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Earlier this week, Representative Jim Hill, R-Moody, introduced HB307, or the Speedy Trial Act. A retired judge, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and frequent proponent of reforms to the state’s criminal justice system, Hill says the bill is meant to fix backlogs that have begun building up in the state’s courts following the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Feb. 11, Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin told the Birmingham city council that it’s taking as long as three years for a murder trial to begin in Jefferson County and “without help from the state, … we won’t see that backlog decrease anytime soon.” And in a January article for Stateline, Amanda Hernández reported that court backlogs are quickly becoming a big problem in states across the country.
“We have certain circuits in this county and the state that are soon to have a backlog of criminal cases,” Rep. Hill told APR on Thursday. “Those criminal cases need to be tried quickly. There’s constitutional issues about not trying criminal cases in a speedy manner.” Under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, anyone charged with a crime has “the right to a speedy and public trial.”
As drafted, HB307 would let the Chief Justice of Alabama decide to appoint “visiting judges” when the state attorney general or a district attorney requests it. These visiting judges would be selected from amongst either sitting or retired circuit court judges and then be appointed to a specific circuit in order to serve as a judge for “a specific case or cases arising from one or more violent crimes.”
Hill explained that as a result of Alabama’s sentencing guidelines, people charged with nonviolent crimes typically plea out, rendering nonviolent crimes less of a factor in court backlogs. “As a general rule, the cases that end up having to be tried are Class A felonies and those are primarily your violent crimes: manslaughter, murder, rape, drug trafficking,” he said. “Those types of crimes are often the ones that absolutely did not fall under the sentencing guidelines.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall released a statement on Wednesday praising HB307 and another piece of legislation by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road. “Speedy trials are a constitutional guarantee for a defendant but no one deserves swift justice more than a crime victim,” Marshall wrote. “When violent criminals remain in our communities due to prolonged trial delays, the risk of reoffending rises.”
The bill’s reception amongst Alabama’s criminal justice professionals hasn’t been universally positive though. Circuit court judge, David Carpenter, posted on Facebook that HB307 “is a good idea, but it’s not enough to have retired judges hear cases.” Legislators need to “amend the Bill to provide funding for staff,” Carpenter said, arguing that visiting judges would require staff and that could take away resources for sitting judges, reducing the proposal’s efficacy.
In Hill’s interview with APR, he said it “may well take some additional staff,” but he doesn’t “see it as an insurmountable issue at all.” Focusing mainly on court reporters, he said that the Alabama court system already has roving court reporters that could help address visiting judges’ needs and that there are independent agencies the state could hire.
Visiting judges’ needs for court reporters are also addressed specifically in HB307. The bill states that sitting judges appointed by the Chief Justice to serve as a visiting judge could make use of their official court reporter, and otherwise a visiting judge could request a special roving reporter or special reporter. If all the previous options are unavailable, the bill would allow the Attorney General and district attorneys to hire a court reporter for visiting judges.
This session Hill has also introduced another bill, HB43, that would expand judges’ ability to issue “split sentences.” Judges in Alabama are currently able to split sentences for Class A or B felonies between jail or prison time and probation, within specific limits. HB43 would grant judges more discretion by allowing them to issue split sentences for sentences of up to 30 years and has already passed the state House.
In 2024, he introduced and sponsored an almost identical piece of legislation which also passed the House but then failed to see a vote in the Senate before the session ended, despite Hill’s conviction at the time that the bill would have passed if it got to the Senate floor.
Rep. Hill is still optimistic about his split sentencing bill finally becoming law this session. “I hope it will [pass],” he said. “I think it will, I hope it will. I believe it’s a step in the right direction.”
HB307 is currently awaiting the approval of the House Judiciary Committee. HB43 is similarly pending consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
