Criminal Cases in the Mobile County Courts
Mobile County criminal court records divide first by jurisdiction. The Circuit Criminal Division holds felony trial pleadings, docket entries, judgments, sentences, and related warrants. The District Criminal Division handles misdemeanors, traffic charges, and the early stages of felony matters. A felony may therefore begin with District Court processing before an indictment or other lawful charging instrument places it in Circuit Court.
Municipal courts keep their own ordinance and traffic files, along with bench warrants from those cases. The Mobile Circuit Criminal request form does not supply municipal, federal, out-of-county, or out-of-state records. Circuit Clerk Ashleigh Long is the constitutional custodian of Mobile County Circuit and District criminal, traffic, juvenile, and warrant files. The clerk records what was filed and what the court decided. That makes the clerk, not the jail roster, the key source for a final disposition.
Mobile County Felony Case Counter
Mobile County felony case files are served by Circuit Criminal in Room C-927 of Government Plaza's North Tower. The counter is at 205 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36644. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with no lunch closure. The payment window closes at 4:30 p.m. Staff can also be reached at 251-574-8430 or 13jccircuitcriminal@alacourt.gov.
Mobile Circuit Criminal
205 Government Street
Room C-927, North Tower
Mobile, AL 36644
251-574-8430
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Payment window: 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The Circuit window accepts cash, cashier's checks, money orders, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Cards are accepted only at the window, and personal checks are refused. District Criminal uses Room 338 in the North Tower and 251-574-8511. Its counter has the same main weekday hours and payment-window cutoff, but mail payments require a cashier's check or money order. Exact cash is accepted at the atrium window. These office rules matter when a remote result must be confirmed or copied.
How to Search Case Records
Use Alacourt ACCESS V2.0, also called Just One Look, for electronic Alabama Circuit and District case details. It requires an account and charges per search. If the portal lacks an image or a result seems incomplete, use the clerk's counter, telephone line, or mail and pickup request form. Municipal matters must go to the issuing city court.
- Decide whether the matter belongs to Circuit, District, or a municipal court. A felony trial file belongs in Circuit; a misdemeanor or preliminary felony stage may remain in District.
- Choose a name search or case-number search in Just One Look. A case number is more precise and reduces confusion between people with similar names.
- Register with the fields the portal shows and pay for the chosen search. Do not assume fields hidden behind the account screen are available.
- Read the status, court actions, settings, financial history, and case-action summary. Open paid document images only when the docket entry alone is not enough.
- Request a clerk search, plain copy, or certified copy when the electronic record is missing, old, or needed in an official form. Allow at least two weeks for the clerk request.
The public signup and access controls observed for Just One Look are limited. No paid search was made, so extra post-login filters should not be assumed.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search mode | Tab/control | Yes | Name or Case Number |
| Email / Repeat Email | Text | For signup | Account identifier |
| Password / Repeat Password | Password | Yes | Used to create the account |
| First / Middle / Last Name | Text | First and last presumed | The account interface controls exact requirements |
| Address / City / State / ZIP | Text/dropdown | For signup | Billing and account contact |
| Phone | Text | For signup | Account contact |
| Terms | Checkbox | Yes | Acceptance is required |
Mobile County Case Search Fees
A Just One Look name search costs $9.99 and includes one case detail. Each added case detail costs another $9.99. A search that returns no match still uses the charge. A case-number search also costs $9.99 and includes one detail. Document images cost $5 for the first 20 pages, then $0.50 for each added page. The service advertises lifetime email monitoring at $19.99 for a District case and $29.99 for a Circuit case.
The Mobile Circuit Criminal search and copy form offers a different route. It accepts requests for pickup or mail and asks whether certification is needed. A computer search costs $10. A paper search for 1984 forward costs $20, while microfilm for 1983 or earlier costs $25. Copies cost $5 for the first 20 pages in each case and $0.50 per added page. Certification adds $5.
| Access item | Cost or rule |
|---|---|
| Just One Look name or case-number search | $9.99, including one case detail |
| Clerk computer search | $10 |
| Paper search, 1984 forward | $20 |
| Microfilm search, 1983 or earlier | $25 |
| Clerk copies | $5 first 20 pages per case; $0.50 each added page |
| Certification | $5 |
Fees apply even when staff finds no record. Processing takes at least two weeks, and copies not picked up within 60 days are destroyed. The official Just One Look source shows the state trial-court access point pictured here.
The portal image helps identify the correct state court system, while the clerk remains the fallback for certified, archived, or unscanned Mobile County case records.
What the Case File Shows
A Mobile County criminal case file is a court-centered record. It can show the filed charge, later amendments, scheduled hearings, motions, rulings, pleas, the outcome, sentence, costs, and related warrant activity. Just One Look may also expose party detail, a financial history, a chronological case-action summary, and document images when available. A missing scan does not prove that the paper document is sealed.
| Case Number & Court | The unique file identifier and the Circuit or District division holding it. |
|---|---|
| Charging Document | The complaint, indictment, information, or other filed instrument stating the court charge. |
| Docket Entries | A dated record of filings, settings, orders, rulings, pleas, and other court action. |
| Hearing Dates | Past and scheduled settings, subject to later reset or closure-related change. |
| Disposition & Judgment | The recorded result, such as conviction, acquittal, dismissal, no bill, or nolle prosequi. |
| Sentence & Conditions | Confinement, probation, financial terms, or other court-ordered terms when reported. |
The court file shows what happened after filing. An arrest entry only proves an allegation and custody event. Readers tracing the earlier event can compare it with the county's official arrest-record channels, then return to the clerk for the filed charge and final outcome.
Reading Mobile County Case Outcomes
Short docket labels can hide major differences. “Pending” means no final disposition has been entered. “Disposed” means the case reached a terminating event, but it does not reveal which event without reading the detail. A disposed case may end in guilt, dismissal, acquittal, or another result. An active warrant is court process that remains outstanding. It is not a conviction.
- Nolle prosequi
- The prosecutor formally chose not to continue the charge at that point.
- No bill
- The grand jury did not return an indictment on the submission presented.
- Disposition
- The recorded outcome of a charge or case.
- Acquittal
- A not-guilty determination after trial or another adjudication.
- Docket
- The chronological list of filings, hearings, orders, and events in the case.
Check the case-action summary and the underlying order when a label is unclear. A status code alone should not be read as a full history of the case.
Stages of a Criminal Case
A Mobile County felony may start with a complaint, arrest, and initial appearance. District Court conducts the early processing. A grand jury may then return an indictment, or another charging instrument may be used when law allows. Circuit Court arraignment states the charge and takes a plea. Motions and pretrial settings follow. The case may end by negotiated plea, trial, dismissal, or another disposition, followed by sentence and any post-judgment motion or appeal.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Each step adds a different docket entry or document. Booking data may show the first alleged charge, but the charging instrument and later court orders control the public case history.
Mobile County Accountability Court Cases
Not every Mobile County criminal case follows only a standard trial track. Local Accountability Courts include Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and Veterans Treatment Court teams. These are named court programs, not separate public-record repositories. Their case activity remains tied to the appropriate criminal docket, while some treatment, evaluation, diversion, probation, or other protected material may not be open to ordinary inspection.
The county lists direct lines for Drug Court at 251-574-5650, pretrial services at 251-574-5665, jail-diversion probation at 251-574-3296, and Community Corrections at 251-574-5685. Those lines help route program questions. The Circuit or District clerk remains the source for the public case file, docket status, and entered disposition.
Access & Restrictions
Alabama's court-record access and privacy rules support public inspection while protecting defined categories. Complete Social Security numbers, account numbers, and similar identifiers should be omitted or masked. Juvenile and youthful-offender files, adult probation reports, parole records, pretrial-diversion records, and records made confidential by law are not part of normal public access. Victim and minor information may also receive protection.
The Alabama Open Records Act does not replace the judicial rules or impose the administrative timetable used for executive agencies. Circuit and District counter inspection may be free even when remote access, searches, copies, or certification carry charges. An expungement order can remove eligible records from ordinary public view while preserving access that Alabama law specifically allows.
Stale Mobile County Case Status
A 2025 Mobile County report described an electronic file that had not been updated for nearly two years after a grand jury returned a no bill. The court system changed its grand-jury notification process after the error. The event shows why an old “pending” label deserves a direct clerk check, especially when the known facts suggest that the matter ended.
Start with the case number and ask the correct criminal division to confirm the latest docket event and disposition. Request the case-action summary or relevant order if the portal has not caught up. If the issue concerns a municipal charge, ask that city court instead. Do not treat a stale remote status as stronger evidence than the clerk's filed record.
Note: A no-match result at one Mobile County office is not a statewide clearance because each court and repository has a defined scope.