HB202 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Rex Reynolds Representative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Law enforcement officers; civil and criminal immunity from liability, further provided

Description

Under existing law, a peace officer is protected from tort liability arising out of his or her conduct in performance of any discretionary function within the line and scope of his or her law enforcement duties.

Under court precedents interpreting existing law, a peace officer is not entitled to this protection when he or she acts willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.

This bill would repeal existing law concerning peace officer immunity and establish a new form of legal protection for law enforcement officers. This new protection would foreclose any claim that seeks to impose civil liability against a law enforcement officer premised on conduct performed within his or her discretionary authority unless: (1) the law enforcement officer acted recklessly without law enforcement justification or (2) the conduct violated a clearly established state or federal statutory or constitutional right of the plaintiff. This bill would also establish a heightened pleading standard and an HB202 INTRODUCED automatic stay of proceedings to remain in effect while the law enforcement officer seeks to establish that the protection applies.

This bill would also provide that a law enforcement officer is justified in, and immune from criminal prosecution for, the use of physical force against a person in the performance of conduct within his or her discretionary authority unless the use of force violates the person’s constitutional rights to be free from excessive force. The bill would entitle a law enforcement officer to a pretrial hearing to establish the applicability of this protection. The bill would also provide for an automatic stay of any criminal prosecution while the law enforcement officer seeks to establish that the protection applies.

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Subjects

Public Safety & Emergencies