Alabama Bill Would End Youthful Offender Status for Murder

A bill prefiled for the 2026 Alabama legislative session would change how the Courts treat young people charged with serious violent crimes.

House Bill 11 (HB11) sponsored by State Representative Phillip Pettus (R-Killen) would bar judges from giving youthful offender status to anyone 16 years old or older charged with intentional murder or capital murder. If passed, the measure would make that decision automatic and remove judicial discretion that currently exists under state law.

Under the State’s current Youthful Offender Act, people under 19 can be tried as youthful offenders. That process limits sentencing and shields records in certain cases. Judges decide whether someone qualifies on a case-by-case basis.

“Our Courts are overworked as it is,” Pettus said. “This will just eliminate time in the court. If you do kill somebody, you should get more than three years in prison.”

Pettus told WTVM that youthful offender hearings require extra steps in an already lengthy court process. “What this will do, this will keep them from having the hearing… But it still ties up the court, and they still have to have the hearings and all that.”

The bill would make those charged at least 16 years old with murder or capital murder ineligible for the lighter treatment. Pettus, a retired state trooper, noted his law-enforcement background as a motivation for strengthening penalties. “A murder to me should get more than three years. For the family, the victims. And, hopefully, it will be a deterrent to our youth,” he said.

Pettus has pointed to past cases that influenced his push for reform, including a mass shooting in Dadeville and a case in which a juvenile received youthful offender status before that decision was later changed by a judge at higher court direction.

HB11 now awaits consideration by the House Judiciary Committee when the session begins on January 13.

The text of HB11 as filed may be read HERE.