HB5 Summary

• Amends Section 12-15-319 of the Alabama Code to add mandatory grounds for terminating parental rights when a parent's conviction for rape, incest, sodomy, sexual torture, or sexual abuse resulted in the conception of a child.

• Requires juvenile courts to make a finding that a person who committed rape, incest, sodomy, sexual torture, or sexual abuse is unable to properly care for a child and must terminate that person's parental rights upon clear and convincing evidence of the crime and its connection to the child's conception.

• Expands existing law that previously only allowed courts discretionary authority to terminate rights in such cases; this bill makes termination mandatory when the statutory conditions are met.

• Applies to convictions under Alabama Code Sections 13A-6-61 (rape in the first degree), 13A-6-63 (sodomy in the first degree), and 13A-13-3 (incest).

• Becomes effective immediately upon passage and approval by the Governor.