Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Jan. 13, 2026. A Senate committee passed a bill he sponsored to give crime victims more time to apply for financial assistance from state. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama Senate committee approved legislation that increases the time limit that crime victims may apply to receive compensation from the state’s crime victim compensation commission.
HB 255, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, extends the deadline for victims and their families to apply for claims to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission from one year to two years.
Sen. Lance Bell, R-Pell City, introduced the legislation in Bedsole’s place at the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee.
“I think the goal, when you look at the justice system, you have to keep in mind that it partly has to do with hold offenders accountable, that is something we take very seriously in our state, but if we want the complete picture of the justice system, that is also how we serve the victims,” Bedsole said after the meeting.
The legislation retains most of the elements already in state statute. The most significant change in the bill amends the law from one year to “two years.” The bill leaves the other requirements in place for applicants to receive financial assistance.
That includes reporting the incident to law enforcement within 72 hours and that the applicants comply and cooperate with the investigation. Petitioners must also not be involved in the crime that they are seeking compensation.
Victim advocates urged lawmakers to approve the legislation because people affected by incidents of violent crime are left to navigate a slate of issues related to the trauma they experienced.
“I am very excited that the Senate thought it fit to pass the bill through the committee,” said Everette Johnson, executive director of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission, in an interview following the meeting. “This is an easy fix to helping more victims and giving them the opportunity to overcome their struggles and their challenges with being a victim.”
The bill is now at the same point in the legislative process as the one that Bedsole filed during the previous session. In 2025, the House of Representatives approved the bill, and it made it through the Senate committee, but it stalled in the Senate. Victims’ rights and advocacy groups referred to the legislation at a rally on Tuesday as an initial measure that is part of a broader effort to provide additional resources to victims of violent crime and their families.
Aside from extending the deadline, speakers at the rally also urged the state to provide mental health services and therapy sessions to address post-traumatic stress disorders, along with money for lost wages and medical expenses. They also want to get money to the families for funeral and burial services for their loved ones who died.
The bill goes to the Senate.
“It is going to take our senators to see the importance of this and putting it on the calendar and getting it on the Governor’s desk,” Johnson said about what it will take to get the bill approved in the Legislature.
He added that it should be a “unanimous vote” to get it through.
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Author: Ralph Chapoco