E-Verify requirements in Alabama: who must enroll, and what it takes to comply

As of September 2026, Alabama requires every business entity or employer in the state to enroll in E-Verify and run new hires through it, under Ala. Code section 31-13-15, part of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act. There is no employee-count threshold: a one-person shop and a statewide employer are covered the same way. A related section adds a second, separate condition for businesses that want a state or local contract, grant, or economic incentive, and for their subcontractors.

Who Alabama's E-Verify law covers

Two different sections of the Beason-Hammon Act create two overlapping obligations, and conflating them is the most common mistake in summaries of Alabama's law.

In practice this means an Alabama employer with no government business is still legally required to be enrolled in E-Verify under section 31-13-15. A business that also wants a public contract, grant, or economic incentive has to prove that enrollment as a separate condition of the award, and has to flow the same requirement down to its subcontractors. Public employers, such as a county government or a school system, are covered under section 31-13-15 as well, not only private business.

What Alabama employers must do, and by when

1. Enroll in E-Verify as a business entity or employer before hiring, if you have not already. Enrollment is with the federal E-Verify program operated by USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security; Alabama does not run its own separate system.
2. Complete Form I-9 for the new hire in full. Alabama's E-Verify requirement sits on top of the federal I-9 process; it does not shorten or replace any I-9 step.
3. Create the E-Verify case for the new hire. Alabama's statute does not set its own separate clock distinct from the federal E-Verify timing rules, which generally expect the case to be created within three employer business days of the employee's start date, once both sections of the I-9 are done.
4. Resolve a tentative nonconfirmation following the federal process if one comes back, rather than taking adverse action against the employee before the case is closed.
5. If applying for a state or local contract, grant, or incentive, submit proof of E-Verify enrollment as part of that application, and confirm any subcontractor on the work is enrolled before it starts.

Records to keep

Alabama's statute does not set out its own separate document-retention schedule distinct from the federal one, so the safest practice is to follow the federal rule the E-Verify program itself is built on: keep the printed or saved case results, along with the Form I-9, for as long as the I-9 must be kept, which is the later of three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends. A business enrolled under the contract, grant, or incentive condition in section 31-13-9 should also keep a copy of its E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding, since a copy of that MOU is what a court will ask for if a suspended license needs to be reinstated.

Penalties, including license suspension

Alabama does not fine an employer simply for failing to enroll in E-Verify. The exposure comes from a separate prohibition, in section 31-13-15 itself, on knowingly or intentionally employing, hiring, or continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. An employer that uses E-Verify in good faith and gets a confirmation is treated as not having violated that prohibition for that hire, which functions as a safe harbor. An employer that is found, through a court proceeding, to have knowingly violated the prohibition faces license consequences tied to the specific business location where the violation occurred:

• First violation: suspension of the business licenses at that location for a period the statute sets between 60 and 120 days.
• Second violation at the same location: permanent revocation of the business licenses at that location.
• Reinstatement: before a suspended license is reinstated, a legal representative of the business must file a signed, sworn affidavit with the court confirming compliance, along with a copy of the E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding issued when the business enrolled.

A business found in violation of the contract, grant, or incentive condition in section 31-13-9 separately risks losing that contract, grant, or incentive, and can be required to repay incentive money already received, on top of the license consequences above if the underlying employment was also a knowing violation.

Who enforces this, and how a case starts

A knowing-employment case under the Beason-Hammon Act runs through the state court system rather than through a licensing board's own administrative process. A finding against an employer also carries a probationary period: on a first violation, the court places the employer on probation for three years, during which the business must file a quarterly report with the local district attorney listing every new employee it hires. Missing that reporting obligation during probation is itself grounds for further action. An employer that ran E-Verify in good faith on the hire in question is treated as not having knowingly violated the Act for that hire, which is why enrollment matters even for a business that never expects to face a complaint: it is the difference between a documented safe harbor and an open question of fact for a court to decide.

A worked example, using an invented company: a 12-person landscaping business in Mobile that has never enrolled in E-Verify hires a worker who, it turns out, is not authorized to work. Because the business never enrolled, it cannot point to a confirmation to show it verified the hire, and it is exposed to a knowing- employment finding if a court concludes the business had reason to know. Compare that to a similarly sized business that ran the same hire through E-Verify and received a confirmation: for that hire, the statute treats the business as not having violated the Act, regardless of what a later, unrelated document turns out to show. The gap between the two businesses is not headcount or industry; it is whether the E-Verify case exists.

How this sits on top of Form I-9

E-Verify is not a substitute for the federal Form I-9; it runs off the data the employee and employer already entered on it. An Alabama employer still has to complete Section 1 and Section 2 of the I-9 on the federal timeline, and only then create the E-Verify case. Creating a case before an offer has been accepted, or before the I-9 is complete, is not what the statute requires and is not a compliance shortcut; it is treated as misuse of the system under the federal rules E-Verify itself runs on.

What a staffing agency placing workers into Alabama must do

A staffing or recruiting agency that employs its own workers and assigns them to work in Alabama is itself a "business entity or employer" under section 31-13-15, regardless of where the agency is headquartered. That means the agency, not just its client, needs to be enrolled in E-Verify and needs to run its own new hires through it before or as they start Alabama assignments. If the agency's placement sits on a project connected to a state or local government contract, grant, or incentive, the agency may also need to satisfy section 31-13-9's separate documentation condition as a subcontractor, which means enrolling and being able to produce proof of enrollment before the agency's workers begin that specific work. A client's own compliance does not substitute for the agency's; each employer in the chain is independently covered.

A compliance checklist for Alabama employers

1. Confirm the business itself, not just an individual manager, is enrolled in E-Verify.
2. Complete Form I-9 in full for every new hire working in Alabama, regardless of headcount.
3. Create the E-Verify case once the I-9 is complete, and keep the case result with the I-9 file.
4. If bidding on or renewing a state or local contract, grant, or incentive, gather proof of E-Verify enrollment before submitting the application.
5. If using subcontractors or a staffing agency on that public-facing work, confirm their E-Verify enrollment in writing before work starts.
6. Keep the Memorandum of Understanding from enrollment on file in case a license question ever comes up.
7. Do not create an E-Verify case before an offer is accepted and the I-9 is complete.

For the sequence of steps around a new hire more broadly, including where E-Verify fits against offer, background check, and I-9 timing, see the contractor onboarding checklist. For how Alabama's rule compares with the other states that mandate E-Verify, see E-Verify requirements by state.