Tuscaloosa County Jail

A district or circuit judge, or a magistrate, writes the bail figure and the release terms. Alabama Rule 7.2 hands them a range for every charge class. Within or beyond it, they weigh past convictions, safety concerns and how rooted the person is locally. Jail staff only carry out the order. They cannot raise, cut or skip the amount.

Some warrants arrive with the bond amount printed on them, which lets a family post it as soon as booking wraps up. Rule 4.3 runs two deadlines. When police acted with no warrant, a judge must look over their evidence within 48 hours. For a warrant arrest where bond can't be met, the first appearance comes within 72 hours. For the figure already ordered, ring the Tuscaloosa County Jail at 205-349-4511.

The release order tells you which kinds of bond are allowed. Orders in this state draw from these options:

• Cash bond: the family deposits the entire amount with the court, refundable later.
• Bonding company: a licensed agent posts the whole bond and charges you a nonrefundable premium.
• Property bond: Alabama land stands in place of cash.
• Signature bond: a written promise to appear, with nothing paid at the start.
• Conditional release: terms such as check-ins, drug tests or GPS, with or without money.

Money posted leaves every other condition standing, a no-contact order included. For the full statewide rules, read our Alabama bail laws page. To see the order itself, call the criminal division of the Circuit Court at 205-464-8326.

Rule 7.2 pairs each charge level with a dollar band. These are starting points, not a set price, and a judge can move outside them. The ranges are:

• Class C misdemeanor: $300 to $1,000
• Class B misdemeanor: $300 to $3,000
• Class A misdemeanor: $300 to $6,000
• DUI: $1,000 to $7,500
• Class D felony: $1,000 to $10,000
• Class C felony: $2,500 to $15,000
• Class B felony: $5,000 to $30,000
• Class A felony: $10,000 to $60,000
• Drug manufacturing or trafficking: $5,000 to $1,500,000

A person with several charges may have a separate bond for each one, and they add up. You can read the Rule 7.2 bail schedule yourself, but the real number is the one in the judge's order.

Start by calling the Tuscaloosa County Jail, 1600 26th Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, at 205-349-4511. Brand-new bookings lag behind in Who's in Jail, so staff need the exact legal name and a birthday. Ask these questions and write down the answers:

• Has booking wrapped up?
• How much bond goes with each charge?
• Did another county, probation, a federal agency or ICE place a hold?
• Where can this bond be posted, and what payment is accepted?

Keep the booking number. It helps every office you call next find the right record. If the jail says the person was moved, ask which agency now has custody before you drive anywhere.

Weekday cash bonds on state charges are handled by the Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. Its doors are open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. The main clerk line is 205-464-8260, and the criminal division answers at 205-464-8326.

Phone first about accepted payment. A card that pays a speeding ticket might be refused for bond. Take photo identification and write the booking or case number on a card. Get a receipt for every payment and keep it in a safe place, because you will need it if money is refunded later. A city charge is different and is paid through that city's court.

Arrests happen at all hours, and the clerk's office is closed at night, on weekends and on holidays. In those hours, the jail is the place to ask. Call the Tuscaloosa County Jail at 205-349-4511 before you leave home and ask three things: whether this bond can be posted after hours, where you should go, and what kind of payment works at that time.

Some bonds can only be handled once the clerk opens again, and a person waiting on a judge's hearing must wait for court. For a city charge from Tuscaloosa police, the city's after-hours bonds can be taken at police headquarters, so call 205-349-2121 to confirm first.

Keep three kinds of money apart. The bond itself is the amount the judge set. Alabama also collects 3.5 percent of the bond, and $35 more, as a state fee. If you use a bonding company, its fee is a third cost, and that fee is not refunded.

Commissary or phone deposits never count toward release. That money only buys snacks, calls and similar items inside the jail. AlaPay is the state's system for traffic tickets and criminal fines, not a way to post bond. Ask the Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 at 205-464-8260 for the full total ahead of time. Mailing cash is a bad idea.

Yes. A licensed bail agent can post the full bond if the sheriff allows that company to write bonds at the jail. The company charges a fee and may want a signed contract plus collateral, a car title for example. If the person misses court, the company can come after the signer for the full amount.

Get the fee, refund terms and co-signer duties on paper first. Before trusting any agent, confirm their license using the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board lookup. To make sure a company is approved at the Tuscaloosa County Jail, call 205-349-4511. Keep copies of every paper until the case is over.

A judge may approve a property bond, which uses land instead of cash. The land must be in Alabama, and liens or loans on it must not eat up its value. Every person listed as an owner may have to sign the bond papers. The court looks at the property's worth compared with the amount of the bond.

Property bonds take more paperwork and time than cash, so this is not the fastest way out. Gather the deed and recent tax records, then ask the Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 at 205-464-8260 what else is needed. If the person misses court, the owners can lose the property, so everyone who signs should understand the risk before agreeing.

A conditional release means the judge lets the person go if they follow certain rules. These rules can be used instead of money or along with it. Typical rules: check-ins with an officer, drug screens, an ankle monitor, curfews, no-contact orders.

Breaking a term can send the person back to jail, even if the bond was paid in full. Get a copy of the written order and go over it with the person so nothing is missed. Unsure what a rule means? Ask the lawyer, or phone Circuit Court's criminal division at 205-464-8326. Keep the order with the other court papers.

A "no bond" listing does not always mean the person can never get out. Often a second matter is keeping them: another county's warrant, trouble on probation, a federal hold, or ICE. Each of those needs its own answer from the agency that placed it.

On certain violent charges, Aniah's Law allows prosecutors to request a hearing where bail can be refused. Since the May 19, 2026 statewide vote, the hearing can also be sought when the accusation is attempted murder, or bullets fired at an occupied dwelling, vehicle or building. The defense can argue against it at the hearing. To learn why bond is missing, call the Tuscaloosa County Jail at 205-349-4511.

Reductions take a court order. Counsel files a motion asking for less. Prosecutors respond, and then the judge rules. Rule 7.4 permits changes to the dollar figure or the terms when there is good cause.

Proof of steady work, a rental agreement, nearby family and transportation to court all help. Medical needs can also matter. Anyone held past 90 days before trial gets a fresh look at release terms under that rule. The Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-464-8260, can pull the case number for the lawyer.

Officers from both cities bring arrestees to 26th Avenue, yet a city charge and its bond stay with the city court. Look at the ticket or ask the jail which court the charge is in. The two largest city courts are:

• Tuscaloosa Municipal Court: 2122 Gary Fitts Street, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-248-5330. Open 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with payments taken until 4:30 p.m.
• Northport Municipal Court: Public Safety Building, 3721 26th Avenue, Northport, AL 35473, 205-339-8132.

Holding both city and county charges means two separate bonds. Ask about both before you pay so the person is not held on the second charge after the first is paid.

Speak up at the first hearing when paying an attorney isn't possible. A sworn hardship form lists wages, debts, belongings and dependents. Rule 6.3 allows another review when finances shift. Relatives covering bond won't automatically disqualify anyone.

In this county, the Public Defender's office takes many qualifying state cases and answers at 205-345-8200. The judge makes the appointment. Montgomery houses Alabama's Office of Indigent Defense Services, 100 North Union Street, Suite 680, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-242-7059. Keep case details off jail calls. Every one gets recorded.

Missing court is serious. A judge may declare the bond forfeited, putting the cash or land at risk, and sign a warrant for deputies to serve. A bonding company may also try to find the person and collect from the signer.

Rule 7.6 requires notice first, and there is a window to answer it, so don't wait. Call the Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 at 205-464-8260 the same day to learn the new setting. Counsel can then request a reset. Turning in a good reason quickly, like a hospital stay, can make a big difference.

Perfect attendance generally means cash bond comes back once the case closes. Under Rule 7.6(e), the judge discharges the bond and directs repayment when it has served its purpose. Fines and court costs may be subtracted first, shrinking the refund.

Hold on to the original receipt. Update the payer's mailing address with the clerk after any move. A bondsman's premium stays with the bondsman. Refund questions go to the Greensboro Avenue clerk's office, 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-464-8260. Have the case number in hand.

Children are not taken to the adult jail and do not use the adult bail system. A youth who is held usually goes to the Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Center, 5941 12th Avenue East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405. Intake workers can release the child to family, settle it informally, or file a delinquency petition. A detained child should have a detention hearing within 72 hours.

For hearing dates and what a parent should do next, call Juvenile Court at 205-345-4340. Give the child's name and date of birth. Certain serious charges move 16- and 17-year-olds into adult court, where adult bond applies. A defense lawyer can say which court is in charge.

State bond ranges do not apply to federal charges, and a county bond cannot clear a federal hold. Federal prosecutions from here belong to Alabama's Northern District, which sits in Tuscaloosa at 2005 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-561-1670. Expect roughly this:

1. Federal agents make the arrest.
2. A first hearing happens in front of a U.S. magistrate judge.
3. Next, pretrial services interviews the defendant about jobs, housing and record.
4. Prosecutors sometimes seek detention.
5. Release conditions or continued custody get decided under 18 U.S.C. 3142.

Before sentencing, the U.S. Marshals Service decides where the person stays: 1729 5th Avenue North, Room 240, Birmingham, AL 35203, 205-829-6611.

No. Posting a county bond does not remove an immigration detainer. ICE uses Form I-247A. It wants notice before release, plus up to 48 extra hours of custody so its officers can come. The county bond on the criminal charge still has to be posted for that case.

Alabama cases are run by ICE's New Orleans office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360. Once agents take over, the online detainee search works with an A-number and the country of birth. Immigration bond is its own process, so bring the detainer paperwork to an immigration attorney.

Some crooks call worried families soon after an arrest, claiming to be a deputy, a court worker or a bondsman. Real county offices will never ask you to pay a bond with gift cards, cryptocurrency, a wire transfer or a payment app. Pressure to hurry, or to tell nobody, gives them away.

Hang up and call the office yourself using a number you trust. The Tuscaloosa County Jail answers at 205-349-4511, and the Sheriff's Office at 714 1/2 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 answers at 205-752-0616. Bond money belongs with three places only: the clerk, the jail, or a licensed company you found on your own. Ask for a receipt each time.

Keep this list handy. Call ahead before any trip, since each office handles a different part of the process:

• County jail: Tuscaloosa County Jail, 1600 26th Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-349-4511, for custody, holds and after-hours bond questions.
• Sheriff's Office: 714 1/2 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-752-0616.
• Circuit Clerk: 714 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-464-8260, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• District Attorney, 6th Judicial Circuit: 714 Greensboro Avenue, Suite 410, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, 205-349-1252.
• Public Defender: 205-345-8200.
• Juvenile Court: 205-345-4340.
• County switchboard: 205-349-3870.

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.