Alabama Courthouse records

If you are looking for Alabama court records, they are typically maintained at the Alabama courthouse in the respective county. It has become mandatory to maintain all vital records, and in most cases, they can even be shared with you when you ask for them. Case records were kept at the court houses as they had been before, but now they are also shared with the federal government.

It has become much easier to find case records about people, properties, or companies in the state. When you need to check the background of a person and find out whether he/she has been charged with a crime or not, these records can be very handy. These records are available directly from the Alabama courthouse.

In 1960, the US Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act. It made public data legally available to the general public, and this ensured that you could ask for these case files.

Types of Records You Can Find

Here is the information in court records that you can find:

•    Full name 

•    The sex and age 

•    The address and all phone numbers – past and present 

•    Marriage records 

•    Court, criminal, police and arrest records 

•    Military, army and navy records

•    Records of business and property 

The information you can get includes names of litigating parties, city, case number, date of birth, trial date, charge, and case disposition in detail for all court cases in the Circuit and District Courts.

Who Can Find Court Records, and Are There Any Exceptions?

The right to view records in an Alabama courthouse belongs to citizens of the country, and you can ask for any record. There are just two exceptions in general – you cannot ask for any record in particular that has been marked as confidential, and those records that are for library circulation. Generally, there are just a few cases that fall in this category – all the other case records are accessible. 

It must be kept in mind that federal laws of privacy have no jurisdiction over Alabama court house records, other than any records which were made using funding from a source of the federal government and is regulated by any particular federal mandate.

The circuit and county courts keep records of all criminal as well as civil cases. Often, these records are forwarded on request from the state, and this is done in summary form. If this is the case, the record will of course not contain all the information that you can find in the original file.

Court records also include information from the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court of the state.

How to Find Courthouse Records

Since these records are maintained at the courthouse, the easiest way is to approach the clerk's office. You might need to wait in a long queue according to how many other people also want to access them. Alternatively, you can call and ask for the records. Once your request is placed, your records will then be sent to you for a fee. You can also now ask for courthouse records over the Internet. This works very well for many applicants because this is quicker and there are fewer hassles too.