MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood applauds Governor Ivey for signing the Devinee Rooney and John Wesley Holt Safe Streets Act (Act 2026-64) into law. The legislation, which takes effect October 1, 2026, corrects major inconsistencies in Alabama law related to driving under the influence and leaving the scene of serious crashes.
Blackwood worked closely with the bill sponsors, Senator David Sessions and Representative Margie Wilcox on the legislation, helping refine the bill’s language and traveling to Montgomery to testify before a legislative committee about the need to address gaps in the law that prosecutors and victims’ families had encountered.
“This was a problem that needed to be fixed,” Blackwood said. “Under Alabama’s previous law, a driver who caused the death of another person while driving under the influence could potentially face a lesser punishment than someone who caused serious injury. That never made sense. I’m grateful to the Governor and the Legislature for working with us to correct it.”…