Alabama Court Location and Structure

Like the other states in the U.S., Alabama has the legal structure where there are state and federal courts. The state level courts are:

•    Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
•    Alabama Supreme Court
•    Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
•    Alabama Circuit Courts (41 circuits)
•    Alabama Municipal Courts (273 courts)
•    Alabama District Courts (67 districts)
•    Alabama Probate Courts (68 courts)
•    Alabama Court of the Judiciary

Alabama Supreme Court

In the legal hierarchy of the state, this is the highest authority in Alabama. There is the Chief Justice, plus there are 8 Associate Justices, who are elected for six-year staggered terms. The Alabama Supreme Court is located at 300 Dexter Avenue in Montgomery and the court’s website is http://www.judicial.state.al.us/supreme.cfm. The phone number is 334.229.0700.

The current Supreme Court’s Chief Justice is Sue Bell Cobb. Presently the 8 associate justices include Lyn Stuart, Champ Lyons, Tom Woodall, Mike Bolin, Patti Smith, Glenn Murdoch, Greg Shaw and Tom Parker.

Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

The Civil Appeals Court in this state is among the two appeal courts in the state. It came into being in 1969 at which time the single appellate court system in Alabama was divided into a Civil Appeals Court and Criminal Appeals Court. This system has been working since 1911.

This Civil Appeals Court hears matters of civil interest including the ones about domestic issues that are related to child custody, adoptions, divorce and others like this. The Civil Appeals Court has jurisdiction in civil related appeals in cases where the controversy amount is equal to or less than $50,000. This court’s website is http://www.judicial.state.al.us/civil.cfm.

Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

This is the other appellate court in the state. It was in 1969 that this court came into being when the Court of Appeals was broken into a Criminal Appeals Court and a Civil Appeals Court.

There are 5 judges, and one of them needs to be elected by the court members as a presiding judge. The criminal appeals court hears the misdemeanor and felony appeals, and also the city ordinance violations and those writs following a conviction for criminal cases.

The Criminal Appeals Court listens to cases that have already been decided by the Circuit Court (there are as many as 40 of them in the state). There are 5 judges who sit at the Criminal Appeals Court and they hear the appeals for felony and convictions related to violations and misdemeanors. The website of the Court of Criminal Appeals is http://www.judicial.state.al.us/criminal.cfm.

Alabama Judiciary Court

The Alabama Judiciary Court is the court that is allowed to try officers of the court in other state courts to punish them when there is a violation in court ethics, duty dereliction, misconduct, or incapacitation.

The Judiciary Court is made of a judge from the Court of Appeals and also the Supreme Court, and this selection is made by the Supreme Court. This person works as the court’s Chief Judge. Plus there are 2 judges from the circuit courts, selected by the Circuit Judges' Association. There is also a district judge who is selected by the Association of District Judges.

The Judiciary Court’s website is http://www.judicial.state.al.us/judiciary.cfm.