By Connor Loyd 

For the Enquirer  

One law that made it to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk after this past legislative session was the brainchild of Hartselle police chief Justin Barley – and the law will have a strong impact on his department as well as the community.  

The bill is Alabama House Bill 87. Sponsored by Rep. Parker Moore, the bill was designed to modify and readdress some issues found in an already existing but outdated state law surrounding law enforcement training. 

When new hires are brought into an agency, there’s considerable costs that go into their training and gear, costs which are paid for by the agency that hires them. The bill extends the period in which newly trained officers must stay with the agency that hired them without financial penalty by one year, and placed the burden of said financial payments on the new agency should they decide to transfer away before the three-year period is up. 

The bill began when Barley approached Rep. Moore about sponsorship.  

“Since that bill was originally written a lot has changed,” Barley said. “The length of the police academy is longer. The cost affiliated with sending somebody to training is more expensive, and so it felt like it was a good time to update that law for today’s times.” 

Barley said the bill’s importance is two-fold. Firstly, the stability it brings will help law enforcement keep their communities safer. Before HB87, Barley’s department would often find themselves running at minimum staffing levels with officers out completing training, on vacation or recovering from being sick. The new requirements, in part, are designed to better stabilize staffing levels, which will help the department deal with these inevitabilities without resorting to working on a skeleton crew and, in turn, help them better watch after our community. 

Secondly, smaller agencies have historically had a difficult time sending brand new recruits to the police academy because of their smaller budgets. In 2019, the cost to send someone to a regional academy was $750, which covered tuition, room and board. However, because of factors like the pandemic, a reduction in class sizes and increased costs, the price now reaches $3,500. That’s before factoring in salary, benefits, travel expenses, equipment, and all the other costs the agency assumes when a new officer walks in the door. 

And quite often these smaller agencies will immediately lose those employees to bigger agencies once they do become certified. With the new law, smaller agencies can get a better return on their investment, and if somebody does transfer before the set 36 months, the burden of repayment will fall on the agency hiring them instead of the individual. 

Looking ahead, Barley said he is hopeful that another bill he backed which did not make it through this year will have a chance of being passed in the future.  

The bill, which addressed sentencing issues in Class D felonies, was not ratified because it could have unintentionally created a conflict in sentencing guidelines. While that put the brakes on its progress this year, with that knowledge, Barley and those supporting the bill are ready to go back to the drawing board and further refine it for 2024’s legislative session. 

“I’m very optimistic that they can get that through in the next session in 2024,” Barley said. “That one, to me, will have tremendous impacts on communities.”