Colbert County, AL Courts and Public Records

The Colbert County Circuit and District Courts in Tuscumbia serve as the county's trial courts, handling felonies, misdemeanors, traffic cases, civil and small claims disputes, family matters, and juvenile cases for the 31st Judicial Circuit.

Have the person's full name, the case number if you know it, and the approximate dates ready before you search. Colbert County cases are kept by the Circuit Clerk's Office in Tuscumbia.

Colbert County's Circuit and District Courts together are estimated to have received ~9,780 new cases in FY 2025 and disposed of ~9,400, based on FY 2023 reports and the Alabama AOC's 2025 civil dashboard. Civil filings changed +35.3% and family law filings +7.9% from FY 2024.

The civil docket drove the change, moving from ~2,100 to ~2,841 filings.

Total filings in Colbert County are estimated to be higher in FY 2025 than in FY 2023, with the two newest years estimated from the Alabama AOC's 2025 civil dashboard.

Over the five years shown, filings moved +27.2% between FY 2021 and FY 2025, from 7,688 to ~9,780. The largest annual change was FY 2025. In FY 2025, civil filings changed +35.3% and family law filings +7.9%, while criminal and juvenile filings are held at their FY 2023 level.

Criminal cases are estimated to make up the largest share of Colbert County filings in FY 2025, at 55.7% of the ~9,780 filed.

Small claims was the fastest-growing category at ~+35.3%, while criminal was the slowest at ~+0.0%.

Colbert County is estimated to account for 1.22% of the ~800,306 cases filed in Alabama circuit and district courts in FY 2025. Its filings are estimated to change faster than statewide filings.

Colbert County has a less criminal-heavy docket than the state as a whole. It files more cases per resident than Alabama overall.

These are the crimes reported to the FBI in 2025 by the 8 law enforcement agencies in Colbert County, added together. For the agencies with both years on file, violent crimes rose 4.7% and property crimes fell 26.7% from 2024.

Colbert County's violent crime rate of 188.3 per 100K is below the Alabama rate of 350.4, and its property crime rate of 1,077.8 is below the state's 1,479.4.

Colbert County has 1 Circuit and District Court location, the courthouse in Tuscumbia. Check your notice or ticket for the division and courtroom before you go.

Colbert County's Circuit and District Courts share one courthouse in Tuscumbia, and the Circuit Clerk's Office routes each case type to a division. Federal cases are filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Yes, most Colbert County court records are public. Alabama's Rules of Court Records Privacy and Confidentiality (Rule 104) give the public the right to inspect and copy court records unless a law, rule, or court order says otherwise.

Public records

Most case files in the Circuit and District Courts are open, including dockets, filings, and orders in criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, and domestic relations cases.

Restricted or confidential records

Sealed records and records the rules list as confidential are not available without a court order. Juvenile delinquency and dependency proceedings are closed under Alabama law, and grand jury records, youthful offender records, and presentence reports are also protected.

Online access

Alacourt public access lets you look up case dockets for Alabama circuit and district courts. Online results show docket information, not every document, and restricted or closed cases are not shown. Traffic and criminal fines can be paid at Alapay.com.

In-person access

Visit the Circuit Clerk's Office at the Colbert County Courthouse, 201 North Main Street, Tuscumbia, to view or request records. Call (256) 386-8511 to confirm which division holds your case.

Fees

The court publishes a court costs schedule on its website. Ask the clerk about current charges for copies and certified records.

Use the official Alabama portals to search Colbert County cases by case type, and ask the Circuit Clerk for documents that are not online.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, family law, or juvenile.
2. Open Alacourt public access for circuit and district court dockets, or the Colbert County court website at colbert.alacourt.gov.
3. Search by party name or case number and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the docket for case status, parties, and scheduled dates.
5. Contact the Circuit Clerk at (256) 386-8511 to request documents that are not online.

Colbert County traffic tickets can be paid online, by phone, by mail, or in person, depending on the ticket.

1. Online: Resolve eligible citations issued by a sheriff's deputy or state trooper through Online Traffic Resolution at traffic.alacourt.gov, or pay traffic tickets and criminal fines at Alapay.com. Do not pay online if you are applying for driving school.
2. Alabama Traffic Service Center: Call (866) 954-9399 with questions or to pay.
3. Mail: For listed offenses, mail the full fine amount as a money order or cashier's check to Circuit Clerk, Traffic Court Division, P.O. Box 740370, Tuscumbia, AL 35674. Personal checks are not accepted, so call (256) 386-8511 first to confirm the ticket is in the system and how to make the payment out.
4. In person: Pay at the Circuit Clerk's Office, 201 North Main Street, Tuscumbia, with cash, money order, cashier's check, or credit card. Credit cards are accepted only for traffic fines.

Parking tickets are handled by the agency that issued them, not by this court's Traffic Court Division. Fines and costs may be higher if you do not pay before your court date.