Alabama public records: who holds what

In Alabama, deeds are recorded by the Judge of Probate; birth and death certificates come from the ADPH Center for Health Statistics; and requests for other government records fall under the Alabama Open Records Act (Code of Alabama 1975, Title 36, Chapter 12, Article 3 'Inspection and Copying of Records'); substantially revised by Act 2024-278. Below: who holds every other record, what copies cost and the official link for each office.

Last checked against official sources on November 4, 2026.

On this page

1. Who holds what in Alabama
2. Public records law in Alabama
3. Probate records and wills in Alabama
4. How Alabama organizes its records
5. Other records: background checks, voters, businesses, maps
6. Counties in Alabama
7. Warnings from official sources
8. Official copies vs look-alike sites
9. Official directories
10. Sources

Who holds what in Alabama

The office that keeps each record, and the fee the law or the office sets for a copy. Open a record type for the full rules, ordering steps and older records.

Public records law in Alabama

Alabama Open Records Act (Code of Alabama 1975, Title 36, Chapter 12, Article 3 'Inspection and Copying of Records'); substantially revised by Act 2024-278 (Ala. Code §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-47) Read the law¹⁰

This law covers records that agencies hold, such as a county office's correspondence or a property file. Recorded deeds, vital records and court files usually have their own rules, set out in each record section.

Who can ask

Alabama residents have the statutory right (resident = permanently domiciled in Alabama, provable by e.g. Alabama driver license or voter registration). Officers may ask for proof of residency and may, but need not, answer non-residents.¹¹

If a request is refused

No administrative appeal body or ombudsman is created by Article 3; the Act instead creates a rebuttable presumption that a request has been denied when the deadlines pass¹¹

What is exempt

Exempt: records 'otherwise expressly provided by applicable law'; library registration/circulation records; security plans and critical infrastructure records whose disclosure could harm public safety; and records whose disclosure 'would otherwise be detrimental to the best interests of the public'. The Article does not change other confidentiality protections. Contract records must have account/tax ID/routing numbers redacted (Act 2026-592).¹⁰

Response time: acknowledge

Public officer must acknowledge a proper request within 10 business days of receipt¹¹

Response time: standard request

Standard request (under 8 hours of staff time): substantive response within 15 business days after acknowledgment; may be extended in 15-business-day increments with written notice¹¹

Response time: time intensive request

Time-intensive request (over 8 hours): officer must say so within 15 business days after acknowledgment and give likely fees; if requester proceeds, substantive response within 45 business days (extendable in 45-business-day increments)¹¹

More on the Alabama Open Records Act (Code of Alabama 1975, Title 36, Chapter 12, Article 3 'Inspection and Copying of Records'); substantially revised by Act 2024-278

Response time: presumed denial

Rebuttable presumption of denial if no substantive response within the earlier of 30 business days or 60 calendar days after acknowledgment (standard request), or within the earlier of 180 business days or 270 calendar days after the requester elects to proceed (time-intensive request); same periods also run from payment of estimated fees for production of records¹¹

Response time: clarification tolls

Asking the requester for clarification restarts the clock as if a new request was submitted¹¹

Response time: exempt offices

Judicial branch and Article VI (judicial) offices are exempt from the timing/procedure sections 36-12-43 to 36-12-45¹⁰

Fees: general

A 'reasonable fee' set by the public officer; no statewide per-page rate in the Act. Officer may require payment (all or part of the estimate) before searching or producing¹¹

Fees: copy statute

Copies are provided on payment of a reasonable fee¹²

Fees: secretary of state (example)

Example: Secretary of State charges $1.00 per page for copies of public records, plus outside costs; certified copies cost more¹³

Fees: alea (example)

Example: ALEA (state police) public records portal charges a non-refundable minimum fee of $20.00 per request; additional fees may apply for time-intensive requests¹⁴

Resident definition

Resident = individual permanently domiciled in Alabama¹⁵

How to ask

Follow the agency's written procedures/standard request form; absent written procedures, deliver by hand or mail to the officer's main office. Statutory standard form requires the requester to certify Alabama residency.¹⁶

No new records

Officer need not create new records or answer vague/overbroad requests¹¹

How to write a public records request

Probate records and wills in Alabama

Which court

County Probate Court (Judge of Probate) has original jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardianships, name changes¹⁷

Who may probate

Executor, devisee, legatee, interested person or custodian of the will¹⁸

Fees

Statutory base: probate of will up to 5 pages incl. three certified copies of letters $45.00 (+$3.00/page over 5); each additional certified copy of letters $3.00; local acts may differ²

Copy fee

$1.00 per page copy of an instrument (base)²

How this works in other states: probate records and wills by state.

How Alabama organizes its records

• No marriage licenses since Aug 29, 2019: couples file a notarized marriage certificate form with the Judge of Probate within 30 days; no ceremony required¹⁹
• Judge of Probate is the county recording office (deeds, mortgages, plats, liens) and also runs the probate court¹
• Open Records Act right belongs to Alabama residents; nonresident requests may be refused¹¹
• Property tax office title varies: Revenue Commissioner in most counties; separate Tax Assessor and Tax Collector in some (e.g. Jefferson, Madison, Tuscaloosa); Property Tax Commissioner in Shelby²⁰
• Divided counties/courthouse annexes: real property instruments may be recorded at any courthouse in the county²¹
• Jefferson County has a Bessemer Division with its own assistant tax assessor/collector office²⁰

Other records: background checks, voters, businesses, maps

Criminal history checks

State repository

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) is the state criminal history repository²²

Employer online

Alabama Background Check (ABC) online system for qualifying employers: $120.00 annual subscription + $15.00 per check²²

Personal record

Individuals may review their own Alabama record with ALEA CJIS Form 46: notarized or witnessed application, photo ID copy, fingerprints, and $25.00 fee by money order/cashier's check²³

Who may order

Restricted by statute to those with a 'need to know' or 'right to know'; not a public name search²⁴

Penalty

Obtaining records under false pretenses is a felony²²

Sex offender registry

Official registry

ALEA Sex Offender Registry, linked from alea.gov to communitynotification.com/cap_main.php (vendor-hosted community notification site)²⁵

Inmate and jail lookups

State prisons

Alabama Department of Corrections inmate search by AIS number or full name; currently incarcerated inmates only (no historical data online); excludes Youthful Offender Act inmates²⁶

Exclusion

Youthful offenders not included²⁶

County jails

County jails are run by the county Sheriff²⁷

Voter records

Public or restricted

Voter lists are available to any applicant who pays the fee; SSN, driver license numbers, email, phone and protected voters' data are confidential²⁸

Confidential

Confidential, may not be disseminated: Social Security numbers, driver license numbers, email addresses, telephone numbers, and voter information protected by § 17-4-33(b)(1). Exception: phone numbers of voters who register or update on or after June 1, 2026 and elect to have them disseminated; government agencies authorized to access²⁸

Fee

$0.01 per voter record for electronic voter lists (SOS fee schedule); statute caps at $1,000 per list²⁹

How to request

Buy online through SOS voter list portal (Alabama Interactive) or submit SOS Voter Registration Information Request form; no payment with form, SOS sends a quote³⁰

Commercial use banned

Selling or using voter data for commercial purposes is unlawful²⁸

More about voter records

Online portal

Online portal: alabamainteractive.org/…³¹

Business names (DBA)

Companies and LLCs

Corporations, LLCs, LPs etc. are filed with the Secretary of State; online Business Entity search (by entity name, entity number, officer/agent/incorporator) linked from the SOS Business Entity Records page³²

Trade names

No county DBA filing; trade names are registered (optionally) with the Secretary of State with trademarks/service marks, 5-year term³³

Trade name fee

$30.00 registration or renewal (listed as Trademark)²⁹

Copy fees

Business entity copies $2.00/page; certification $10.00; certificate of existence $25.00²⁹

Old corp records

Some corporation records 1949-2010 are at the Alabama Department of Archives and History³²

Liens and UCC filings

Filing office

UCC financing statements: Secretary of State, except fixture filings, as-extracted collateral and timber-to-be-cut, which go to the office recording mortgages (county Judge of Probate)³⁴

Tax liens

SOS UCC Division also files state and federal tax liens³⁵

Search

Online UCC search linked from SOS UCC Records page: Advanced Search (with images) on the Alabama Interactive UCC system - non-subscriber fees: search by filing number $0.00 per search + $1.00 per page; search by name $15.00 per search + $1.00 per page; electronic access fee $9.75 per transaction, plus a $5.50 efficiency fee. SOS page also links Simple Search (no images) at arc-sos.state.al.us (unreachable Nov. 4, 2026)³⁶

Fees

UCC-11 debtor name search $20.00 + $1.00/page copies; copy by file number $1.00/page; UCC-1 filing $20.00 first 2 pages³⁷

Liens at the county

Tax liens, judgments, lis pendens affecting real property are recorded with probate (may be recorded in any courthouse in divided counties)²¹

GIS and parcel maps

County GIS

ADOR's county offices page links each county's public GIS / parcel viewer where one exists²⁰

Historical and genealogy records

State archives

Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), archives.alabama.gov - holds e.g. some older corporation records³²

Old vital records

State birth and death filing began 1908; death records become public 25 years after death and birth records 125 years after birth, and may be made available for viewing in photographic, digital or other format under board rules³⁸

Pre state marriage

Marriages before August 1936: county probate office⁵

Counties in Alabama

16 counties with a full guide

Each guide lists the office for every record type, the official online searches, copy fees, phones and hours.

• Baldwin County
• Calhoun County
• Cullman County
• Elmore County
• Etowah County
• Houston County
• Jefferson County
• Lauderdale County
• Lee County
• Limestone County
• Madison County
• Marshall County
• Mobile County
• Shelby County
• St. Clair County
• Tuscaloosa County

All 67 counties

Names in bold open our guide. Names with an arrow go to the county's own website, where the US Census Bureau lists one and it opened when we checked.³⁹

• Autauga County
• Baldwin County
• Barbour County
• Bibb County
• Blount County
• Bullock County
• Butler County
• Calhoun County
• Chambers County
• Cherokee County
• Chilton County
• Choctaw County
• Clarke County
• Clay County
• Cleburne County
• Coffee County
• Colbert County
• Conecuh County
• Coosa County
• Covington County
• Crenshaw County
• Cullman County
• Dale County
• Dallas County
• DeKalb County
• Elmore County
• Escambia County
• Etowah County
• Fayette County
• Franklin County
• Geneva County
• Greene County
• Hale County
• Henry County
• Houston County
• Jackson County
• Jefferson County
• Lamar County
• Lauderdale County
• Lawrence County
• Lee County
• Limestone County
• Lowndes County
• Macon County
• Madison County
• Marengo County
• Marion County
• Marshall County
• Mobile County
• Monroe County
• Montgomery County
• Morgan County
• Perry County
• Pickens County
• Pike County
• Randolph County
• Russell County
• Shelby County
• St. Clair County
• Sumter County
• Talladega County
• Tallapoosa County
• Tuscaloosa County
• Walker County
• Washington County
• Wilcox County
• Winston County

Warnings from official sources

• ASC and Secretary of State warn of official-looking mailers demanding $90 or more for a copy of a UCC statement; not affiliated with SOS⁴⁰
• SOS: it never mails UCC forms or invoices⁴¹
• SOS warns of fraudulent business filings³²

Official directories

Lists that name the office in every county.

• ADOR county tax offices (all 67 counties) with links to appraisal/assessment record searches and GIS: https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/property-tax/county-offices-appraisal-assessment-records/²⁰
• AOC county court information: https://www.alacourt.gov/JudicialCircuits.aspx⁴²
• ADPH county health departments (vital records issuance): https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/about/locations.html⁴³

Sources

Every fact above links to the official page it comes from; all 43 sources were checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and rules change, so check the office's own page before you pay or travel.

1. Code of Alabama 1975 § 35-4-50: Conveyances required to be recorded in office of probate judgeAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
2. Code of Alabama 1975 § 12-19-90: Judge of probate - schedule of feesAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
3. Code of Alabama 1975 § 40-7-1: Authority of tax assessorAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
4. Code of Alabama 1975 § 12-1-2: Unified judicial systemAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
5. Marriage CertificatesAlabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics
6. Divorce CertificatesAlabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics
7. Vital RecordsAlabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics
8. Birth CertificatesAlabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics
9. Death CertificatesAlabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics
10. Code of Alabama 1975 § 36-12-40: Rights of citizens to inspect and copy public writings; exceptionsAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
11. Code of Alabama 1975 § 36-12-44: Duties of public officers; timingAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
12. Code of Alabama 1975 § 36-12-41: Copies of public records to be provided upon request and payment of feesAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
13. Public Records RequestAlabama Secretary of State
14. ALEA Public Records Request PortalAlabama Law Enforcement Agency
15. Code of Alabama 1975 § 36-12-43: Public policy; definitions; applicabilityAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
16. Code of Alabama 1975 § 36-12-45: Written procedures; request formAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
17. Code of Alabama 1975 § 12-13-1: Probate court jurisdictionAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
18. Code of Alabama 1975 § 43-8-160: Who may have will probatedAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
19. Code of Alabama 1975 § 30-1-9.1: Requirements for marriage (Act 2019-340)Alabama Legislature (ALISON)
20. County Offices/Appraisal and Assessment RecordsAlabama Department of Revenue
21. Code of Alabama 1975 § 35-4-62: Locations for recording conveyancesAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
22. Alabama Background Check (ABC) SystemAlabama Law Enforcement Agency (portal run by Alabama Interactive, linked from alea.gov)
23. ALEA CJIS Form 46 - Application to Review/Challenge Alabama Criminal History RecordAlabama Law Enforcement Agency
24. Code of Alabama 1975 § 41-9-642: Disclosure of criminal historiesAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
25. Online ServicesAlabama Law Enforcement Agency
26. Inmate SearchAlabama Department of Corrections
27. Code of Alabama 1975 § 14-6-1: Sheriff custody of jailAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
28. Code of Alabama 1975 § 17-4-38: Dissemination of voter registration informationAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
29. Alabama Secretary of State Fee ScheduleAlabama Secretary of State
30. Voter Registration Information Request formAlabama Secretary of State
31. Secretary of State Voter List (online purchase portal)Alabama Secretary of State (portal operated by Alabama Interactive, linked from sos.alabama.gov)
32. Business Entity RecordsAlabama Secretary of State
33. TrademarksAlabama Secretary of State
34. Code of Alabama 1975 § 7-9A-501: UCC filing officeAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
35. Uniform Commercial CodeAlabama Secretary of State
36. SOS - UCC Filing System (Alabama Interactive, official state portal linked from SOS UCC Records page)Alabama Secretary of State / Alabama Interactive
37. UCC Division Filing FeesAlabama Secretary of State
38. Code of Alabama 1975 § 22-9A-21: Disclosure of information from vital recordsAlabama Legislature (ALISON)
39. Government Units List 2026US Census Bureau
40. Alabama Securities Commission and Secretary of State Warning Businesses of Fraudulent Mailer (full release PDF)Alabama Securities Commission
41. UCC RecordsAlabama Secretary of State
42. Alabama's Judicial Circuits (county-specific court information)Alabama Administrative Office of Courts
43. Locations (county health departments)Alabama Department of Public Health