The Alabama Senate passed a bill today to reduce how much time state inmates can shave off their time behind bars by good behavior and to set new rules on the sentence reduction policy.

The bill amends the Alabama law on correctional incentive time, better known as “good time.” The good time law has been on the books since 1980 but come under criticism over the last two years because suspects charged in the fatal shootings of two law enforcement officers had accumulated large amounts of good time while behind bars.

The bill passed today was named in honor of Bibb County Deputy Brad Johnson, who was fatally shot in June 2022 while in pursuit of a suspect in a stolen car. The man charged in Johnson’s death, Austin Patrick Hall, has a long criminal record but had accumulated more than 2,000 days of good time while incarcerated, the Associated Press reported.

Bibb County Deputy Chris Poole was also shot during the pursuit and recovered. Poole was in the Senate gallery today when the bill by Sen. April Weaver, a Republican from Bibb County, passed on a 30-1 vote. Poole said he was moved by the recognition of Johnson, a 32-year-old father of two daughters. He thanked Weaver for sponsoring the bill, which now moves to the House of Representatives.

“I’m grateful that Deputy Johnson was honored here today. It was an amazing day. I can’t wait to see it fully passed,” Poole said.

Poole was pursuing Hall in a separate vehicle from Johnson and was struck by a bullet that came through the windshield. Weaver said the bullet was found in the back seat of Poole’s patrol car with a fragment of his scalp attached. Poole parted his hair to show the scar above his forehead. The shooting happened near Weaver’s home.

“We’re hoping when this passes no community ever has to go through what our community and our county has had to go through,” Weaver said.

Most state inmates in Alabama are not eligible for good time. As of January, about 14 percent were eligible, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Anyone with a sentence longer than 15 years and those charged with Class A felonies, manslaughter, or sex offenses involving a child are ineligible.

But those who are eligible can substantially reduce their time behind bars. The law categorizes eligible inmates as Class I, Class II, and Class III. Under current law, Class I inmates can reduce their sentences by 75 days for every 30 days served. Class II inmates can shave 40 days for 30 days served, and Class III can earn 20 days for 30 days served. Weaver’s bill reduces that to 30 days for 30 served in Class I, 15 days for 30 served in Class II, and five days for 30 served in Class III.

Weaver’s bill says inmates are ineligible for good time and forfeit any good time they have earned if they commit certain acts while in custody, including homicide, escape, assault with a serious injury, seizing or holding hostages, sexual assault, inciting a riot, rioting, fighting with a weapon resulting in serious injury, and arson.

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, cast the only vote against Weaver’s bill. Singleton proposed a substitute that would have reduced good time credits but not as sharply as Weaver’s bill reduced them. Singleton cautioned about unintended consequences and noted that the bill could worsen overcrowding in an Alabama prison system that faces a federal lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging unconstitutional conditions in the state’s prisons for men. Singleton said he believes good time can help inmates correct their behavior.

“I believe in second chances,” Singleton said. “I believe people can change, I really do.”

The Senate rejected Singleton’s substitute but adopted an amendment he proposed to make several changes. Weaver, who supported the changes, said they included a clarification that an inmate would not lose their eligibility for good time by participating in a civil protest. Singleton’s amendment also said inmates would not be penalized for an incident in which they acted in self defense, a change Weaver said was requested by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Weaver was asked about concerns that her bill would make overcrowding worse in a prison system that already faces a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that conditions are unconstitutional in Alabama’s men’s prisons.

“Certainly (overcrowding) is something that I trust DOC to address,” Weaver said. “What I am concerned about are my law enforcement officers in my community.”

Weaver noted it was the second straight year for lawmakers to amend the good time law after a police officer was killed. Last year, the Legislature passed a bill to make inmates convicted of manslaughter ineligible. That came in response to the shooting death of Sheffield Police Sgt. Nick Risner in 2021. The man charged in Risner’s death had served only three years of a 10-year sentence for manslaughter because of good time.

“Last year we were here naming a bill after Nick Risner,” Weaver said. “This year we’re naming a bill after Brad Johnson. So hopefully, with the passage of this bill today, we won’t have to go through this again.”

The ACLU of Alabama, which has advocated for sentencing reforms and more supervised releases of inmates by the Board of Pardons and Paroles, issued a statement critical of Weaver’s bill.

“The only thing the Senate approved today was fewer incentives and more time spent in Alabama’s unconstitutional, overcrowded prisons for incarcerated people,” said Dillon Nettles, policy and advocacy director for organization, the ACLU of Alabama. “If signed into law, SB1 will only agitate an already chaotic and violent system that is harming all Alabamians, including the lives of people incarcerated and correctional staff.”

Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall have also spoken out about what they said were inconsistent and lax policies on good time. In January, Ivey issued an executive order setting new rules for good time, including sanctions to take away good time for inmates who commit violations. Ivey said the changes were needed because the system was too lenient and the rules were applied differently in different prisons.

Weaver’s bill moves to the House. A House committee on Wednesday approved a similar bill by Rep. Russell Bedsole, a Republican who is a captain with the Shelby County sheriff’s office and supervises the county jail.