How to become a state trooper in Alabama
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) hires state troopers under the title ALEA Trooper (class 60671). New state troopers start at $46,469 a year, rising to $77,690. You must be at least 21.
Pay
| Starting salary | $46,469 |
|---|---|
| Top of scale | $77,690 |
| Scale effective | 2026-09-01 |
State Personnel 2026 Pay Plan: ALEA Trooper (60671) is pay grade 74, annual equivalents Step 1 $46,468.80 to Step 22 $77,690.40 (official rates are semi-monthly: $1,936.20 at Step 1). New hires start as ALEA Trooper, Trainee (60670), grade 72 ($42,093.60 to $70,392.00), and are eligible for ALEA Trooper after six months with permanent status and academy completion. Actual hiring step is not stated in the pay plan. ALEA also pays subsistence of up to $12 per duty day (about $2,800/yr).
Pay for this work across Alabama
Federal survey figures for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Alabama, counting every employer in the state, public and private, so they differ from the state's own pay scale above.
| People in this work | 11,710 |
|---|---|
| Lower pay (10th percentile) | $37,480 |
| Median pay | $51,270 |
| Higher pay (90th percentile) | $77,220 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state estimates (all employers)[bls.gov]
Requirements
- Minimum age: 21
- Education: High school diploma or GED plus a passing Basic Ability Test (BAT) score, or an associate degree or higher from a SACS-accredited (or equivalent) institution
- Citizenship: U.S. citizen at time of appointment
- Minimum age 21 at time of appointment
- Valid Alabama driver license at time of appointment
- Available 24/7 including weekends and holidays
- Pass the Physical Agility/Ability Test (obstacle course in 90 seconds, 22 push-ups and 25 sit-ups in 60 seconds each, 1.5-mile run in 15:28)
- Pass background investigation, polygraph and residency requirements
- Medical exam, psychological evaluation and drug screen after conditional offer
- Meet APOSTC training requirements
Source:[alea.gov]
Hiring process
- Submit application to the State Personnel Department (forwarded to ALEA)
- Recruiting coordinator contact and questionnaire
- Pre-employment physical assessment
- Background packet
- Polygraph
- Background investigation
- Selection review board
- Conditional offer, then medical, psychological and drug screening
- Trooper Academy
Source:[alea.gov]
Entrance exam
Basic Ability Test (BAT). Required only for applicants qualifying with a high school diploma/GED; an associate degree or higher substitutes for it.[alea.gov]
Academy
Length not published, paid. Trainees are paid employees (ALEA Trooper, Trainee class) while attending the Trooper Academy at the ALEA Training Center on the Wallace Community College campus in Selma. ALEA runs full uncertified academy classes and shorter classes for previously certified hires; current length not stated on an official ALEA page. PAAT must be passed within 72 hours of reporting.[alea.gov]
Pension and retirement
- Plan: Employees' Retirement System of Alabama (ERS), State Police, Tier 2
- Benefit formula: 2.375% of average final compensation (highest 5 of the last 10 years) for each year of State Police service
- When you can retire: Age 56 with 10 or more years of creditable service (Tier 2, hired on or after Jan. 1, 2013)
Tier 2 State Police members contribute 10% of earnable compensation. Tier 1 (before 2013): 2.875% per year, age 52 with 10 years or 25 years at any age.
Source:[rsa-al.gov]