HB91 Alabama 2012 Session

Under existing law, a person commits the crime of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance in the first degree if he or she manufactures a controlled substance or possesses certain precursor substances and meets other delineated criteria, such as possessing a firearm or operating a clandestine drug laboratory within 500 feet of a residence or a school

This bill would expand the crime of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance in the first degree to include a person manufacturing a controlled substance or possessing certain precursor substances and operating or planning to operate a clandestine drug laboratory on rented property such as an apartment, rental house, or lodging

This bill would also provide a mandatory sentence of 25 years of imprisonment without parole, probation, or a suspended sentence for the manufacture of methamphetamine on rented property and would require an individual operating a clandestine drug laboratory to pay all reasonable costs associated with remediating the site where the laboratory was located

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment

To amend Section 13A-12-218, Code of Alabama 1975, to expand the crime of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance in the first degree; to provide for enhanced criminal penalties; to require restitution; and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended.