Title 12

No justice of the Supreme Court or judge of a Court of Appeals of Alabama shall participate in the decision of any case in the Supreme Court or a court of appeals appealed to said court from any lower court of the State of Alabama, of which lower court said justice was judge at t…

Should the need for special judges in the circuit court, district court or probate court arise, the Supreme Court may appoint and commission special circuit judges or special district court judges or special probate judges for temporary service; provided, however, that the person…

(a) At the request of the affected judge in a particular circuit, the presiding circuit court judge of the circuit may appoint and commission a special circuit court judge, special district court judge, or special judge of probate for temporary service. The person so appointed sh…

(a) Any circuit court judge or district court judge who has served for 10 or more years in any combination of service as a judge of the circuit court or district court in this state and who retires pursuant to Chapter 18 of this title, may be appointed as a senior judge. A circui…

(a) Any justice, judge, officer, official or employee of the judicial branch of government, including retired and supernumerary justices, judges or employees, other than probate and municipal court judges and employees, shall be entitled to any and all employee benefits to which …

It shall be lawful for any justice, judge, official, officer or employee of the judicial branch of government, including any retired or supernumerary justice, judge, officer, official or employee, to voluntarily diminish the compensation, salary, retirement benefits or any other …

The justices, judges, officers, officials and employees of the appellate courts shall be entitled to be reimbursed their actual expenses of travel, including, but not limited to, transportation costs, meals, lodging, registration fees, tuition fees and membership fees, when atten…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to reimbursement of traveling expenses of public officers and employees, all circuit judges, district court judges and court-supportive personnel, including, but not limited to, referees, clerks, registers, official court re…

The clerks of the circuit courts and the clerks of the district and municipal courts in this state shall each prepare a monthly report on a form to be approved by the Chief Examiner of Public Accounts showing by totals the amount of fines, trial tax, district attorney fees and ot…

The judicial power of the state is vested exclusively in a unified judicial system which shall consist of a Supreme Court, a Court of Criminal Appeals, a Court of Civil Appeals, a trial court of general jurisdiction known as the circuit court, a trial court of limited jurisdictio…

The appellate courts, the Administrative Office of Courts and the Department of Court Management are authorized and empowered to contract with county commissions, municipalities, private individuals, corporations or entities for offices and other physical facilities at locations …

Salaries or compensation of court personnel and any other persons paid by or by authority of the judicial department of the State of Alabama, whose salary, including any local supplement thereto, is set by statute, shall be paid in accordance with such statute, as shown in the jo…

The adoption of this code shall not repeal or amend any statute in effect on the effective date of this code which is applicable only with respect to one or more judicial circuits of the state, whether such judicial circuits are identified by specific reference thereto, on the ba…

(a) If any plaintiff, defendant, or witness in any proceeding before the district court, circuit court, appellate court, or grand jury is in need of special services or equipment as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act [P.L. 101-366], the court shall make every effort …

(a) The presiding judge of each judicial circuit may authorize pretrial motion hearings in civil and criminal matters in the circuit courts, district courts, and probate courts to be conducted by telephone conferencing or other audio-video telecommunications means. The presiding …

(a)(1) A court, upon motion, shall continue a criminal case when the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, the victim, the vicitm’s representative if the victim is unavailable, or the prosecutor is absent from court when the case is called for trial because he or she is on active …

(a)(1) A court shall grant a continuance for good cause shown when a party or his or her counsel of record in a civil case is absent from court when the case is called for trial because the party or counsel of record is on active duty as a member of the National Guard or a reserv…

The criminal jurisdiction of this state is vested in the circuit courts, district and municipal courts and such officers as are by law clothed with criminal jurisdiction. (Code 1852, §380; Code 1867, §3928; Code 1876, §4626;Code 1886, §4193; Code 1896, §4589; Code 1907, §6692; Co…

When any case is submitted to the Supreme Court which should have gone to one of the courts of appeals or is submitted to one court of appeals when it should have gone to the other, it must not be dismissed but shall be transferred to the proper court; and, when any case is submi…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Speedy Trial Act. (Act 2025-322, §1.)

(a) The Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, upon request from the Attorney General or a district attorney, may appoint a sitting or retired circuit judge to temporarily serve in a given circuit as a visiting judge for a specific case or cases arising from one or more viol…

The presiding circuit judge of each circuit, in his or her discretion and the best interests of justice, may reassign a case to any other circuit or district judge in the circuit without regard to division or specialty. (Act 2025-322, §3.)

Pursuant to the constitutional requirement that the Supreme Court must, within three weeks after a bill is introduced at any session of the Legislature to increase or decrease the number of circuit or district judges or to change the boundaries of any judicial circuit or district…

Whenever any bill is introduced in any session of the Legislature which pertains to the judiciary, which bill calls for local or less than statewide application, the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate shall immediately deliver a certified copy of…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 12-1-1, or any other provision of this title, or any rule of the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Chairs of the House or Senate Judiciary Committees, or the Legi…

Every court shall have power: (1) To preserve and enforce order in its immediate presence and as near thereto as is necessary to prevent interruption, disturbance or hindrance to its proceedings; (2) To enforce order before a person or body empowered to conduct a judicial investi…

The powers of the several courts in this state to issue attachments and inflict summary punishment for contempts shall not extend to any other cases than: (1) Disrespectful, contemptuous or insolent behavior in court, tending in any way to diminish or impair the respect due to ju…

The judges of the several courts of this state, whenever they deem it proper or necessary, shall inquire and examine the parties, witnesses, jurors or third parties as to whether or not any of the provisions of Section 12-1-8 have been violated; and, if the judge shall ascertain …