeal rights, including probationary periods and grounds for discipline.
• Section 13: Creates the board hearing process for disciplinary actions, including discovery, public hearings, and appeal to the Circuit Court (Shelby County).
• Section 14: Regulates political activities by city employees, including restrictions on using position for political influence and requirements around resignation if running for public office.
• Section 15: Preserves existing board terms and certain personnel status; Section 16: Repeals the previous Pelham civil service acts.
• Section 17: Sets the act’s effective date as October 1, 2024.

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

Subjects

Shelby County