SB144 - Alabama School Bus Safety Act

• Authorizes county and municipal boards of education to implement automated enforcement systems using cameras to detect vehicles overtaking stopped school buses in violation of Section 32-5A-154.

• Establishes civil fines of $300 for first offense, $750 for second offense, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses within a 5-year period, with collected funds distributed to the governing body (40%), school system (40%), State Department of Education (10%), and Alabama Department of Public Safety (10%).

• Makes vehicle owners presumptively responsible for violations but allows owners to transfer responsibility to the actual operator by providing written notice with the operator's name and address; transferred operators may contest the violation or decline responsibility.

• Provides district and municipal courts jurisdiction to adjudicate violations as civil offenses using preponderance of evidence standard, with appeal rights to circuit court requiring full payment of the fine as a condition precedent.

• Requires destruction of recorded video images that do not identify violations within 90 days and violation images within 30 days of final disposition; prohibits arrest or incarceration for nonpayment of civil fines.