MONTGOMERY — The State of Alabama will pay a $1 million settlement to the family of the late Deputy Bradley Johnson, who also now has a namesake law that cracks down on the early release of inmates from prison.

Johnson was a 32-year-old Bibb County Sheriff’s deputy at the time he and a fellow deputy, Chris Poole, were shot June 29, 2022 while pursuing Austin Patrick Hall, who was driving a stolen car.

After a 16-hour manhunt, Hall was taken into custody and charged with multiple crimes. Poole recovered from his gunshot wounds, but Johnson would die from injuries the following day.

Hall had been released erroneously from prison just a few months before the shooting based on a “good behavior incentive” despite his extensive criminal history: He was serving a nearly 10-year prison sentence for second-degree theft when he escaped from the Camden Work Release Center in October 2019. He evaded state and federal law enforcement officers for over a month before being re-captured on November 2019 after a high-speed chase that reached into Georgia.

While incarcerated at the Calhoun County facility, he assaulted a Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputy in February 2020.

Hall was later released early from prison for “good behavior.” It has since been uncovered that jail and prison facilities for years had failed to follow the state’s good behavior incentive policy, allowing Hall to be released months before he killed Johnson.

“Fundamental flaws in Alabama law granting correctional incentive ‘good time’ to inmates failed Deputy Johnson and his family,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “On Jan. 9 (2023), I issued an executive order to halt the deficiencies in correctional good time that allowed inmates reduced prison sentences and early release despite records of violent behavior and escape.”

Hall was indicted June 16, 2023, on three counts of capital murder in the death of Johnson, one count of attempted murder and one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied automobile.

The $1 million settlement — the maximum amount allowable under Alabama law — will go to Johnson’s two young daughters, according to Ivey.

On April 14, Ivey signed the Deputy Brad Johnson Act into law after receiving majority support by state legislators. The law went into effective immediately following Ivey’s signature.

“I was also proud to sign into law SB1, which codifies further reforms to correctional good time to ensure that convicted felons no longer access loopholes in the law to threaten law enforcement and the public,” she said in a July 5 statement.

The Deputy Brad Johnson Act

During the 2023 Alabama legislative session the act passed largely along party lines, with majority support from Republicans.

Prior to the new law, inmates sentenced to 15 or fewer years in prison could receive “good time” behavior incentives toward reducing their time in prison.

An estimated 10% of the more than 26,000 inmates in Alabama were eligible for the good time incentive.

The Deputy Brad Johnson Act drastically increased the amount of time a prisoner must spend in a certain classification before he or she can move up in classification.

Per the proposal, a prisoner who “faithfully observed the rules for a period of time” can earn a deduction from the term of his or her sentence as follows:

• 30 days (previously 75 days) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is classified as a Class I prisoner.
• 15 days (previously 40) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is a Class II prisoner.
• Five days (previously 20) for each 30 days actually served while the prisoner is a Class III prisoner.
• No good correctional incentive time can accrue during the period the prisoner is classified as a Class IV prisoner, which includes prisoners not yet classified or incoming prisoners.

The new law doubles the minimum amount of time an inmate remains in Class II and Class III from six months to 12 months, and three months to six months, respectively. It also increases the minimum a Class IV inmate stays in the classification from 30 days to three months before being eligible for Class III.

Under the new law, inmates would forfeit or not be eligible for good incentive time if he or she commits or attempts homicide, escape, assault that causes serious physical injury, seizing or holding a hostage in any manner, sexual assault, inciting a riot, rioting, fighting with a weapon that results in serious physical injury or arson while incarcerated.

Some people opposed to the new law have argued that it could contribute to overcrowded prisons.

Democrat Bobby Singleton, a vocal criminal justice reform advocate, said he fears that reducing the number days earned for good time credit could further incite frustration and inmate violence.

“This is one of the only tools that (Alabama Department of Corrections) has at some point in time to deal with these inmates, to get them to go to classes, to get them to go into the SAP program, to get them to go into other programs where they know they’re gonna get credit,” Singleton said at a March committee meeting hearing for the bill.

Singleton also said he worried that the new law could also have a negative impact on court systems, resulting in fewer pleas and more trials if good time is changed.

“At the court, at the pretrial sentencing when someone wants to plea, good time is usually offered in those pleas. When good time is not offered, and if I can’t get good time, I might as well take my chance and go to trial. What does that do — back up the trial docket more and more and more,” he said.

Sen. Will Barfoot, a District 25 Republican, said the proposed bill does not keep inmates in longer than they expected to be at their sentencing.

“For example, under current law, in a 10-year sentence, an inmate could lose that good time and could spend up to 10 years on that sentence, so the implementation of the amended bill would not mean that for sure that inmates stay in there longer than they currently could be in custody now for,” Barfoot said.