Alabama House committee passes bill requiring school displays of Ten Commandments

By: Andrea Tinker-March 5, 2026 7:01 am

A bill that would require schools to display the Ten Commandments advanced out of an Alabama House committee Wednesday.

HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, would require fifth through 12th grade history classrooms to have a poster displaying the Ten Commandments.

“We passed this out of the House off the floor last year,” Gidley told the House Education Policy committee. “I worked with the governor’s office and with many others to try to get a good, solid bill.”

Under the legislation, the Ten Commandments would also have to be displayed in common areas such as school libraries or cafeterias. This would not apply to schools that serve students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Gidley filed a similar bill during last year’s Legislative Session. The bill passed the House, but stalled in the Senate.

Alabama voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed on public property but not mandating such displays. Federal courts have allowed the displays of the Ten Commandments in historical contexts in schools but not as religious or moral displays.

Louisiana in 2024 passed a law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms. A federal court last June blocked the law, ruling it violated the separation of church and state, but the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in February reversed the lower court’s decision while stopping short of ruling on the constitutionality of the law. 

Under Gidley’s bill, local boards can accept donated funds to purchase the posters.

“It’s all paid for with private funds, and there’s no requirement to put the posters up until the private funds are there to be supplied to them,” Gidley told the committee.

The bill passed without any opposition from the committee. Kierra Burks, a representative from Project Say Something, a non-profit organization that works for equality and justice for the Black community, said she was shocked by the lack of response.

“In my mind is Senate Bill 129 that was passed a few years ago that says no divisive concepts can be allowed in school, and that includes religion,” she said after the meeting.

SB 129 bans publicly funded diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as “divisive concepts” including race, gender, religion and sexual orientation, among others.

If passed, the bill would go into effect Oct. 1. It moves to the House.