Chris Poole: Brad Johnson Act ensures lives will be saved

The Brad Johnson Act is now a law in the state of Alabama. Governor Kay Ivey signed it during a ceremony in Montgomery on April 27, 2023.

Investigators Chris Poole and Brad Johnson were both shot on June 29, 2022 after a high speed chase ended in Bibb County. While Chris survived, Brad lost his life.

“Brad was an amazing deputy, an amazing man and an amazing father,” Poole said.

Johnson’s daughter’s Lana and Livy were also there to there for the signing. Poole said he hopes the girls realize that although their dad isn’t physically here, he is still making a difference. State Sen. April Weaver, who represents Bibb County, sponsored the bill that is now a law.

“From the get-go, Sen. Weaver said ‘I’m not gonna stop working for y’all,’ ” Poole said. ” ‘We are going to get this bill passed.’ When she did the SB1, the Deputy Brad Johnson Act, it was just amazing to me that someone cared so much.”

The Brad Johnson Act reduces how much state inmates can shave off their sentence times after accruing “good time.”

The man charged in Johnson’s death, Austin Patrick Hall, has a long criminal record, but had accumulated more than 2,000 days of good time while he was incarcerated. He’d been released from prison three days before the shooting that took Johnson’s life after having served four years of a nine-year sentence.

“There are going to be people’s lives that are saved that don’t even know that their lives are being saved from this bill.” Poole said.

A group from Bibb County, including Chris Poole and Brad Johnson’s daughters Lana and Livy, are traveling to Washington D.C. later this year to witness Brad’s name being added to the fallen officer’s memorial.