Mobile County District Court

Mobile County District Courts Overview

Alabama district courts are courts of limited and special jurisdiction. They handle misdemeanors, preliminary criminal hearings, traffic cases, small civil claims under the district court limit, and small claims matters. Mobile County District Court is part of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit and operates from the Mobile County Courthouse at 205 Government Street. District courtrooms are on the 4th floor of Government Plaza.

The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit is a one-county circuit serving Mobile County. It has eleven circuit judges and five district judges listed on the official judges' pages. The court site links each judge's page, with courtroom assignments and phone numbers for some judges.

List of Mobile County District Judges

The official Mobile court site lists five district judges. The judge pages identify courtroom assignments and phone numbers where published. Use this table to map a judge to a courtroom.

For circuit judges, see the official Mobile County circuit judges page.

District Court vs. Circuit Court vs. Probate Court

Alabama's trial-court split is different from many other states. District court is limited; circuit court is general jurisdiction; probate court is its own court for wills, estates, and recording. The table below summarizes the practical split in Mobile County.

How a Case Moves Through the Mobile County System

Mobile County cases follow Alabama procedure. Criminal cases generally start with arrest and booking at Metro Jail, move through district court for preliminary matters, then circuit court for felony trial and sentencing. Civil cases start with a complaint and answer; large civil and family cases stay in circuit court, while small claims and small civil stay in district court. Probate matters route to Probate Court regardless of value.

Criminal flow: Arrest at Metro Jail › District Court preliminary › Indictment for felonies › Circuit Court arraignment › Pretrial › Trial › Sentencing › Appeal to Alabama appellate courts

Civil flow: Complaint filed › Answer › Discovery › Mediation if ordered › Trial › Judgment › Post-judgment garnishment or execution › Appeal

Civil, Criminal, and Traffic Divisions

Mobile County District Court hears civil, criminal, and traffic divisions. The civil division covers small claims and limited civil matters under the district-court dollar cap. The criminal division covers misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings, and bond matters. Traffic court handles citations not eligible for online resolution. The Alabama Online Traffic Resolution system at resolve.alacourt.gov is a faster path for eligible traffic matters.

Some matters reset between divisions during the case, so always check the latest docket entry.

Thirteenth Judicial Circuit

The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit is a one-county circuit covering only Mobile County. The presiding circuit judge is Hon. S. Wesley Pipes. The bench includes Hon. Ben H. Brooks, Hon. Vicki M. Davis, Hon. Brandy Hambright, Hon. Walter H. Honeycutt, Hon. Edmond G. Naman (Juvenile Division at Strickland), Hon. Jill P. Phillips, Hon. Michael D. Sherman, Hon. Michael P. Windom, Hon. Jay A. York, and Hon. Michael A. Youngpeter. Circuit courtrooms are on the 6th and 8th floors of Government Plaza.

The Family Court juvenile division operates from the Strickland Youth Facility at 2315 Costarides Street, Mobile, AL 36617, phone 251-574-1450. Juvenile court records are confidential under Alabama Code § 12-15-133 except for authorized access.

Visit the official circuit judges page for each judge's bio and contact information.

Municipal Courts and Federal Courts

Mobile County does not use justice-of-the-peace courts; Alabama uses district court at the limited-jurisdiction level. Municipal courts in the City of Mobile and surrounding cities handle municipal ordinance and city traffic matters within their own jurisdiction. Federal cases for Mobile County go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama at the Mobile courthouse, with appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Federal docket access runs through PACER and CM/ECF.

Appeals From Mobile County District Court

Appeals from a Mobile County district court decision generally go to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. From circuit court, civil appeals route to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, criminal appeals route to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, and ultimately to the Alabama Supreme Court for further review when accepted. The official Mobile court page explains that appellate courts review trial errors and do not change jury fact findings.

For Alabama appellate court overview and judge qualification information, the state Judicial System publishes overview pages at judicial.alabama.gov/Appellate. Federal appeals from the Southern District of Alabama go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at ca11.uscourts.gov. Federal appellate timelines and rules differ from Alabama state appellate procedure, so counsel is recommended.

How to Check a Mobile County Court Date

To check a Mobile County circuit or district court setting, open the Alacourt docket page at pa.alacourt.com with LOC=58. Pick the setting date, enter the last name if you want to narrow, and click Search. The system returns a docket PDF in an iframe. The page warns that some cases may not appear electronically, so if a case is missing, contact the Mobile County Circuit Clerk's office at 205 Government Street.

For probate court dates, log in to Benchmark WEB. For traffic matters, the Alabama Online Traffic Resolution system at resolve.alacourt.gov may give faster disposition than waiting for a setting. For federal cases, log in to PACER for the Southern District of Alabama docket.

Related Mobile County Resources

For dockets and case lookup, see court records and court dockets. For Clerk contact info, see Clerk of Court. For criminal data, see criminal records. For warrants, see warrant records. For probate filings, see probate records.