Under GPS tracking laws in Alabama, attaching a GPS device to someone else’s property without their consent is a crime called electronic stalking, ranging from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B felony depending on your intent and whether a court order is already in place. Tracking a vehicle you own is generally legal, and so is an employer tracking a company-owned vehicle. Police need a warrant.
When Placing a Tracker Becomes a Crime
Alabama’s electronic stalking statutes turn on two things: whose property the device is on, and why you put it there.
If you place a GPS device on another person’s property without the owner’s consent, that alone is electronic stalking in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor. You don’t have to follow the person, collect data, or do anything else with the device. Installing it is the offense.1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-96 – Electronic Stalking in the Second Degree
The charge becomes electronic stalking in the first degree, a Class C felony, when the tracker is placed with intent to surveil, stalk, or harass the person, or for any other unlawful purpose.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-95 – Electronic Stalking in the First Degree Prosecutors prove intent from context: the relationship between the parties, threatening messages, repeated behavior, and anything else that shows the tracker was part of a pattern rather than an isolated act.
The offense climbs to a Class B felony if the person placing the tracker is, at the time, already subject to a domestic violence protection order, elder abuse protection order, temporary restraining order, or any other court order.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-95 – Electronic Stalking in the First Degree Domestic cases where a court has already intervened are the typical fact pattern here.
When Private Citizens Can Legally Use a GPS Tracker
The statutes apply only when a device is placed on “the property of another person.”1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-96 – Electronic Stalking in the Second Degree If you own the vehicle, you can install a GPS device on it, even if another person drives it every day. This ownership rule matters most in divorce and separation situations, where the person paying for and titled to a car isn’t the person behind the wheel.
Ownership doesn’t cover everything, though. The first-degree offense is defined by intent, not by whose property is involved. Placing a tracker on your own vehicle to stalk or harass the driver can still be prosecuted as first-degree electronic stalking.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-95 – Electronic Stalking in the First Degree Owning the car defeats the consent-based charge. It doesn’t defeat the intent-based one.
Both statutes carve out an exception for conduct “otherwise authorized by law.” That language covers parents monitoring their minor children, and it covers law enforcement operating under a valid warrant.
Tracking Company Vehicles as an Employer
Because the ownership exception applies to any owner, employers can install GPS devices on company-owned vehicles without running into the electronic stalking statutes.1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-96 – Electronic Stalking in the Second Degree Fleet management, route verification, and productivity monitoring all fit within this framework.
Alabama has no statute specifically requiring written GPS disclosure to employees, but a written, acknowledged tracking policy is the cleanest way to avoid disputes. A useful policy spells out what devices are used, what data is collected, how long it’s kept, and whether tracking continues outside work hours.
One boundary worth knowing: Alabama’s criminal surveillance statute makes it a Class B misdemeanor to intentionally surveil someone while trespassing in a private place.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-32 – Criminal Surveillance Tracking a company vehicle on public roads is not trespassing. Extending surveillance into an employee’s home or off-duty private activities is different territory.
When Police Need a Warrant to Track a Vehicle
Law enforcement in Alabama must get a warrant before installing a GPS tracker on a vehicle. The U.S. Supreme Court held in United States v. Jones that installing a GPS device on a vehicle and using it to monitor the vehicle’s movements is a search under the Fourth Amendment.4Legal Information Institute. United States v. Jones
Alabama’s warrant procedure is in Section 15-5-50. A circuit or district judge can issue the warrant on a written, sworn application from a law enforcement officer, district attorney, or the Attorney General’s office. The application has to establish probable cause and identify the person or object to be tracked with enough specificity to limit the surveillance.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-5-50 – Warrant for Tracking Device Installation; Requirements; Procedures
The warrant is valid for up to 45 days, and installation must happen within 10 days of issuance. A judge can grant 45-day extensions based on new, renewed, or ongoing probable cause. After surveillance ends, the officer has 10 days to return the warrant with an inventory, and must serve a copy on the person who was tracked, though a judge can delay that notification by up to 90 days if immediate notice would produce an adverse result.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-5-50 – Warrant for Tracking Device Installation; Requirements; Procedures
Penalties for Illegal GPS Tracking
Alabama sorts the punishment for illegal tracking into three tiers based on intent and the presence of a court order.
- Second-degree electronic stalking, a Class A misdemeanor, applies when a tracker is placed on another person’s property without consent and no further intent is proven. It carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.6Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-7 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violations7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-12 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations
- First-degree electronic stalking, a Class C felony, applies when the tracker is placed with intent to surveil, stalk, or harass, or for any other unlawful purpose. It carries one year and one day up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.8Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies9Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
- First-degree electronic stalking becomes a Class B felony when the offender is already under a domestic violence protection order, elder abuse protection order, restraining order, or other court order. It carries 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.8Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies9Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
A person who was illegally tracked may also pursue civil claims. Alabama has no dedicated civil statute for electronic stalking, but tort actions like invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress are available. Outcomes depend heavily on the facts, so an attorney’s read on a specific situation is worth getting before filing.
What to Do If You Find a Tracker on Your Vehicle
Two features of the first-degree statute directly help people who discover a hidden device. The statute of limitations doesn’t start running until the tracker is actually discovered, so finding one months after it was installed doesn’t cost you the chance to press charges.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-95 – Electronic Stalking in the First Degree
The case can also be prosecuted in the county where any part of the offense occurred, where the device was discovered, or where the property owner lives.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-95 – Electronic Stalking in the First Degree That matters when a device was planted in one county and found in another. Leave the device in place if possible, or preserve it once removed, and report it to local law enforcement so the evidence gets documented and investigators can work on identifying who placed it.