• Geneva County Circuit Clerk, Geneva County Courthouse, 200 N. Commerce St., Geneva, (334) 684-5620
• District Attorney, 33rd Judicial Circuit, main office in Ozark, (334) 774-9500
• Geneva County Sheriff's Office, 200 N. Commerce St., Geneva, (334) 684-5660
• Geneva County Jail, Geneva, through the Sheriff's Office, (334) 684-5660
• Indigent defense: lawyers appointed by the court or working under state contract, paid by the state
• Juvenile court and probation, Geneva County Courthouse, through the Circuit Clerk, (334) 684-5620

Where a Geneva case is heard. A misdemeanor or ordinance charge written by police in Geneva, Samson, Hartford or Slocomb usually goes to that city's court. Deputies and state troopers bring their misdemeanor cases to District Court at the Commerce Street courthouse. Felony cases open in District Court and are sent to Circuit Court once a grand jury returns an indictment. Minors are handled in juvenile court. Town and District Court trials in Geneva have no jury, so a convicted person can appeal to Circuit Court for a fresh trial.

Geneva's jail for people awaiting trial. The county jail in Geneva, built after a 2018 groundbreaking to replace an older building, is the county's one full adult jail. News reports put its capacity at about 160 beds. City police in Samson, Hartford and Slocomb take people they do not release to that jail. The Geneva Sheriff's Office can confirm who is held.

County courthouse

• Geneva County Circuit and District Court, 200 N. Commerce St., Geneva, (334) 684-5620

Municipal courts

• Geneva Municipal Court, 517 S. Commerce St., Geneva, (334) 684-9216
• Samson Municipal Court, Main Street, Samson, either (334) 898-7541 or (334) 898-7154
• Hartford Municipal Court, 203 W. Main St., Hartford, (334) 588-2245
• Slocomb Municipal Court, 263 E. Lawrence Harris Hwy., Slocomb, (334) 886-3777
• Black, Coffee Springs and Malvern: ask the Circuit Clerk where a charge from these towns is filed

In Geneva County, a defendant without money for counsel gets a private lawyer named by the court or one under a 33rd Circuit defense contract. A bond for the Geneva County Jail is posted at the jail.

Domestic violence arrestees in Geneva stay in custody until conditions are set or 24 hours run out. Those still held get a hearing within 48 hours (warrantless arrest) or 72 hours (arrest on a warrant).

The Geneva misdemeanor process

• An arraignment in District Court or in a city court, with appointed counsel for eligible defendants facing jail.
• Plea agreements, first-offender diversion, or a bench trial before the judge.
• Fourteen days after conviction to appeal to Geneva County Circuit Court for a jury trial.

Ranges for Geneva County misdemeanors

• Reckless endangerment and first-offense DUI: Class A, up to a year behind bars and $6,000.
• Third-degree criminal mischief ($500 or less in damage): Class B, with up to six months and a $3,000 fine.

The Geneva County Jail holds felony defendants until bail is made. For a Class D charge the schedule is $1,000 to $10,000; for Class C, $2,500 to $15,000.

From arrest to resolution

• The first Geneva appearance covers release conditions and, if needed, an appointed lawyer.
• The defendant can demand a preliminary hearing in District Court within 30 days of arrest.
• After indictment by the Geneva County grand jury, the case is arraigned and set for trial in Circuit Court in Geneva.
• A person under 21 when the crime happened can ask for youthful offender treatment, which seals the file and limits the sentence to three years or less.

Felony penalties

• Class D (drug possession): a prison term over one year and up to five.
• Class C (second-degree theft, possession of a forged instrument in the second degree): up to 10 years.
• Class B (first-degree criminal mischief causing more than $2,500 in damage): 2 to 20 years.
• Alabama's presumptive rules often send Geneva's nonviolent Class C or D offenders to probation or a community program, but older felonies raise the sentence.

Expect pretrial detention at the Geneva County Jail to last longer on violent charges. Murder, first-degree robbery and the other violent offenses listed in Aniah's Law let the District Attorney ask a judge to deny bail after an evidentiary hearing; Amendment 1 (May 19, 2026) grew the list to cover attempted murder and shooting into occupied buildings and vehicles.

• For murder or first-degree robbery, both Class A, the range is 10 to 99 years or life, with a 20-year floor when a firearm or deadly weapon is used.
• First-degree assault and domestic violence by strangulation or suffocation are Class B: 2 to 20 years.
• In Geneva County a capital murder conviction means death or life without parole, and a death sentence requires agreement from 10 of the 12 jurors.
• Trials in these cases commonly take a year or more; the court appoints a lawyer for defendants who cannot afford one.

A judge sitting as Geneva County juvenile court hears delinquency cases at the Commerce Street courthouse. Juvenile probation officers do intake and can close lesser complaints informally; the Circuit Clerk, (334) 684-5620, can put families in touch.

Detention

Geneva County has no detention center for youth. When a Geneva child needs secure custody, placement is out of county, for instance the Montgomery County Youth Facility; juvenile probation knows the placement. The law requires a detention hearing within 72 hours of the child's placement. A Geneva teen facing adult charges can be held at the Geneva County Jail, separated from adults, with the right to seek bond.

Outcomes

• Possible Geneva outcomes: informal adjustment, probation, restitution or a Department of Youth Services commitment.
• Sixteen- and 17-year-olds go directly to adult court for capital crimes, Class A felonies, drug trafficking, and felonies involving a deadly weapon, death or serious injury.
• Prosecutors may request transfer of other charges if the child was 14 or older.

Geneva County is assigned to the Southern Division of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, which sits in Dothan at 100 W. Troy St.; reach the district clerk at (334) 954-3600. Offenses on Army posts or other U.S. property may go to federal court as well.

Federal defendants appear first before a magistrate judge; a Bail Reform Act detention hearing then determines release or custody, and monetary bail is rare. Indictment must come within 30 days, and the Speedy Trial Act generally sets trial within 70 days, minus excluded time. Judges apply the federal Guidelines, and since parole no longer exists, prisoners serve near 85 percent ahead of supervised release. A Geneva federal appeal is heard by the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit. Marshals prisoners kept in a contract jail may be listed on its roster, and anyone sentenced turns up in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Geneva County's state courts meet in the courthouse on North Commerce Street:

• Circuit Clerk (Circuit and District Court): 200 North Commerce Street, Geneva, AL 36340, 334-684-5620; weekdays 8 to 4
• District Attorney, 33rd Judicial Circuit: Ozark main office, 334-774-9500
• Geneva Municipal Court: 517 South Commerce Street, 334-684-9216
• Samson Municipal Court: either 334-898-7541 or 334-898-7154
• Hartford Municipal Court: 203 West Main Street, 334-588-2245
• Slocomb Municipal Court: 263 East Lawrence Harris Highway, 334-886-3777
• Geneva County Jail: 180 North Commerce Street, Geneva, 334-684-5670

See our Geneva bail guide for bond steps, and the Alabama Rule 7.2 bail schedule (https://judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/cr7_2.pdf) for state ranges.

Geneva County cases fall under the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama:

• Courthouse: the federal courthouse in Dothan, 100 West Troy Street, Dothan, AL 36303 (open for trials; clerk work is in Montgomery), 334-954-3600
• U.S. Marshals: U.S. Marshals Service, 1 Church Street, Suite A-100, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-922-6960

A Dothan magistrate rules on holding a Geneva defendant; the Marshals then place the person in a jail.

• Geneva jail roster: Geneva County Inmate Search
• State prison lookup: Alabama Department of Corrections Inmate Search (https://www.doc.alabama.gov/inmate/inmate-search/)
• Federal prison lookup: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/); while charges are pending, 334-922-6960
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). Select Alabama, open the record, and enroll in alerts.

More is on our Geneva inmate page.

A detainer from ICE may ask the Geneva jail to hold someone two business days at most past release.

• Field office: ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360
• Alabama short-stay jails: Baldwin County Correctional Center in Bay Minette, Etowah County Jail in Gadsden and Pickens County Detention Center in Carrollton
• Locator: ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/)

Geneva deputies at 334-684-5660 can say whether a warrant is out. Geneva hearing schedules post to geneva.alacourt.gov, and the clerk's desk is at 200 North Commerce Street, Geneva, AL 36340, 334-684-5620. Alacourt Access searches all counties at $9.99. Commerce Street in Geneva holds the jail: Geneva County Jail, 180 North Commerce Street, Geneva, AL 36340, phone 334-684-5670.