The Alabama Senate approved a bill that would increase the punishments for loitering.
House Bill 24, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Montgomery, makes two or more arrests for loitering a misdemeanor with punishments of up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.
The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday 33-0. The House passed it 90-0 last month. It goes to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.
Under the legislation, law enforcement must offer to transport the person or ask them to peacefully leave the site before making an arrest.
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, carried the bill on the floor and said it was a "public safety" bill.
(READ MORE: Alabama legislation would increase penalties for loitering in streets)
"This bill addresses or attempts to address things from a public safety issue," he said. "It's an attempt to make sure that we have law enforcement that can, instead of an arrest to begin with, that all law enforcement, if they see someone who is on state roads and right-of-ways can engage that individual."
The bill's critics said that it targets vulnerable groups.
"We can't, as a society, in the way that we make policy, pit the public safety of some people against the public safety of other people," Lily Milwit, an attorney with the National Homelessness Law Center, told the Reflector previously.
Read more at AlabamaReflector.com.