Opinion ID: 1667877
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is Act 87-616 a local law or a general law?

Text: Amendment No. 397 of the Alabama Constitution of 1901 defines general law and local law as follows: A general law is a law which in its terms and effects applies either to the whole state, or to one or more municipalities of the state less than the whole in a class. A general law applicable to such a class of municipalities shall define the class on the basis of criteria reasonably related to the purpose of the law, provided that the legislature may also enact and change from time to time a general schedule of not more than eight classes of municipalities based on population according to any designated federal decennial census, and general laws for any purpose may thereafter be enacted for any such class. Any law heretofore enacted which complies with the provisions of this section shall be considered a general law. No general law which at the time of its enactment applies to only one municipality of the state shall be enacted, unless notice of the intention to apply therefor shall have been given and shown as provided in section 106 of this Constitution for special, private or local laws; provided, that such notice shall not be deemed to constitute such a local law. A special or private law is one which applies to an individual, association or corporation. A local law is a law which is not a general law or a special or private law. When a dispute arises over whether a law is local or is general in nature, a court is obligated, when possible, to read the law as a general one. State ex rel. Montgomery v. Merrill, 218 Ala. 149, 152, 117 So. 473 (1928). If a statute may be read to apply, in some way, to the entire state in some of its chief features, it will be considered a general law. State ex rel. Collman v. Pitts, 160 Ala. 133, 134, 49 So. 441, 442 (1909). However, an act that was clearly intended to apply to a single county must be construed as a local act. Opinion of the Justices No. 197, 284 Ala. 626, 227 So.2d 396 (1969). Act 87-616 clearly applies to Mobile County only and is, therefore, a local act.