Carlee Russell photo courtesy of Hoover Police Department; Chief Nick Derzis photo by Jon Anderson.
Carlee Russell, left, was found guilty of filing a false police report. Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis, at right, fought for tougher penalties.
The Alabama Senate on Wednesday voted 32-0 on a bill to strengthen penalties against false reporting of crimes and to provide for restitution to law enforcement agencies that expend resources on investigating false reports.
The legislation, previously approved by the Alabama House with a 101-0 vote on Feb. 28, now moves to Gov Kay Ivey for her signature to become law.
The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Mike Shaw, R-Hoover, and in the Senate by Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, was filed in response to a false police report by Hoover resident Carlee Russell, who falsely claimed she was kidnapped on the side of Interstate 459 and held against her will for two days in July of last year.
Russell later admitted she lied about being kidnapped and seeing a toddler wandering along the side of the interstate in a diaper before the alleged kidnapping. Russell pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors — false reporting to law enforcement officers and falsely reporting an incident. A Jefferson County judge in March of this year sentenced her to six months in jail but suspended those sentences and ordered her to pay $18,000 in restitution and provide proof of mental counseling.
Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis, who pushed for stiffer penalties, said in July of last year that he was frustrated these were the only charges that could be filed against Russell due to the amount of time and resources spent trying to find her and investigating her false report and the level of panic and alarm her report caused the community.
If Ivey signs this new bill into law, falsely reporting an incident to local, state or federal law enforcement agencies will be elevated to a Class C felony if the false report alleges imminent danger to a person or to the public.
Class C felonies in Alabama, with no prior felonies, carry a penalty of between 366 days and 10 years in jail and up to $15,000 in fines. People with prior felonies can receive up to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $60,000, depending on the number of prior felonies.
This new bill also requires people found guilty of making false reports of this nature to pay restitution for expenses incurred by local, state or federal law enforcement or an assisting agency if the false report results in an investigation of that report.
“Expenses include any reasonable cost directly incurred, including the cost of police, firefighting and emergency medical services, and the personnel costs of the persons who respond to the incident,” the bill says.
Shaw on Wednesday said he was excited and relieved the Legislature was able to get the bill passed. The community was put through a lot because of Russell’s actions, and the system was kind of abused, he said.
“Hopefully, in the future, people will think twice about doing something like that,” Shaw said.
