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Dear Friends,
I am excited and pleased to announce that Alabama now has a new set of laws in place to fight elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. The bill known as the Protecting Alabama’s Elders Act passed the House during the last night of the legislation session which will create new articles in the Criminal Code to combat elder abuse and financial exploitation. It passed the Senate earlier in the session.
The legislation was drafted by the Alabama Council for the Prevention of Elder Abuse which was created during the 2012 Legislation Session. The Council has approximately 30 agencies and organizations who participate. ADSS serves as the lead agency for the Council.
Combating elder abuse has been a top priority of Governor Bentley. By working together our Council has shown that we can, and will, stand in a united front to protect our seniors. We will not stand by and watch quietly as our seniors are taken advantage of.
This legislation will strengthen Alabama’s laws to protect our seniors and provide our law enforcement agencies with the tools needed to punish those who hurt them by creating additional section(s) in the criminal code for elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. These new sections will provide law enforcement and prosecutors with additional avenues to prosecute elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
You can read more about the Protecting Alabama’s Elders Act here. As always if you have any questions or need our assistance please do not hesitate to call us.
Sincerely,
Neal Morrison
Commissioner
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