SB261 Alabama 2024 Session

Updated Feb 23, 2026

Notable

Summary

Primary Sponsor: Andrew JonesSenator
Republican
Session: Regular Session 2024
Title: Cherokee County, constitutional amendment, authorizes legislature to fix court costs by local law
Summary: This bill would amend the Alabama Constitution to let the Legislature fix and regulate Cherokee County court costs and to ratify all previously collected costs.
What This Bill Does
It would authorize the Legislature to fix, regulate, and alter the costs and charges of Cherokee County courts and determine how those funds are distributed. It would ratify, validate, and confirm all court costs collected in Cherokee County before the amendment is ratified. After ratification, the Code Commissioner would number and place the amendment in the Constitution and may perform nonsubstantive revisions. An election would be held to approve the amendment, and it would become part of the Constitution if a majority of voters approves it.

Who It Affects
Cherokee County residents and taxpayers—future court costs and how funds are distributed could be set or changed by the Legislature.
The Alabama Legislature and Cherokee County courts—authority to fix, regulate, and distribute court costs would shift to or be exercised by the Legislature and related officials.

Key Provisions
The Legislature may fix, regulate, and alter the costs and charges of courts in Cherokee County and provide for their distribution.
All court costs and charges collected in Cherokee County prior to ratification are ratified, validated, and confirmed.
Upon ratification, the Code Commissioner shall number and place the amendment in the Constitution and may make nonsubstantive revisions (capitalization, spelling, punctuation, cross-references, etc.).
The proposed amendment shall be voted on in an election, and it becomes valid as part of the Constitution when approved by a majority of qualified electors.

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