Chip Brown Pushes Stronger Bail Rules for Deadly Crimes

State Representative Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island) has unveiled legislation aimed at tightening Alabama’s bail system in the most serious criminal cases. The bill would require prosecutors to seek denial of bail and force judges to hold pretrial detention hearings in cases where a Class A felony resulted in death.

Brown’s measure, House Bill 126 (HB126) closes a gap in current law by making mandatory what had been optional for prosecutors under existing Aniah’s Law provisions. Presently, prosecutors may ask a judge to deny bail for violent offenders but are not required to do so. The new bill would change that in fatal felony cases.

Under the bill, a District Attorney must request that a judge deny bail if the defendant faces a Class A felony charge involving a death. It would also prohibit judges from waiving the pretrial detention hearing for these cases. Those accused would remain held without bail until the hearing is conducted.

Class A felonies in Alabama include crimes such as murder, kidnapping, arson and first-degree rape, robbery and burglary, among others.

Brown said the proposal builds on the intent of Aniah’s Law, which voters approved in 2022 as a constitutional amendment to give judges greater authority to keep dangerous defendants in custody before trial. “Since its passage by voters in a 2022 referendum election, Aniah’s Law has brought a larger measure of justice to victims of violent crimes, and it has helped ensure that those who commit such crimes feel the full weight of punishment,” Brown said. “Time and experience have since shown us that we can make the law even stronger and demand an even higher level of accountability from those among us who take the life of another.”

Aniah’s Law arose from the 2019 killing of 19-year-old college student Aniah Blanchard. Prosecutors allege that her suspected killer, Ibraheed Yazeed, was out on bond for multiple violent offenses when the crime occurred. Voters overwhelmingly approved the measure that now empowers courts to deny bail in serious cases when public safety or the defendant’s court appearance cannot be assured.

Yazeed, who has been charged with capital murder in Blanchard’s death, is scheduled for trial on March 2, 2026.

Rep. Brown is not the first to call for widening Aniah’s Law. After a downtown Montgomery mass shooting suspect was released on a $60,000 bond, Mayor Steven Reed and Police Chief Jim Graboys publicly urged lawmakers to broaden the law so that more violent offenses could trigger bail-denial protections. Reed said it was “incumbent upon those at the State level not to allow these types of things to slip through the cracks,” and Graboys argued the law should cover all violent crimes, not just those currently listed. HB126 would largely address these concerns. 

The bill will be considered in the 2026 legislative session when lawmakers return to Montgomery next week.

HB126 as prefiled is not yet available on ALISON for review.

Chip Brown is a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives, serving District 105 in Mobile County since his election in 2018. A lifelong South Alabamian, Brown is a business owner and former CEO with experience in commercial real estate and security training. Following the September 11 attacks, he served in the Alabama Army National Guard, deploying to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan in support of U.S. and NATO operations. In the Legislature, Brown chairs the Ports, Waterways, and Intermodal Transit Committee and is known for his focus on economic development, public safety, and support for Alabama’s working families. He and his wife, Aimee, are raising their son in Mobile County.

Brown has recently qualified to run for reelection in District 105. For more information, his campaign website is https://www.chipbrown105.com, or follow him on social media.