Title 39. Lauderdale County, Local Provisions, Alabama Constitution

Alabama Constitution
Preamble
Articles
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Local Provisions

Chapter 1

“ Chapter 1. Miscellaneous Provisions RESERVED ”

Chapter 2

“ Chapter 2. Courts Article 1. Court Costs §39-2.00. General Authority. (Amendment 590) The Legislature may, from time to time, by general or local law applicable to Lauderdale County, fix, regulate, and alter the costs and charges of court in the county. This amendment shall be construed together with Section 39-8.00. (Amendment 590) ”

Chapter 3

“ Chapter 3. County Government, Finance, and Operations Article 1. County Government §39-3.00. Form of Government. (Amendment 140) The legislature shall not pass a special, private, or local law changing the form of government of Lauderdale county or of any city, town, village, district, or other such political subdivision of the county, or abridge the term of any elected officer thereof, by the abolition of his office or otherwise, unless the operation of such law shall be approved by a vote of the duly qualified electors of such county, city, town, village, district, or other political subdivision of the county, at an election held for such purpose, in the manner prescribed by such law. (Amendment 140) ”

Chapter 4

“ Chapter 4. Economic and Industrial Development RESERVED ”

Chapter 5

“ Chapter 5. Education RESERVED ”

Chapter 6

“ Chapter 6. Health and Environment RESERVED ”

Chapter 7

“ Chapter 7. Gaming RESERVED ”

Chapter 8

“ Chapter 8. Officials and Employees Article 1. Compensation §39-8.00. Certain Public Officials. (Amendment 241) The legislature may from time to time, by general or local laws applicable to or operative in Lauderdale county, fix, regulate, and alter the fees, commissions, allowances, and salaries, including the method and basis of their compensation, to be charged or received by the judge of probate, sheriff, tax assessor, tax collector, and clerk and register of the circuit court of Lauderdale county; and may place any or all of such officers on a salary and provide for the fees, commissions, allowances, and percentages collectible by such officers to be paid into the treasury from which their salaries are paid. (Amendment 241) Article 2. Retirement §39-8.20. Phase-out of Supernumerary Program; Participation in RSA. (Amendment 690) No elected or appointed Lauderdale County official may assume a supernumerary office after the effective date of this amendment. Any person who, on the effective date of this amendment, is entitled to participate in a supernumerary program may continue to participate in that supernumerary program, which shall include the assumption of a supernumerary office according to the terms and conditions of the law which established that supernumerary program. Every elected or appointed Lauderdale County official may participate in the Employees' Retirement System of Alabama upon the same terms and conditions as may be specified by law for any other employee in the same retirement system. Lauderdale County officials holding office at the time of the ratification of this amendment shall be eligible to purchase service credit in the Employees' Retirement System for the time the official has served in the current office; provided, however, the official shall forego the assumption of a supernumerary office. For the purposes of this amendment, the words "elected or appointed county official" shall include the sheriff and any person appointed to serve the remaining term of an elected or appointed county official, but shall not include a judge, district attorney, legislator, constable, school board member, or any official elected from a judicial circuit. (Amendment 690) ”

Chapter 9

“ Chapter 9. Public Safety Article 1. Use of Force §39-9.00. Defense of Person on Church Premises. (Amendment 953) (a) This amendment shall apply only in Lauderdale County. (b) The following definitions are applicable to this amendment: (1) CHURCH. A bona fide duly constituted religious society or ecclesiastical body of any sect, order, or denomination, or any congregation thereof. (2) DEADLY PHYSICAL FORCE. Force which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury. (3) FORCE. Physical action or threat against another, including confinement. (4) PREMISES. The term includes any building, as defined in this section, and any real property. (c) A person may use deadly physical force, and is legally presumed to be justified in using deadly physical force in self-defense or the defense of another person, if the person reasonably believes that another person is using or about to use physical force against an employee, volunteer, member of a church, or any other person authorized to be on the premises of the church when the church is open or closed to the public while committing or attempting to commit a crime involving death, serious physical injury, robbery in the first degree, or kidnapping in the first degree. (d) A person who is justified under subsection (c) in using deadly physical force, who is not engaged in an unlawful activity, and is in any place where he or she has the right to be, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground. (e) A person who uses force, including deadly physical force, as justified and permitted in this amendment is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the force was determined to be unlawful or in violation of Section 13A-3-21, Code of Alabama 1975. (f)(1) Prior to the commencement of a trial in a case in which a defense is claimed under this amendment, the court having jurisdiction over the case, upon motion of the defendant, shall conduct a pretrial hearing to determine whether deadly force, used by the defendant was justified or whether it was unlawful under this amendment. During any pretrial hearing to determine immunity, the defendant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she is immune from criminal prosecution. (2) If, after a pretrial hearing under subdivision (1), the court concludes that the defendant has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that force, including deadly force, was justified, the court shall enter an order finding the defendant immune from criminal prosecution and dismissing the criminal charges. (3) If the defendant does not meet his or her burden of proving immunity at the pretrial hearing, he or she may continue to pursue the defense of self-defense or defense of another person at trial. Once the issue of self-defense or defense of another person has been raised by the defendant, the state continues to bear the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements of the charged conduct. ([g]) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use of force described in subsection (b), but the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force used was unlawful. (Amendment 953) ”

Chapter 10

“ Chapter 10. Taxation Article 1. Miscellaneous Provisions §39-10.00. Consolidation of Offices; Revenue Commissioner. (Amendment 405) The legislature may by local act authorize the county commission of Lauderdale county, by resolution of such commission passed not later than April 1, 1984, to combine the offices of tax assessor and tax collector in said county effective September 30, 1984. If this amendment is passed by a majority of the qualified electors of the state and of said county who vote thereon when it is submitted, then any law theretofore passed which combines the offices of tax assessor and tax collector in said county shall become effective. If this amendment is approved and a majority of the qualified electors of said county who vote thereon vote against its approval, then such act or acts shall have no further force or effect. (Amendment 405) Article 2. Schools §39-10.20. Special Property Tax for Educational Purposes. (Amendment 177) The court of county commissioners, board of revenue or like governing body of Lauderdale county shall have the power to levy and collect a special property tax, in addition to all other taxes, now or hereafter authorized by the Constitution and laws of Alabama, of not exceeding one-half of one per cent on the value of the taxable property in the county situated outside the corporate limits of Florence, as such property was assessed for state taxation during the preceding year, the proceeds of which shall be used exclusively for educational purposes, but may be pledged to the payment of the principal of and interest on bonds, warrants, or other evidences of indebtedness issued for public school purposes, which pledges shall take priority as provided in such bonds, warrants, or other evidences of indebtedness; provided that such tax and the purpose or purposes thereof and the time such tax is proposed to be continued, shall have been first submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the county residing outside the corporate limits of Florence, and voted for by a majority of those voting at the election. Elections on proposals to levy this tax on the property in the county situated outside the corporate limits of Florence shall be called and held in the same manner as now provided by law for an election on the school district tax authorized in Sections 269.01 through 269.03. The tax on property situated outside the corporate limits of Florence shall be collected in the same manner and under the same requirements and laws as the taxes of the state are collected, and the revenues derived from such tax shall be used for school construction and other educational purposes solely in the territory of the county outside the corporate limits of Florence. If any proposal to levy a tax hereunder is defeated in any election, subsequent elections may be held at intervals of not less than two years. This amendment shall be self-executing. (Amendment 177) §39-10.21. Additional Tax for Educational Purposes. (Amendment 404) The Lauderdale county school district of Lauderdale county shall, subject to authorization at an election in each local school tax district as hereinafter provided, have power to levy and collect a special district tax, at a rate not exceeding ten mills on each dollar of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in such district for public school purposes therein, which special tax shall be in addition to all taxes now authorized or that may hereafter be authorized by the Constitution of Alabama to be levied in such district; provided, that no tax shall be levied under this amendment unless the rate of such tax, the time it is to continue, and the purpose thereof shall have been first submitted to the vote of the qualified electors of the local school tax district in which the tax is proposed to be levied and shall have been authorized by a majority of the qualified electors voting at the election at which the submission is made. Each election held under this amendment shall be called and held, the ballots canvassed, the results declared, and the tax levied and collected in the same manner as is now or may hereafter be provided by law in the case of school district taxes authorized by Sections 269.01 through 269.03, except that no countywide or systemwide tax shall be required to be levied as a condition precedent to either the authorization or levy of a local school district tax under this amendment. The holding of one election shall not preclude a later election in the same district under the authority of this amendment. The proceeds of any special district tax authorized by this amendment shall be expended solely for capital outlay purposes in the public schools in the district in which the tax shall be levied. The county board of education of Lauderdale county may from time to time, without the necessity of any election, change the boundaries of any local school tax district at any time existing in the county, or consolidate any two or more school districts therein, if the taxes authorized to be levied for public school purposes in all of the territory in such district after such change of boundaries or consolidation is effected shall be at the same aggregate rate and for the same duration of time; provided, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to impair or permit the impairment of the obligation of any contract created with respect to any securities theretofore issued with respect to any school district. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not be deemed to abridge any existing power conferred on the said county board of education by any existing law, but shall be in addition thereto. (Amendment 404) ”

Chapter 11

“ Chapter 11. Zoning, Planning, and Utilities Article 1. Water §39-11.00. Elk River Watershed. (Amendment (243) Any provision of sections 93 or 104 of the Constitution to the contrary notwithstanding and either with or without compliance with section 106 of the Constitution, the legislature shall have full power and authority to enact laws to provide for the formation of a public body corporate which shall be an instrumentality of the state for purposes of development, management, and control of the Alabama portion of the Elk river watershed area, in Lauderdale and Limestone counties, and any such legislation which may have been enacted by the 1965 legislature authorizing the formation of such public bodies corporate is hereby ratified, confirmed, and given full effect in all respects. (Amendment 243) ”

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Text of the Constitution
• An Overview of Alabama's Six Constitutions
• Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform

Additional reading

• Connor, George E. Connor, and Christopher W. Hammons (2008). The Constitutionalism of American States. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press.
• McMillan, Malcolm Cook (1955). Constitutional Development in Alabama, 1798-1901: A Study in Politics, the Negro, and Sectionalism. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.