Terms of Service

Acceptance of These Terms

By opening this website, reading its pages or sending a message through the contact desk, you agree to these Terms of Service and to the Privacy Policy that accompanies them. If you do not agree with these terms, you should stop using the site. Your continued use of the site after a change to these terms means that you accept the revised version.

These terms form a binding agreement between you and House Of Representatives, Alabama in respect of the website. They do not replace any rule of the chamber that governs the conduct of members, staff or visitors, and they do not affect any statutory right you may have as a member of the public.

About the Site

This website is the public face of the chamber desk operated by House Of Representatives, Alabama at 11 S Union St FL 5, Montgomery - 36130-2102, United States (US). It publishes the desk services, the contact details of the desk and the legal notices that describe how the desk handles information and requests.

The site is informational. It describes the session calendar, the floor vote logistics, the constituent liaison hours, the committee referral days, the journal proofing sessions and the recess audit evenings. The site does not accept a filing, it does not change the status of a bill and it does not substitute for a written request made to the chamber clerk.

The site is developed and maintained by Alabama House, the developer named for this project. The developer provides technical hosting and page maintenance only; the content and the records belong to House Of Representatives, Alabama.

Eligibility to Use the Site

You may use this site if you are old enough to take part in civic life in your place of residence and if you are legally able to enter into a binding agreement. If you use the site on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation to these terms.

The contact desk is intended for members of the public, for legislative aides, for journalists and for residents who need a record. A person who is subject to a legal restriction that prevents contact with a chamber office should not use the desk to evade that restriction.

Permitted Use

You may read every page on the site, print a page for your own reference, quote a short passage with attribution, and send a message through the contact desk to ask a question about the work of the chamber. These are the ordinary uses that the site is built for.

• Reading and printing the pages for personal, educational or journalistic use.
• Sending a message about a bill, a hearing time, a referral date or a journal page.
• Sharing a link to a page with another person who needs the same information.
• Quoting a short passage with a clear reference to the source page.
• Using the site with assistive technology and adjusting the display to suit your needs.

Any other use requires written permission from the chamber desk. Permission will not be unreasonably refused for a use that serves the public interest and that preserves the accuracy of the record.

Prohibited Conduct

The desk asks every visitor to treat the site with the same care as the chamber floor. The following conduct is not permitted, and the desk may suspend access where it occurs.

• Sending automated or bulk messages through the contact form.
• Submitting a message under a false name with the intent to mislead the desk.
• Attempting to gain unauthorised access to the server or to another person records.
• Introducing malicious code, scraping the site at a rate that degrades service, or probing for vulnerabilities without written permission.
• Copying a substantial part of the site and republishing it as if it were an original work.
• Using the site to harass a member, a clerk or another visitor.
• Using the site for advertising, for political fundraising or for the sale of a product or service.
• Presenting a page of this site as the official order of the chamber when it is only a description.

A security researcher who wishes to test the site should write to the desk first and agree on a scope. The desk welcomes a responsible report and will acknowledge it in writing.

Use of the Contact Desk

The contact form opens your email application and prepares a message for you to review before sending. The desk does not read a message until you send it. When you send a message you confirm that the information in it is accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you have the right to share any personal information about another person that it contains.

The desk replies during business hours in the order messages arrive. A message is answered by a clerk, not by an automated system, and a request that names a bill number is faster to answer because the clerk can go straight to the referral ledger and the tally sheets. An urgent safety matter should be directed to emergency services rather than to the desk.

The desk may decline to answer a message that is abusive, that seeks information about another person, or that asks the clerk to break a confidentiality rule. Where a message is declined, the clerk will say so plainly and explain the reason in one sentence.

Public Records and the Journal

The session calendar, the tally sheets and the proofed journal are public records of the chamber office. The desk publishes them so that a resident can follow a bill from its first reading to its final journal page. The site shows summaries and entry points; the authoritative copy is held by the chamber clerk at the Union St office.

A record that is subject to a legal hold, or that has been sealed by order of the chamber, will not be released through the desk. If you ask for such a record, the clerk will tell you that it is held in custody and will explain the process for making a formal request to the chamber clerk.

A correction to a formal record must be approved by the chamber clerk before it is made. The desk will not alter a journal line on the basis of an informal message alone. Where a correction is approved, the change is initialled, dated and noted so that the record shows its own history.

Accuracy of Information

The desk works hard to keep every page accurate and current. Even so, a page may be out of date between the moment a session is rescheduled and the moment the calendar desk republishes the list. You should confirm a critical date with the desk by phone at +14069627543 or by email before you travel to the chamber.

The site does not give legal advice and it does not interpret a bill for you. A statement on this site about the effect of a bill is a description of the office work, not a legal opinion, and you should not rely on it as if it were one.

Where a description on this site conflicts with the printed order of the chamber, the printed order prevails. The desk will correct the page as soon as the conflict is brought to its attention, and it welcomes a note from any visitor who spots an error.

Intellectual Property

The layout, the text and the design of this website belong to House Of Representatives, Alabama and are protected by copyright and other laws. The name House Of Representatives, Alabama and the chamber desk identity are marks of the chamber office. You may not use them in a way that suggests an endorsement you do not have.

Public records reproduced on the site, such as a calendar entry or a journal page, are published for the public to read. A short quotation with attribution is welcome. A wholesale republication of the site or of a public record for commercial gain is not permitted without written permission.

If you believe that a page on this site reproduces a work in a way that infringes your rights, write to the desk with the details of the work, the page address and a statement of your authority. The desk will review the notice and will remove the material where the notice is well founded.

Third Party Links and Services

The site may link to a committee office, a member office or another public resource that helps a visitor follow a bill. A link is offered as a convenience. The desk does not control the linked site, it does not endorse its content and it is not responsible for the way that site handles your information.

If a service such as a mapping tool or a holiday calendar is embedded in a page, it is provided by a third party under that party own terms. You should review the terms and the privacy notice of any third party service before you use it.

Disclaimers

The site and the information on it are provided on an as available basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, House Of Representatives, Alabama and the developer make no warranty, express or implied, that the site will be uninterrupted, that it will be free of error, or that a record obtained through it will be complete at the moment you read it.

The desk does not warrant that a message will be answered within a particular time. The desk aims to answer within one working day, but the arrival of a heavy session may delay a reply, and the desk will tell you when a delay is likely.

Nothing in these terms excludes a warranty or a right that cannot be excluded by law. Where a law of your place of residence gives you a right that these terms cannot remove, that right continues to apply.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, House Of Representatives, Alabama and the developer are not liable for an indirect, incidental or consequential loss that arises from your use of this site, including a loss that results from a delay in a reply, from reliance on an out of date page, or from a link to a third party site.

Where liability cannot be excluded, the total liability of the chamber office and the developer together is limited to the direct loss that you can show was caused by a failure on their part. The limitation does not apply to fraud, to a wilful act, or to a liability that the law does not allow to be limited.

The desk is a public office. It does not charge a fee for using this site, and the absence of a fee is part of the reason the limits in this section are reasonable and fair to both sides.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify House Of Representatives, Alabama and the developer against a claim, a loss or an expense that arises from your misuse of the site, from a message you send that is unlawful, or from a breach of these terms on your part. This obligation is a reasonable condition for the use of a public information resource.

The desk will tell you promptly if a claim is made, and it will allow you to take part in the defence of the claim where the law permits. The desk retains the right to take its own position on any matter that concerns the public record.

Suspension and Termination

The desk may suspend or block access to the site where a person has sent automated or abusive messages, where a person has attempted to breach the server, or where the law requires a restriction. Where practical, the desk will explain the suspension and the steps needed to restore access.

A suspension does not remove your right to make a formal request to the chamber clerk by written letter. The desk will not use a suspension to silence a lawful question, and a restriction is always reviewed by the chamber clerk within a reasonable time.

Changes to These Terms

The desk reviews these terms at each recess audit. When a change is material, the desk will post the revised version on this page with a new effective date and a short note that describes the change. A change that only corrects a spelling error will be made without a note.

A change applies from the date it is posted. If you continue to use the site after that date, you accept the revised terms. If you do not accept a change, you should stop using the site and, if you wish, write to the desk to raise your concern.

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and by the law of the place where the chamber office is situated. A dispute that arises from the use of this site is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of that place, unless a rule that protects you as a consumer gives you the right to bring a claim where you live.

Before a formal dispute is opened, the desk asks that you write to the chamber clerk and allow a reasonable time for a reply. Many disputes about a record are resolved at the desk, because a clerk can explain a step that a page alone cannot show.

How to Contact Us

For a question about these terms, write to the chamber desk using the details below. The desk answers in the order requests arrive during business hours.

General Provisions

If a part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest of the terms continue in force and the unenforceable part is read in a way that comes closest to the original intent. A failure by the desk to enforce a term on one occasion is not a waiver of that term.

These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and House Of Representatives, Alabama about the use of this website. A heading in these terms is a reading aid only and does not affect the meaning of the text that follows it.

The desk may assign its rights and duties under these terms to another office within the chamber where a reorganisation makes that necessary. You may not assign your rights under these terms without the written agreement of the desk. A notice sent under these terms must be in writing and sent to the email address or the postal address shown in the contact section.