Look at who made the arrest. Tuscaloosa and Northport officers tend to send ordinance tickets and many misdemeanors into their own city courts. Deputies, troopers and campus police from the University of Alabama send misdemeanors to District Court on Greensboro Avenue. Felonies open in District Court too, then climb to Circuit Court once grand jurors indict.

Judges, not juries, decide city court and District Court trials. Someone convicted there has 14 days to appeal; Circuit Court then retries the case with jurors. Children under 18 begin in juvenile court instead. The 6th Judicial Circuit covers this single county, so a single DA's office prosecutes all state cases here.

Both state trial courts share the courthouse at 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. The Circuit Clerk keeps their files and opens weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Circuit Clerk main line: 205-464-8260
• Circuit Court criminal division: 205-464-8326
• County switchboard: 205-349-3870

On court day, bring your notice plus photo identification. Plan to arrive early. Your notice lists the courtroom; if it went missing, clerk staff can find the setting with a name and birthday. Dress neatly, and sit quietly until your name is called.

Town charges stay in town courts. The two busiest are:

• Tuscaloosa Municipal Court: next to City Hall, 2122 Gary Fitts Street, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-248-5330. Open 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the payment window shuts at 4:30 p.m.
• Northport Municipal Court: in the Public Safety Building, 3721 26th Avenue, Northport, AL 35473, 205-339-8132.

Brookwood, Coaling, Lake View, Moundville and Vance run municipal courts as well. For those, or for a Woodstock case, phone the town hall, or let the Circuit Clerk at 205-464-8260 say which court holds the file. Coker charges land in District Court. Some towns straddle county lines: Lake View stretches into Jefferson, Vance into Bibb, while Moundville and Woodstock sit partly in Hale and Bibb.

This short hearing is about the basics. First comes a check that the right person is in front of the judge, and the charge is read. Next come the right to remain silent, the question of a lawyer, and release conditions. Guilt is never decided here. Someone facing a felony is also told how to demand a preliminary hearing.

Rule 4.3 controls the timing. Warrantless arrests need a judge to approve the probable cause within 48 hours. Warrant arrests where the bond can't be paid lead to a first appearance within 72 hours. Reaching either deadline does not mean automatic freedom. The criminal division, 205-464-8326, can tell you the hearing time.

On football weekends, plenty of arrests here are misdemeanors: public intoxication, underage drinking, DUI, or third-degree domestic violence. Most follow this path:

1. First setting: a plea is entered, and the defendant can request appointed counsel.
2. A first-time alcohol case or small drug case might qualify for diversion or a court referral program.
3. If not, it ends with a plea bargain or a bench trial.
4. After a guilty verdict, there are 14 days to appeal and get a Circuit Court jury.

Hearings for state misdemeanors happen at 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. Ordinance cases stay in city court. Qualifying state misdemeanor defendants can be represented by the public defender.

Misdemeanor classes each come with a top limit in Alabama:

• Class A, which includes third-degree domestic violence: up to a year in jail, and $6,000 at most.
• Class B: six months maximum, $3,000 maximum.
• Class C: three months maximum, $500 maximum.
• Violations like public intoxication: 30 days at most.
• First DUI: as much as one year, a $600 to $2,100 fine, a license suspension and DUI school.

Four DUIs inside ten years turn the charge into a felony. Judges may stack court costs and restitution onto a fine. Remember that fines punish and bail guarantees attendance; one never pays off the other.

A felony defendant remains at the Tuscaloosa County Jail until bond posts or the court releases them. During the first appearance, the judge reviews terms such as drug screens or GPS and considers appointing the public defender. Next come these stages:

1. Preliminary hearing: when defense counsel requests it, a district judge decides whether probable cause exists.
2. Grand jury: a panel of county residents reviews the evidence.
3. Indictment: a true bill moves the case up, though a defendant may waive indictment in order to plead.
4. Arraignment: the charge is read in Circuit Court, and evidence swapping and motions follow.
5. Resolution: usually a plea, sometimes a jury verdict in a Greensboro Avenue courtroom.

Call 205-464-8326 for the coming court date.

Time and fines rise with the felony class:

• Class B, like stealing a vehicle: 2 to 20 years; fines reach $30,000.
• Class C, like third-degree burglary: just over 1 year to 10 years; fines reach $15,000.
• Class D, like holding a drug other than marijuana: just over 1 year to 5 years; fines reach $7,500.

Alabama's presumptive guidelines send many nonviolent Class C and D defendants to community supervision instead of prison. A record of earlier felonies lengthens the range, thanks to the Habitual Felony Offender Act. Defendants not yet 21 when charged may request youthful offender status; it keeps the file sealed and caps the sentence at three years. The 6th Circuit also has a drug court; ask counsel whether it fits.

Expect a tougher road to release when the accusation involves violence. The person waits at the Tuscaloosa County Jail. Under Aniah's Law, the DA can push for a court hearing that keeps the accused jailed with no bail on listed charges, murder among them. Voters added attempted murder, along with gunshots into a house or car where people were, on May 19, 2026. Where release is granted, judges may require an ankle monitor and order the defendant to stay away from the victim.

• Class A felonies such as murder: from 10 to 99 years, or life, and as much as $60,000. Using a gun or deadly weapon triggers a minimum term.
• Capital murder: the death penalty, or life without parole.

See our Alabama bail laws page for how the no-bail hearing works.

Prosecution belongs to the 6th Judicial Circuit DA. That office is inside the courthouse at 714 Greensboro Avenue, Suite 410, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-349-1252. Its lawyers represent the state, not the accused.

For the accused, the county Public Defender, 205-345-8200, represents eligible adults charged under state law, and private attorneys pick up conflict cases. To qualify, tell the judge an attorney is unaffordable and complete the sworn financial form. Rule 6.3 allows a new look when money circumstances shift. Statewide oversight comes from Montgomery, where Alabama runs its Office of Indigent Defense Services at 100 North Union Street, Suite 680, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-242-7059. City judges name lawyers too, when a city defendant faces possible jail.

Greensboro Avenue's clerk staff give the most reliable answer. Phone the criminal division, 205-464-8326. Have the birth date ready, along with any case number from the paperwork. Ask for the day, hour, courtroom and type of hearing. Inside the clerk's office, public computer terminals cost nothing.

From home, Alacourt Access opens trial court files from every Alabama county. Every case pulled up by name runs $9.99, so check the fee terms first. The charge printed at booking may shift once prosecutors file. Juvenile files and youthful offender files stay sealed; a lawyer or the court has to open those.

Sheriff's deputies, working from 714 1/2 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-752-0616, handle county warrants. Faces of people sought locally appear on the sheriff's most wanted page. For statewide fugitives, try ALEA's fugitive search. Alacourt shows filings at $9.99 per name. Surrendering alongside an attorney, with bond lined up, beats getting cuffed on a roadside. Following a missed hearing, the criminal division at 205-464-8326 explains how the case gets back on the docket.

West Alabama's federal docket sits with the Northern District's Western Division, which meets at 2005 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-561-1670. Typical federal cases involve felons caught with firearms, drug rings, bank robbery, fraud, or crimes at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. Staff are not at University Boulevard every day; when no one picks up, use the Birmingham clerk line, 205-278-1700.

The opening federal hearing belongs to a magistrate judge. Release or detention is decided there under 18 U.S.C. 3142. No federal bail chart exists. Pretrial housing is picked by the U.S. Marshals Service, 1729 5th Avenue North, Room 240, Birmingham, AL 35203, 205-829-6611, and 26th Avenue is sometimes where they choose. After sentencing, look for the prisoner in the Bureau of Prisons locator.

A detainer adds an immigration track beside the criminal one; the criminal case keeps going. Using Form I-247A, ICE wants a warning before release and a 48-hour grace period after that to collect the person. Any state bond still matters for the criminal charge.

The ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360, oversees Alabama. Short stays in ICE custody inside the state happen at Etowah County Jail (Gadsden), Baldwin County Correctional Center (Bay Minette) and Pickens County Detention Center (Carrollton). The ICE Online Detainee Locator System asks for an A-number, then a birth country. Pleading guilty may affect immigration status. Mention the detainer to defense counsel early.

Youths locked up before a hearing go to the Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Center, 5941 12th Avenue East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405, never the adult jail. Intake may send the child home, deal with it informally or file a delinquency petition. Held youths are owed a detention hearing in 72 hours or less (Ala. Code § 12-15-207). Juvenile Court shares hearing dates at 205-345-4340.

Outcomes run from an informal adjustment without any delinquency finding, to probation with counseling or school terms, up to a Department of Youth Services commitment when a case is serious or repeated. Ala. Code § 12-15-204 lists the charges that move a 16- or 17-year-old straight into adult court. The list: capital crimes, Class A felonies, felonies committed with a deadly weapon, felonies ending in death or grave harm, and trafficking. Once a child turns 14, § 12-15-203 lets the state seek a transfer hearing.

Terms beyond twelve months mean state prison. Until a state transport van comes, the person typically stays at 26th Avenue, sometimes for weeks. Nobody can promise a pickup date based on the sentencing day.

Intake prisons screen new arrivals for medical and mental health care, gang membership and security level, then assign a prison. Follow the move through the ADOC inmate search; it works best with the six-digit AIS number. That search leaves out youthful offender records. When the prison is named, check our Alabama prison pages for its visiting and mail rules.

Release orders all share four basics: show up for court, break no laws, report a new address, and ask before any trip out of Alabama. Judges may tack on contact limits, travel limits or a required home address. Violations can bring a new arrest and a revoked bond. Keep that paper in a folder with the hearing notices, and give counsel a copy.

From October 1, 2026, the amended Rule 7.3 also requires defendants to list email plus a mobile number for notices, unless the defendant has neither or release terms forbid using one. Update both promptly when they change. Missing a text does not excuse a missed hearing, so confirm dates with the criminal division at 205-464-8326.