Senate Bill 259 Alabama 2026 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Bobby D. SingletonSenator

Democrat

Session

2026 Regular Session

Title

Counties and municipalities; compensation of local officials, revised

Summary

SB259 rewrites how Alabama counties pay local officials by creating population-based pay categories, setting minimum salaries and uniform increases, repealing older rules, and applying retroactive effects with a June 1, 2026 effective date.

What This Bill Does

It establishes six county population categories to determine compensation levels for key local offices. It sets a $50,000 annual minimum for sheriffs and adjusts pay for county commissioners and probate judges by category, with specified increases. It allows up to a $10,000 annual expense allowance for certain tax, license, and revenue officials, to be phased in and later included in base salaries. It introduces uniform increases for local officials and ties some increases to broader county employee pay practices, while restricting increases for officials tied to state compensation and repealing several old compensation provisions; the act becomes effective June 1, 2026 and has retroactive elements.

Who It Affects

• County officials (sheriffs, county commissioners, judges of probate, tax assessors, tax collectors, revenue commissioners, license commissioners, and elected assistant tax assessors/collectors) whose salaries and expense allowances will be set, increased, or reorganized under the new categories and uniform-increase rules.
• Countys and county governments organized by population category (Category 1–6) that determine and pay these compensation amounts and may exercise exemptions or local-law adjustments under the new framework.

Key Provisions

• Creates population-based categories for counties to determine compensation using the 1990 federal census as reference, with six categories ranging from more than 450,000 people to less than 19,000.
• Sets a $50,000 annual minimum salary for sheriffs, to replace prior salaries/allowances, and provides category-based minimums or increases for county commissioners and probate judges (with specified increases: Category 3 20% effective Oct 1, 2001; Category 4 20% over the base; Category 5 17%; Category 6 15%).
• Allows an expense allowance up to $10,000 per year for tax assessors, tax collectors, revenue commissioners, license commissioners, and elected assistant tax officials, to be phased in, included in base pay after the next term, and subject to retirement deductions.
• Credits prior compensation increases from certain past acts against new allowances to ensure total increases do not exceed $10,000, and restricts increases for supernumerary offices.
• Introduces uniform increases for local officials starting post-2016, applies increases to base salary and expenses, and sets rules for when increases can be used to adjust pay; limits on increases for officials tied to state compensation; allows local laws to adjust compensation but not contradict the uniform-increase framework.
• Repeals several old compensation provisions (11-2A-3, 11-2A-6, 11-2A-7, 11-2A-8) and establishes June 1, 2026 as the effective date, with retroactive implications as described in the act.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 18, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Counties & Municipalities