Alabama voters will decide at the May 2026 primary election whether to expand a bail law, known as Aniah’s Law, by adding to the list of crimes for which bail can be denied.
When a defendant is charged with a crime and not yet convicted, an amount of money—a specific range tied to specific crimes—referred to as a bail amount, may be paid so that the individual may be released until their court date.
The proposed constitutional amendment would authorize judges to deny bail to individuals charged with additional crimes, including:
- shooting or discharging a firearm, explosive, or other weapon into an occupied dwelling, building, railroad locomotive, railroad car, aircraft, automobile, truck, or watercraft; and
- solicitation, attempt, or conspiracy to commit murder.
The amendment was introduced by Sen. Will Barfoot (R-25). The Senate approved it in a 29-0 vote. Among Senate Republicans, 24 voted in favor and two were absent or did not vote. Among Senate Democrats, five voted in favor and three were absent or did not vote. In the House, the amendment passed 87-0, with all 74 Republicans and 13 Democrats voting in favor, and 16 Democratic representatives abstaining.
Barfoot said, “Procedurally these judges have two more different charges they can look at and determine based on the evidence presented to them whether or not someone should be afforded bail.”
Aniah’s Law, approved by voters in 2022 as Amendment 1, amended the Alabama Constitution to allow judges to deny bail to individuals charged with certain violent crimes. Those crimes include:
- murder;
- first-degree kidnapping;
- first-degree rape;
- first-degree sodomy;
- sexual torture;
- first-degree domestic violence;
- first-degree human trafficking;
- first-degree burglary;
- first-degree arson;
- first-degree robbery;
- terrorism; and
- aggravated child abuse.
The law is named after Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student who was abducted and murdered in 2019. The individual charged in her death had been released on bond after a prior arrest for kidnapping and attempted murder.
Voters in neighboring Tennessee will also decide a constitutional amendment related to bail policy in 2026. On April 21, the Tennessee State Legislature voted to place a measure on the ballot that would remove the right to bail for certain additional offenses.
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