---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to civil liability; to amend Sections 6-5-700, 6-5-701, 6-5-702, 6-5-703, 6-5-704, 6-5-705, and 6-5-708, Code of Alabama 1975, to further provide for the liability of a public awarding authority and its contractors regarding the construction and maintenance of public roads; to delete an exception to the statutory protection from liability of a contractor; to create a rebuttable presumption of nonliability of the awarding authority and its contractors when certain circumstances apply; and to provide certain pleading requirements in the filing of a complaint for injury or death arising form the construction or maintenance of a public road."
description: "Highways, roads and bridges, contracts for construction, repair or maintenance, awarding authority defined, contractors immune from civil liability if compliant with contract and accepted by awarding authority."
jurisdiction: "us/states/al"
legislature: "Alabama Legislature"
session: "2023rs"
identifier: "SB 159"
citation: "Alabama SB 159 (2023rs)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Highways"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Clay Scofield"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 21
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2023-04-04T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-30T15:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a1f10308-8c6b-4146-84d7-457c59f02e6f"
source_url: "https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/bill-search"
source_hash: "9b36232d7d8c7129fd521c07e9ab9cc0c033caf3da55ff479a66cbf907de7976"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-al"]
---

# Alabama SB 159 (2023rs) — Relating to civil liability; to amend Sections 6-5-700, 6-5-701, 6-5-702, 6-5-703, 6-5-704, 6-5-705, and 6-5-708, Code of Alabama 1975, to further provide for the liability of a public awarding authority and its contractors regarding the construction and maintenance of public roads; to delete an exception to the statutory protection from liability of a contractor; to create a rebuttable presumption of nonliability of the awarding authority and its contractors when certain circumstances apply; and to provide certain pleading requirements in the filing of a complaint for injury or death arising form the construction or maintenance of a public road.

Highways, roads and bridges, contracts for construction, repair or maintenance, awarding authority defined, contractors immune from civil liability if compliant with contract and accepted by awarding authority.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB159-int.pdf)
2. **Act 2023-316** (committee substitute) — [source](http://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L1271931.AI1.pdf)
3. **Amendment HASH63-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/HASH63-1.pdf)
4. **Amendment MI9S1H-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/MI9S1H-1.pdf)
5. **Amendment RXXINM-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/RXXINM-1.pdf)
6. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB159-eng.pdf)
7. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://www.legislature.state.al.us/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2023RS/SB159-enr.pdf)

## Votes

- Roll of the H for Vote 802 on SB159 (2023 Regular Session) — **101–0** (pass) · lower
- Roll of the S for Vote 651 on SB159 (2023 Regular Session) — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Roll of the S for Vote 653 on SB159 (2023 Regular Session) — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Roll of the S for Vote 650 on SB159 (2023 Regular Session) — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Roll of the S for Vote 652 on SB159 (2023 Regular Session) — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Clay Scofield — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** Enrolled
- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** Ready to Enroll
- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** Read a Third Time and Pass `passage`
- **2023-05-23T04:00:00+00:00** On Third Reading in Second House
- **2023-05-17T04:00:00+00:00** Read Second Time in Second House
- **2023-05-17T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Out of Committee in Second House
- **2023-05-17T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Favorably (Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure) `committee-passage`
- **2023-05-16T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Committee (Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure) `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-16T04:00:00+00:00** Read First Time in Second House `reading-1`
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Read A Third Time And Passed As Amended
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Adopt
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Adopt
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** Adopt
- **2023-05-11T04:00:00+00:00** On Third Reading in House of Origin
- **2023-05-03T04:00:00+00:00** Read Second Time in House of Origin
- **2023-05-03T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Out of Committee in House of Origin
- **2023-05-03T04:00:00+00:00** Reported Favorably (Judiciary) `committee-passage`
- **2023-05-03T04:00:00+00:00** AMD/SUB (Judiciary)
- **2023-04-04T04:00:00+00:00** Introduced and Referred (Judiciary) `introduction, referral`
- **2023-04-04T04:00:00+00:00** Read First Time in House of Origin `reading-1`
- **2023-05-30T15:00:00+00:00** Enacted as 2023-316 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a1f10308-8c6b-4146-84d7-457c59f02e6f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Alabama legislature records).