Dale County Circuit Court Overview
Dale County sits in Alabama's Thirty-Third Judicial Circuit. The official Dale County Thirty-Third Judicial Circuit website states that the circuit consists of Dale and Geneva Counties and was formed by Act No. 644 on November 20, 1959. The Circuit Court is the primary trial court named by the research map. It handles felony criminal matters, higher civil cases, domestic-relations cases, appeals from lower courts, and other circuit-level proceedings.
Dale County's Circuit Court record path runs through the Dale County Circuit Clerk, Delores Woodham, and Alabama AOC systems. The Circuit Clerk's Office lists Civil, Criminal, Domestic, Child Support, Traffic, Juvenile, and Warrants as court divisions. Many state trial-court records are available through paid Alacourt Access, while certified copies, older records, and files not shown online require direct clerk contact.
| Court or office | Role | Address or mailing | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dale County Circuit Court | General trial court for felony, civil, domestic, and appeals from lower courts | Dale County Courthouse, 100 Court Square, Ozark; mail P.O. Box 1350, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-5003 |
| Dale County District Court | Traffic, misdemeanor, small claims, lower civil, juvenile, and child-support matters | Dale County Courthouse / P.O. Box 1350, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-5003 |
| Dale County Probate Court | Wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, adoptions, commitments, and marriage certificate recording | 100 Court Square, Ozark, AL 36360; mail P.O. Box 580, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-2754 |
| Municipal Courts | City ordinance and municipal traffic cases inside city jurisdiction | City-specific court office | Verify with issuing city |
Dale County Circuit Court Judges
The official Dale County judges page lists Circuit Judges, District Judges, and retired judges. For a Circuit Court case record, the assigned judge helps explain orders, settings, continuances, trial dates, and case action entries. Circuit Court records may also show a district judge or lower-court history if the matter moved through another court before reaching circuit level.
| Court number or judge | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presiding Judge William H. Filmore | Circuit Judge | P.O. Box 2436, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-8011 |
| Judge Kimberly A. Crawford | Circuit Judge | P.O. Box 1089, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-3726 |
| Presiding Judge Stan Garner, Jr. | District Judge | P.O. Box 446, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-4431 |
| Judge Stuart K. Smith | District Judge | P.O. Box 130, Ozark, AL 36361 | (334) 774-7008 |
| Active Retired Judge P.B. McLauchlin Jr. | Retired or active retired | Listed on Dale judges page | Not listed |
| Retired Judge Kenneth W. Quattlebaum | Retired | Listed on Dale judges page | Not listed |
| Retired Judge Fred R. Steagall | Retired | Listed on Dale judges page | Not listed |
Dale County Circuit Court Comparison
Alabama court structure is not a single county court model. Dale County has Circuit Court, District Court, Probate Court, and municipal courts, each with a different records custodian and case type. Knowing the court level saves time because a Probate Court estate file will not be a Circuit Clerk criminal case, and a city ordinance ticket may not appear in the same place as a Dale County District Court traffic citation.
| Record issue | Circuit Court | District Court | Probate or Municipal Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main role | General trial court | Limited trial court | Specialized probate or city court |
| Criminal records | Felony and circuit-level criminal cases | Misdemeanor and lower criminal matters | Municipal ordinance cases may stay with city court |
| Civil records | Higher civil and domestic matters | Small claims and lower civil cases | Estates and guardianships belong to Probate Court |
| Traffic records | Appeals or related criminal matters | Many Dale County traffic citations | City tickets may route to municipal court |
| Record custodian | Circuit Clerk | Circuit Clerk | Probate Office or municipal court clerk |
Dale County Case Flow
A criminal case can begin with arrest, warrant, citation, indictment, complaint, or another charging step. Felony matters move into Circuit Court for arraignment, pretrial action, plea or trial, disposition, sentencing, and possible appeal. Lower criminal and traffic cases may begin in District Court or municipal court, then move upward if appealed or if charges require circuit jurisdiction.
Criminal flow: Arrest or charge › first appearance or lower-court start › indictment or charging instrument › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed › service › answer › motions › hearing or trial setting › order or judgment › post-judgment collection or appeal.
For case records, Alacourt report descriptions may include basic case information, court action, case status, setting dates, party information, financial history, detailed case action summary, court actions and rulings, document images, and attachments when available and not restricted.
Note: The Dale County docket search warns that some cases may not appear electronically, so clerk confirmation is the official fallback.
Dale County Circuit Court Traffic Context
Traffic cases in Dale County are mostly District Court matters unless they are appealed, tied to a criminal case, or handled by a municipal court. The official Dale County Traffic Court page gives payment methods, Alapay links, Alabama Traffic Service Center links, mail-in guilty plea instructions, failure-to-appear consequences, no-insurance processing, a payable-offense schedule, and defensive-driving notes. It also warns that personal checks are not accepted.
The traffic page matters for Circuit Court users because missed court dates can create warrants, license suspension, increased fines, and bond forfeiture. Some correctable tickets, such as no insurance or license-related proof, may be handled before court or within a stated period after court if the page's conditions are met. Unlisted violations require a court appearance.
The assigned manifest source for traffic is the official court page: Dale County Traffic Court.
Use traffic channels for citation payment or court-date questions, then use the Circuit Clerk for case records that need certification or full file access.
Dale County Circuit Court PFA Cases
Protection From Abuse matters are a local procedure closely tied to Circuit Clerk access. The Dale County PFA page says forms are available at the Circuit Clerk's Office in Ozark and that there is no charge for a protection order. A petition may be filed where the victim lives or has temporarily relocated, with special venue rules if a related case is already pending.
The PFA page explains that the sheriff receives the signed order, petition, and hearing notice for service on the defendant. It also says a victim may seek a warrant for violation of the order by making a police report and bringing a copy to the District Attorney's Office. A temporary protection order may remove a home or work address, phone number, or related information from court records filed in the protection-order matter.
The assigned image source is the official PFA page: Dale County Protection From Abuse process.
PFA records may include safety-sensitive information, so public copies can be narrower than the full court file.
Dale County Court vs Driver Records
Court traffic records are not the same as state driver records. A Dale County court file can show the citation, court date, plea, disposition, fine, costs, warrant status, or failure-to-appear action. An ALEA driver record concerns license status and driver history. The ALEA driver records and reinstatement page is the state channel for driver-history records, crash reports, and reinstatement topics.
| Question | Dale County court record | ALEA driver record |
|---|---|---|
| Who keeps it? | Circuit Clerk, District Court, or municipal court | Alabama Law Enforcement Agency |
| What it shows | Citation, court setting, plea, disposition, fines, costs | Driver history, license status, reinstatement items |
| Where to start | Dale Traffic Court, Alapay, Alacourt, or Circuit Clerk | ALEA driver records page |
| How to correct | Contact the court that entered the case result | Follow ALEA driver-record or reinstatement process |
The driver-records image source is ALEA's official page: ALEA driver records and reinstatement.
When a ticket affects license status, both the court file and ALEA driver record may need to be checked.
Search Dale County Circuit Court
Use Alacourt Access for paid Circuit Court and District Court lookup by name or case number. Use the Dale County docket search for setting dates and optional last-name filtering. Use AlaFile only when registered filing or service-copy access is needed. For certified copies, non-electronic records, sealed-record questions, and files that do not appear online, contact the Dale County Circuit Clerk at (334) 774-5003 or delores.woodham@alacourt.gov.
- Decide whether the case is Circuit Court, District Court, Probate Court, municipal court, state driver record, or federal court.
- Search Alacourt Access by name or case number for Alabama state trial-court records.
- Check Dale County docket search when the immediate need is a court setting date.
- Contact the Circuit Clerk when a certified copy, older file, restricted file, or missing electronic record is involved.
Circuit Clerk Fallback
Dale County Circuit Clerk, P.O. Box 1350, Ozark, AL 36361, phone (334) 774-5003, email delores.woodham@alacourt.gov.
Dale County Circuit History
Dale County was created on December 22, 1824 and named for Gen. Sam Dale. County seat history is part of the court record story. The original county seat was Dale Court House, later Daleville. It moved to Newton in 1841 and then to Ozark after an 1870 election. The current courthouse was built in 1968 by Madison Construction Company and updated in 2015.
The Thirty-Third Judicial Circuit was formed in 1959. Before that, Dale County was in the old Third Circuit with Barbour County, while Geneva County was paired with Covington County. The modern Dale County court site also gives 2017 filing volume, including 1,760 new Circuit Court cases with 51% criminal, 14% civil, and 35% domestic, plus 7,038 District Court cases with a large traffic share. Those numbers explain why Circuit Court, District Court, traffic, and clerk access channels all need to be kept separate.