Sixty-three new Alabama laws took effect on October 1, 2025, touching firearms, schools, small business taxes, healthcare consent, and state employment.1rocketcitynow.com. New Alabama Laws Take Effect October 1, 2025 A few of the year’s other big changes, including paid parental leave for state workers, kicked in earlier. The rundown below covers the shifts most likely to affect your day-to-day life, your business, or your family.
Who Can No Longer Own a Firearm
Alabama expanded the list of people barred from possessing a gun. The prohibition now covers anyone convicted of a crime of violence, a domestic violence misdemeanor, or a violent offense listed in the state’s crime victim notification law. It also covers anyone subject to a valid domestic abuse protection order and anyone found to be of unsound mind. Possession in violation of the statute is a Class C felony.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-72 – Certain Persons Forbidden to Possess Firearm
People charged with a violent offense or domestic violence and released while their case is pending face the same Class C felony charge if caught with a firearm.
Shooting a firearm into an occupied building, vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft is now a Class A felony, which carries 10 years to life in prison.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-61 – Discharging Firearm Into Occupied or Unoccupied Building Prohibited; Penalty That is the state’s most serious felony classification. Shooting into an unoccupied structure remains a lesser offense.
New Human Smuggling Offense and Police Immunity
Knowingly transporting a person who is illegally present in the United States into Alabama is now a Class C felony under state law. The statute carves out exceptions for transportation tied to government purposes, educational or healthcare functions, and noncommercial religious or charitable activities.4Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 31-13-13.1
HB202, the “Back the Blue” law, creates broad civil and criminal immunity for law enforcement officers acting in their official capacity, extending the same protection to medics supporting tactical units. Officers and medics lose that immunity only for reckless conduct or constitutional violations.
School Safety, Discipline, and Curriculum
Public and private schools must adopt cardiac emergency response plans starting with the 2025–2026 school year and keep automated external defibrillators available in athletic venues. Under the Coach Safely Act, coaches must complete annual concussion-awareness training that covers how to recognize symptoms and when to pull a student from play.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 22-11E-2 – Athletic Head Injury Safety Training
Due Process Before Long-Term Suspension
Students now have formal due process protections before a school can impose a long-term suspension, expulsion, or alternative school placement. Schools must give advance written notice describing the alleged misconduct. Students 14 and older have the right to review their records and question witnesses at the hearing. This is a meaningful shift from the previous system, where a student could be removed with little procedural protection.
DEI Funding Ban in Public Schools and Colleges
Local school boards, public colleges, and state agencies can no longer use state funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Students and staff can host DEI events on their own, but no public money can support them. Schools and colleges also cannot require students or employees to attend training or coursework that advocates for what the statute calls a “divisive concept,” which includes ideas about inherent privilege based on race or sex.
Financial Literacy Graduation Requirement
High school graduates must complete a standalone personal financial literacy course. The requirement applies to students who entered ninth grade in 2024–2025 and every class after that. Approved courses count toward one unit of math credit for graduation.6Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 16-40-12 – Instruction in Personal Financial Literacy and Money Management
Medical Consent Age Raised to 16
The age at which a minor can consent to medical, dental, and mental health treatment without a parent’s involvement rose from 14 to 16. For anyone under 16, written parental permission is now required. The law also establishes that parents have a fundamental right to make healthcare decisions for their children and bars providers and government agencies from withholding a minor’s health information from parents, unless a court order says otherwise or the parent is under investigation for a crime against the child.7Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. Medical Age of Consent in Alabama Raised Effective Oct. 1
Several exceptions remain. Minors under 16 can still consent on their own for treatment related to sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse, or medical emergencies. Minors who are pregnant, legally emancipated, or living independently may also make their own medical decisions. Schools must get written parental permission before a student under 16 participates in school counseling services.
Tax and Small Business Changes
Sales Tax Prepayment Relief
More than 3,000 small businesses no longer have to prepay monthly estimated sales taxes to the Department of Revenue. Businesses with less than $20,000 in average monthly sales tax liability can pay based on the previous month’s actual receipts instead of estimates.8Alabama Department of Revenue. Notice Increased Threshold Requirements for Monthly Estimated Sales Taxes That removes a real cash-flow headache for smaller retailers and service businesses.
Business Personal Property Exemption Raised
The tangible personal property tax exemption jumped from $40,000 to $100,000 in market value.9Alabama Legislature. HB543 Introduced The exemption applies to the state-levied ad valorem tax on business equipment, inventory, and other tangible property. If you own less than $100,000 in qualifying property, you no longer owe this tax at all.
Overtime State Income Tax Exemption Window Closed
Alabama exempted qualifying overtime pay from state income tax for overtime earned from October 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. The exemption originally covered only full-time hourly employees but was amended to align with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, meaning part-time and seasonal hourly workers also qualify if their overtime meets FLSA standards.10Alabama Department of Revenue. Overtime Pay Exemption – Amended The state exemption expired on June 30, 2025, so overtime earned after that date is again subject to Alabama income tax.
Vapor Products Tax Coming in 2026
Act 2025-377 levies a new excise tax of 10 cents per milliliter on all consumable vapor products sold at wholesale or imported into the state. Revenue will be split among the state (50 percent), counties (25 percent), and municipalities (25 percent). The tax does not take effect until October 1, 2026, so retailers and distributors have about a year to prepare.11Alabama Department of Revenue. NOTICE Vapor Products Tax
Tax Tribunal Now Hears Local Business License Cases
The Alabama Tax Tribunal’s jurisdiction now includes county and municipal business license taxes and fees, giving businesses a single forum to challenge local tax decisions instead of navigating separate local appeals processes.12Alabama Department of Revenue. Act 2025-408 SB 174 Business License Annual Reports and Appeals Act If you disagree with a final assessment, check current filing deadlines carefully, as different types of appeals may have different windows.
Paid Parental Leave for State Employees
State employees and employees of local education agencies, the Alabama Community College System, and its institutions gained paid parental leave starting July 1, 2025. Mothers receive eight weeks of paid leave for the birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage of a child. Fathers receive two weeks. For adoption of a child three or younger, one parent gets eight weeks and the other gets two, at the parents’ choice if both are eligible.13Office of the Governor of Alabama. Governor Ivey Delivers Another Win for Alabama Families, Signs Historic Paid Parental Leave into Law
This paid leave is separate from federal FMLA leave, which provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months.14U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act The Alabama benefit applies only to public-sector employees covered by the statute; it does not extend to private employers.
Other Changes Worth Knowing
Parker’s Law: Nursing Mothers and Jury Duty
Parker’s Law excuses nursing mothers from jury service. If you are nursing when you receive a summons, you can request an exemption by submitting a written statement confirming that you are nursing, along with a birth certificate or medical record showing the birth of the child. No doctor’s note is required. The exemption lasts 24 months, after which the court may direct you to reappear for service.
Nursing Loan Program and Pharmacy Benefit Managers
The Loan Repayment Program for Advanced Practice Nursing was expanded beyond rural areas to cover all healthcare provider shortage areas statewide, aimed at drawing more advanced practice registered nurses to underserved communities. Separately, new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers require more transparency and equal reimbursement to all pharmacies, whether independent or chain-owned.
Central Bank Digital Currency Prohibition
State and local government agencies cannot accept a Central Bank Digital Currency as payment or participate in any Federal Reserve CBDC pilot program.15Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 41-1-13 – Use of Central Bank Digital Currency No federal CBDC currently exists, so this is a preemptive rule rather than an immediate operational change.