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House renames drug courts 'accountability courts,' expands who can participate
Summary
The Alabama House passed HB360 to rename drug courts as "accountability courts," expand eligibility to people with mental illness and veterans, and require the Administrative Office of Courts to adopt implementation policies; members adopted two floor amendments clarifying treatment certification and district attorney petition rights.
The House on the floor passed House Bill 360, which renames existing drug courts as "accountability courts," broadens who those courts can serve and directs the Administrative Office of Courts to adopt policies governing their operation.
Sponsor Representative Jim Robertson told the chamber the change "would change the name of drug courts to accountability courts and would expand the scope of whom the court would have to serve to include offenders with mental illness and offenders who are veterans." He said the measure also "will require the administration office of the courts to adopt policies and procedures relating to the use and implementation of the accountability courts."
Supporters said the change aims to allow courts to offer structured treatment options beyond traditional drug offenses. Representative Reynolds (Madison) said the language brings clarity to ongoing use of the term and expands what accountability courts can do. Representative Drummond (Mobile) recounted local experience, noting drug court graduates who have taken leadership roles in the program and said the courts help "reclaim lives." Representative Moore (Jefferson) questioned whether "accountability" was too broad a label but said she understood the intent to provide more treatment outlets.
The House adopted two floor amendments offered from the floor. The first amendment, offered by Representative Hill, gives district attorneys an express mechanism to petition a judge to remove an individual from an accountability court program if the person does not comply with program requirements. The second amendment requires that mental-health–related treatment programs used by accountability courts be certified by the Department of Mental Health or otherwise documented as evidence-based, and permits municipal courts without an accountability court to send eligible participants to a circuit accountability court.
Representative Hill explained the amendments as clarifying the role of district attorneys and ensuring mental-health treatment providers meet state certification or evidence-based standards: "If an individual needs mental health counseling, that treatment program will be certified by the Department of Mental Health or alternatively there will be documentation that it's an evidence based program." He also said the amendments allow municipal courts to opt into a circuit-level accountability court where a local program does not exist.
The House approved the substitute and amendments and passed HB360 as substituted and amended. Clerk roll calls recorded the final passage as "A hundred 2, 1 0 nays" in the transcript. The bill passed as amended on the floor.
The measure directs the Administrative Office of Courts to adopt policies and procedures for implementing the renamed courts, but it leaves specific program standards and the final authority on participant admission or removal with judges, subject to petitions by district attorneys as provided in the adopted amendment.
Votes at the end of the day showed the chamber approved HB360 as substituted and amended.
