Alabama

Overview

Alabama

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1. City jail records: The Docket Book with information regarding the arrest of each person booked at the jail — including name, birth date, home address, charges, bonds, fines, etc. — is a public record. Inter-Office Communication from Birmingham Law Department attorney Charles H. Wyatt, Jr., to Birmingham’s Chief Jail Administrator, Major Frank Alexander, confirming public record status of City Jail Docket, Aug. 1, 1985; see also Deutcsh v. State, 610 So. 2d 1212, 1224 (Ala. Crim. App.

Overview

Alabama

It has long been the rule in Alabama to allow public inspection of judicial records. Brewer v. Watson, 61 Ala. 310, 311 (1878). More than a century ago, the Supreme Court of Alabama held that "an inspection of the records of judicial proceedings kept in the courts of the country, is held to be the right of any citizen." Id. at 311; see also Ex parte Balogun, 516 So. 2d 606, 612 (Ala.

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Alabama's shield statute does not use the term "reporter," but states that the privilege applies to a person "engaged in, connected with or employed on any newspaper, radio broadcasting station or television station, while engaged in a newsgathering capacity." Ala. Code § 12-21-142.

Meetings of governmental bodies may be closed to discuss the job performance of certain public employees unless the person is an elected or appointed public official, an appointed member of a state or local board or commission, or a public employee who is one of the classification of public employees required to file a Statement of Economic Interests with the Alabama Ethics Commission pursuant to Alabama Code § 36-25-14. Ala. Code § 36-25A-7(a)(1) (Supp. 2005).

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Death certificates become “nonrestricted public records” when “25 years have elapsed after the date of death, but are not public records before that date. Ala. Code § 22-9A-21(f) (1997).

Overview

Alabama

Under Alabama law, criminal court records are subject to the same federal constitutional rights of access as criminal proceedings; furthermore,because the closure of criminal proceedings and the sealing of court records are related matters implicating similar interests, Alabama courts apply the same standard of review to both issues. Ex parte Birmingham News Co., 624 So. 2d 1117, 1126 (Ala. Crim. App. 1993); see Ex parte Consolidated Publishing Co., 601 So. 2d 423, 433-34 (Ala. 1992).