Here, the officer's agency usually steers a misdemeanor to its court. Tickets and charges written by a town's police go to that town's municipal court. Cases from deputies and state troopers go to District Court at the courthouse in Fort Payne.

• District Court: misdemeanors and traffic, plus the opening rounds of each felony
• Circuit Court: indicted felonies plus every jury trial
• Municipal courts: charges brought by a town's officers
• Juvenile court: nearly all cases involving someone under 18

District and town courts hold trials before a judge with no jury. Anyone convicted at that level gets 14 days to appeal upward to Circuit Court and demand a jury. Every one of these courts may assign counsel to a defendant too broke to hire one.

State trial courts here, Circuit and District alike, hold session inside the courthouse on Grand Avenue South. One clerk's office, the circuit clerk, holds paperwork for each of them: 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, 256-845-8525. The office opens weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The phone menu splits into divisions. Option 2 reaches the circuit criminal clerk, who can read off charges, hearing dates and any bond order. District criminal and traffic have their own staff in the same office. Juvenile matters sit with the civil and domestic relations team. The county clerk's website lists each division, the circuit court calendar and a records request form. Paper files at the courthouse can be looked at in person without a charge.

Many towns on Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain run their own courts for city charges. Each one sets bond on its own warrants, so a person held at Jordan Road on a town warrant has to settle it with that town.

• Fort Payne Municipal Court: 100 Alabama Avenue NW, Fort Payne, AL 35967, magistrate 256-845-6728
• Rainsville Municipal Court: City Hall, 70 McCurdy Avenue South, Rainsville, AL 35986, 256-638-6334
• Other town courts: Collinsville, Crossville, Fyffe, Geraldine, Henagar, Ider, Lakeview, Mentone, Powell, Sylvania and Valley Head

For a smaller town, call its town hall, or ask the circuit clerk at 256-845-8525 which court has the case. A town court can also appoint a lawyer for a defendant who qualifies.

Booking comes first: fingerprints, a photo and a records check at the Jordan Road jail. A magistrate or judge sets a bond, usually inside the Alabama Rule 7.2 ranges. A domestic violence arrest carries a 24-hour wait before bail can be set.

When a person is still locked up, two clocks start. Someone arrested with no warrant must get a probable cause review within 48 hours. An arrest on a warrant brings a court appearance inside 72 hours. During that appearance, the judge reviews bond and can name a lawyer for a defendant short on funds.

Later, at arraignment, the person enters a plea, most often not guilty at that stage. That is also a good moment to ask for a free lawyer. Call the circuit clerk at 256-845-8525 to learn when each step is set.

Common misdemeanors in this county include driving while revoked, third-degree theft of services, reckless endangerment and DUI. Most are heard in District Court or a town court before a judge alone.

• Class A: a maximum of twelve months locked up, and fines reaching $6,000, for charges such as reckless endangerment and third-degree domestic violence
• Class C: up to three months in jail
• First DUI: a fine of $600 to $2,100 and up to 12 months in jail

These cases wrap up through dismissal, diversion, a plea carrying fines and probation, or a bench trial. Following a guilty verdict, the defendant has 14 days to carry the case up to Circuit Court, where a jury hears it fresh, and appointed counsel can stay on. Court files are with the circuit clerk at 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, 256-845-8525.

Every felony starts in District Court. At that opening hearing the judge looks at bond and assigns counsel when the defendant lacks money. While the file sits in District Court, defense counsel can request a preliminary hearing, where the judge decides whether there is enough proof, called probable cause, to go on.

Next the District Attorney presents the evidence to grand jurors drawn from the county. An indictment from them sends everything up to Circuit Court. There it goes through arraignment, discovery, where each side shares evidence, then motions, and finally a plea deal or a jury trial. Serious cases can take many months. Felony defendants who cannot post bond wait at the detention center at 2801 Jordan Road SW, Fort Payne, AL 35968, 256-845-8565.

Alabama sorts felonies into classes, and the class sets the sentence range. A few common examples from cases filed here:

• Possession of a controlled substance: Class D, up to five years
• Chemical endangerment of a child with no injury: Class C
• Second-degree burglary: Class B, 2 to 20 years

State sentencing standards often point nonviolent Class C and D cases toward probation, drug court or community corrections instead of prison. The Habitual Felony Offender Act raises sentences for people with past felonies. Someone who was under 21 when the crime happened can ask for youthful offender status. If granted, the record is closed to the public and the sentence cannot go past three years. A defense lawyer can explain which of these fits.

Charges such as capital murder, or rape or assault in the first degree, bring tougher release rules and longer sentences. The accused stays at the Jordan Road jail while the judge decides on release.

Under Aniah's Law, the DA may ask a judge to hold a no-bail hearing on certain charges. That list covers murder, plus robbery and rape in the first degree. An amendment that took effect May 19, 2026 added attempted murder. It also added shooting at a building or car with people inside.

• First-degree rape: Class A, punished by 10 to 99 years or by life
• First-degree assault: Class B
• Capital murder: death or life without parole

Serious violent cases in Fort Payne often wait well over a year for trial.

The 9th Judicial Circuit's District Attorney brings state charges here. That single office covers both Cherokee and DeKalb counties. You can reach it at 256-845-8550.

The DA's office presents felony cases to the grand jury, makes plea offers, and asks for the no-bail hearings that Aniah's Law allows. A defendant should not talk about the facts of the case with the prosecutor's office without a lawyer present. City charges stay in that town's municipal court, while Anniston hears the federal ones. For the case number and the court that has it, call the circuit clerk at 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, 256-845-8525.

The county works with private lawyers whom the judge appoints case by case. A defendant who cannot pay fills out a sworn statement about income, bills and family. The judge reads it and decides, often at the first appearance or arraignment.

To start, ask the circuit clerk's office at 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, 256-845-8525, how to request appointed counsel. Rule 6.3 allows a second review if the family's finances rise or fall. The state Office of Indigent Defense Services oversees the program from 100 North Union Street, Suite 680, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-242-7059. Hiring a private attorney instead remains an option the whole way through. Ask for a lawyer before any plea, and before agreeing to skip a preliminary hearing.

There are three good ways to check a state case from this county:

• Phone: the circuit clerk at 256-845-8525. Press 2 for circuit criminal, or ask for district criminal or traffic.
• In person: files can be read free at the courthouse, 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Online: Alacourt Access sells statewide case searches. Choose the county; a name search costs $9.99 and includes one case.

Write down the case number when you find it, since every office asks for it. Settings get moved around, so confirm again about two days ahead. For a city charge, call that town's court instead.

The Sheriff's Office handles county warrants out of 2801 Jordan Road SW, Fort Payne, AL 35968, with deputies answering 256-845-3801 around the clock. The sheriff's FAQ also gives a warrant line, 256-845-8560. Photos of people being sought fill the sheriff's Most Wanted page, and ALEA's fugitive search covers the rest of the state. The case behind a warrant, and the court that issued it, show on Alacourt Access. Counsel can arrange a planned turn-in at Jordan Road with bond lined up ahead of time.

Since a federal law in December 2024 (Pub. L. 118-179) closed the Gadsden division, cases from here belong to the Northern District of Alabama, which hears them in its Eastern Division courtroom at 1100 Gurnee Avenue, Anniston, AL 36201, 256-741-1533. Clerk staff are not in Anniston daily, so papers get filed with the Birmingham clerk's office, 1729 5th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203, 205-278-1700.

Typical federal charges include drug conspiracies, gun possession by a barred person, fraud and crimes inside Little River Canyon National Preserve. A magistrate judge handles the first hearing and detention. Release follows the Bail Reform Act, not a cash chart. Under the Speedy Trial Act, the deadlines are 30 days to indict and 70 days to start trial, though judges often grant more time. With no parole, federal prisoners serve roughly 85 percent. Any appeal is decided by the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. The U.S. Marshals, Room 240 in that same Birmingham building, 205-829-6611, decide where a federal prisoner is housed before trial.

A detainer from ICE leaves the state charges alive; they keep moving through the local courts. Sent on Form I-247A, it requests that jailers keep a person as much as 48 hours past state release, giving immigration officers time for pickup.

• Field office: ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360
• Short-stay jails in Alabama: Baldwin County Corrections Center, 200 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, AL 36507; Etowah County Detention Center, 827 Forrest Avenue, Gadsden, AL 35901; and Pickens County Detention Facility, 188 Cemetery Street, Carrollton, AL 35447
• Locator: the ICE Online Detainee Locator, searchable with an A-number and birth country

A guilty plea can change someone's immigration case, so anyone under a detainer ought to consult an immigration attorney first.

The juvenile court meets at the Fort Payne courthouse. Juvenile probation officers screen each case. They can send the child home, set up an informal plan, or file a formal petition. A child ordered held usually goes to Anniston. The facility there, Coosa Valley Regional Juvenile Detention Center, sits at 4625 McClellan Boulevard, Anniston, AL 36204, 256-237-2881.

Under Ala. Code § 12-15-207, any detained youngster is owed a detention hearing inside 72 hours. There is no money bail; the judge decides on release. The child can have a lawyer, free if the family qualifies. Results can be informal adjustment, probation, or being committed to DYS, the Alabama Department of Youth Services. Under § 12-15-204, juvenile court is bypassed when a teen of 16 or 17 stands accused of a capital crime, a Class A felony, a felony with a deadly weapon, drug trafficking, or a felony causing death or serious injury; their cases open directly in adult court. After a transfer hearing, those 14 or older may also be tried as adults (§ 12-15-203). For the juvenile desk, call the circuit clerk at 256-845-8525.

Check custody first, since people move between jails and prisons. These lookups are free:

• County jail: the sheriff's inmate roster lists who is held at Jordan Road.
• State prison: the Alabama Department of Corrections inmate search works by name or AIS number.
• Federal prison: people already sentenced appear in the federal inmate locator; before that, call the U.S. Marshals at 205-829-6611.
• Alerts: VINELink sends a text or email when someone is moved or released. Pick Alabama, then search the name.

To check custody by phone, call the detention center at 2801 Jordan Road SW, Fort Payne, AL 35968, 256-845-8565.