Ala. Code § 11-40-10 : COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS — PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS ONLY — GENERAL PROVISIONS — IN GENERAL —40-10 - Police jurisdiction; force and effect of ordinances; jurisdiction on islands and offshore water adjacent to Florida; annexations

(a)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the police jurisdiction in municipalities having 6,000 or more inhabitants shall cover all adjoining territory within three miles of the corporate limits, and in municipalities having less than 6,000 inhabitants, the police jurisdiction shall cover all adjoining territory within a mile and a half of the corporate limits of the municipality.

(2)

a. Except as provided in paragraph b., notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the police jurisdiction of a municipality outside of the corporate limits of the municipality shall not extend beyond the police jurisdiction of the municipality on January 1, 2021. The annexation of property by general or local law shall not extend the area of a police jurisdiction of a municipality after January 1, 2021, except to include that property annexed into the corporate limits.

b. Notwithstanding paragraph a., the governing body of a municipality having less than 6,000 inhabitants according to the 2010 federal decennial census which has 6,000 or more inhabitants according to the 2020 federal decennial census, not later than 180 days following the final release of the 2020 federal decennial census population data by the United States Census Bureau, may extend its police jurisdiction to include all territory within three miles of the corporate limits upon adoption of an ordinance.

(3)

a. Any municipality , by ordinance, may eliminate or reduce its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits of the municipality by any number of half-mile increments, which shall take effect on the first day of January following its adoption on or before the preceding first day of October. A municipality eliminating or reducing its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits shall send written notice to the county commission no later than 30 days following the adoption of the ordinance. A municipality shall cease to levy any licenses or fees under Section 11-51-91 or any other taxes, licenses, or fees, except for those relating to the regulation of subdivisions, within the area removed from the police jurisdiction. A municipality may reduce its police jurisdiction pursuant to this paragraph no more than once during any 24 month period. An ordinance adopted under this paragraph cannot otherwise be amended, altered, or repealed, except by local law.

b. Any municipality, by ordinance, may cease to provide any service to its police jurisdiction outside its corporate limits, which shall take effect on the first day of January following its adoption on or before the preceding first day of October. A municipality ceasing to provide a service in its police jurisdiction outside its corporate limits shall send written notice to the county commission no later than 30 days following the adoption of the ordinance. A municipality may adopt an ordinance pursuant to this paragraph no more than once during any 24 month period. An ordinance adopted under this paragraph cannot otherwise be amended, altered, or repealed, except by act of the Legislature.

(b)

(1)

a. Ordinances of a municipality enforcing police or sanitary regulations and prescribing fines and penalties for violations thereof shall have force and effect only in the corporate limits of the municipality and on any property or rights-of-way belonging to the municipality , and on any drinking water reservoir owned by the municipality and on any property adjoining that reservoir.

Ordinances of a county enforcing police or sanitary regulations and prescribing fines and penalties for violations thereof shall have force and effect in any area in that county not lying within the corporate limits of any municipality or on any property or rights-of-way belonging to a municipality and that is not a drinking water reservoir owned by the municipality or on any property adjoining that reservoir.

b. Ordinances of a municipality prescribing fines and penalties for violations thereof which are state misdemeanors adopted as municipal ordinance violations shall have force and effect in the police jurisdiction of the municipality.

(2)

a. Except as provided in paragraph b., a municipality enforcing ordinances regulating the construction of buildings in the area of its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits on January 1, 2021, including the issuance of building permits, inspection of construction, and enforcement of building codes, may continue to adopt and enforce ordinances regulating the construction of buildings within the area of its police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits.

1. In any county where the county commission is enforcing ordinances regulating the construction of buildings in the area of a municipality's police jurisdiction outside the corporate limits of the municipality, the municipality shall discontinue enforcing any ordinance regulating the construction of buildings within that area no later than 24 months after the receipt of written notice by the municipal governing body from the county commission detailing that the county commission is enforcing those ordinances, except as provided by agreement adopted under subparagraph 2.

2. The county and the municipality may enter into an agreement for the municipality to regulate by ordinance the construction of buildings in the area of the municipality's police jurisdiction outside its corporate limits upon adoption of an ordinance by the municipal governing body and a resolution by the county commission. The county or the municipality may waive this agreement upon adoption of an ordinance by the municipal governing body or a resolution by the county commission; provided, that the waiver shall take effect 24 months after receipt of written notice by the non-waiving body from the waiving body detailing the adoption of the ordinance or resolution.

c. A municipality may not collect a fee for a building permit unless the municipality conducts a building inspection. The cost of the fee for any building permit shall be reasonably related to the cost of providing building code enforcement and inspection services, and revenue from the fees shall be used for building code enforcement and inspection services and not for general revenue purposes.

(3) In order for an ordinance adopted after July 26, 2021 to have force and effect in a police jurisdiction of a municipality or town, the municipal governing body shall provide a 30-day notice that the ordinance shall be effective in the police jurisdiction. The notice given shall be the same as required for adoption of an ordinance under Section 11-45-8. Additionally, if available at no cost to the municipality, the notice shall be submitted to any state-operated website providing information to businesses as directed by the Department of Revenue. No ordinance adopted after September 1, 2015, may be enforced against an individual or entity in the police jurisdiction affected by the ordinance until and unless the municipality has complied with the notice requirements provided for in this section.

(c)

(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the police jurisdiction of any municipality which pursuant to this section extends to include part of any island which has water immediately offshore adjacent to the boundary of the State of Florida, upon approval of the council of the municipality, shall extend to include the entire island including the water adjacent to the island extending to the existing police jurisdiction of the municipality and extending to the Florida state boundary where applicable.

(2) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or restrict a municipality from exercising authority within existing rights-of-way, in any public waterway immediately adjacent to territory within its corporate limits, on any uninhabited island which lies directly across a public waterway from territory within the corporate limits and would be contiguous with that territory except for the intervention of that public waterway, or on any public land or beach within its police jurisdiction. For purposes of this subdivision, uninhabited island means any land surrounded by water which has no residential or commercial buildings on it.

(d) When any noncontiguous property has been annexed into a municipality, the municipal governing body shall not exercise any jurisdiction or authority in any portion of the police jurisdiction that was extended beyond the corporate limits as a result of the annexation, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary.

(e) In no event shall a municipality, its officers, agents, contractors, subcontractors, or employees be liable for a reduction or elimination of the municipal police jurisdiction or the reduction or elimination of any service provided within the police jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, any equitable relief or indirect, incidental, special, punitive, exemplary, or consequential damages whatsoever arising in any manner as a result of the elimination of the police jurisdiction.

(f) Act 2021-297 does not affect any public or private contracts, or any mutual aid agreements between law enforcement, fire service, public safety, or emergency service agencies.

Ala. Code § 11-40-10 (1975)

Amended by Act 2021-297,§ 1, eff. 7/26/2021.

Amended by Act 2016-391,§ 1, eff. 5/12/2016.

Amended by Act 2015-361,§ 1, eff. 9/1/2015.

Code 1907, §1230; Code 1923, §1954; Code 1940, T. 37, §9; Act 2003-388, §1.