House Bill 153 Alabama 2026 Session

Updated Feb 12, 2026

Summary

Primary Sponsor: Danny GarrettRepresentative
Republican
Session: 2026 Regular Session
Title: Class 8 municipalities; to authorize certain municipalities to opt out of county personnel board
Summary: HB153 would let certain Class 8 municipalities opt out of county personnel boards, create their own civil service system, and protect employee rights, while repealing a prior opt-out law.
What This Bill Does
Eligible Class 8 municipalities could opt out of the county personnel board after six months' notice if they meet population and multi-county criteria. They could opt back into the county board after at least 10 years by ordinance. If they opt out, the municipality must establish its own municipal civil service system and preserve vested rights of current county board employees and appointees, and adopt an anti-discrimination policy. The act is retroactive and curative, ratifying past opt-out actions under the prior law and repealing the earlier opt-out provision.

Who It Affects
Class 8 municipalities that have 25,000 or more people and have corporate limits in two counties; they may opt out and must create a municipal civil service system with preserved employee rights and an anti-discrimination policy.
County personnel boards, county governments, and employees in municipalities that opt out; these employees would be governed by the new municipal system instead of the county board.

Key Provisions
Adds Section 11-43-5.3 to authorize certain Class 8 municipalities to opt out from the jurisdiction of a county personnel board.
Opt-out is by ordinance and becomes effective six months after the ordinance's effective date.
Municipalities may opt back in after at least 10 years by ordinance, effective six months after passage.
Municipality that opts out must create its own municipal civil service system and protect vested rights of existing county board appointees.
Municipality must prohibit discrimination in line with federal and state law and adopt an explicit anti-discrimination policy.
The act is retroactive and curative and ratifies past opt-out actions under the prior law; Section 11-43-5.2 is repealed.
The act becomes effective immediately.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 11, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.
Subjects: Counties & Municipalities