AL.com journalists today were named finalists for a Scripps Howard Award for their reporting on the town of Brookside and policing for profit across Alabama.

Reporters John Archibald, Ashley Remkus and Ramsey Archibald are finalists in the Local/Regional Investigative Reporting, the Scripps Howard Fund announced today.

Working with AL.com investigative editor Challen Stephens, the reporters chronicled the rise and fall of the Brookside Police Department and followed the money to identify the worst speed traps in Alabama.

The reporting revealed how the police force in Brookside, a town of 1,253 people, used proceeds from fines for nefarious citations and arrests and forfeitures to increase the town’s revenue by 640 percent over two years. The fines and forfeitures came to account for nearly half of the town’s revenue by 2020.

The police chief, his top lieutenant and more than half of the force resigned or were forced out within two weeks of AL.com’s initial story. Two months later, the state legislature passed a law restricting Alabama towns from using revenues from fines and fees to supply more than 10 percent of their budgets.

“We do this work because of the impact it has here at home,” said Kelly Ann Scott, vice president of content at AL.com. “And that incredible impact is what we’re most proud of with this reporting. This work has forever changed Alabama.”

The reporting, which led to immediate and lasting changes, including freeing people from jail, also won a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, the George Polk Award for local reporting and the Hillman Prize for web journalism, among other honors.

Read the work here:

The work was supported by Ivana Hrynkiw, who led engagement efforts for AL.com, and former staff photographer Joe Songer, who took the photos.

The Scripps Howard Awards judges selected this year’s finalists from 780 entries across 14 categories.

“The AL.com project demonstrated the power of local investigative journalism to make a real and lasting difference in a community,” the Scripps Howard Fund announcement says. “The investigation had a true impact, restoring justice to a town whose guardians had become predators.”

The winners will be announced during a special program airing at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Oct. 22, on Scripps News, the national news network owned by Scripps. The awards show will also announce the winner of the coveted Impact Award, which is chosen from the winners of the other 14 categories and select finalists. The award honors the journalism that produced the most impact.

Other finalists in the local/regional investigative reporting category are KARE 11 (Minneapolis) Investigates and The Charlotte Observer | The News & Observer.

See the full list of finalists here.