Public Records Access in Alabama

County Commission Records Access

Charted above are the results of a small sample of public record requests, as per Alabama’s Open Records Act, §§ 36-12-40 to 46. Only county commission requests are included on the map. The notes below include documentation of other requests within the county.

• Fulfilled: The Commission fulfilled a records request in accordance with the Open Records Act.
• Posted Online: The record or information sought was already posted and easily accessible on an official website.
• Did Not Fulfill: The commission refused or otherwise did not fulfill the request in accordance with the Open Records Act. Circumstances are detailed below.
• Hurdles to Fulfill: These commissions did not respond within the 10 business day acknowledgement window, or initially refused but ultimately fulfilled, or had no feasible means of searching due to records not having been digitized, or had other circumstances that significantly impaired fulfillment.

The County Notes below include details on how each request was handled. For guidance on requesting, see Public Records Requests in Alabama.

Open Access Highs & Lows

The notes below describe how records request(s) and other requests for information were handled in each Alabama county.

Autauga County

Commission & SO: Officials offered what they knew, though information conflicted.

Baldwin County

Commission: I requested on Apr. 11, 2025 through the NextRequest portal. The request was fulfilled within two hours. The unidentified staff member pointed to a Meetings Calendar website that included the requested documents — and meeting records dating back to 1901.

Bibb County

See Animal Services in Bibb County.

Blount County

See Animal Services in Blount County.

Calhoun County

Commission: A Mar. 19, 2025 records request prepared according to the template and submitted to the Commission was denied per an in-person policy. Commission staff did not respond by the Open Records Act’s acknowledgement deadline. Upon my follow-up, Christi Ford had me send the request directly to her and then forwarded it to the county attorney’s office. Heather Turner, legal administrative assistant, then asked me to detail in writing why the in-person requirement is a violation of the Open Records Act so that she could check with the county attorney the next day; Heather did not call the next day nor was there any response to a follow-up email or three follow-up vms.

• Calhoun County Commission Public Records Request Form: None or not available. A Calhoun County Commission policy allows only in-person requests. Prepare according to the Open Records Act template or fill out in person.

Sheriff’s Office: I spoke with SO Lt. Josh Doggrell on May 9, 2025; he provided the record via email on May 13.

Municipalities: Karin Cooper, Ohatchee town clerk, emailed the town’s records request form immediately after our phone call; when I returned the form, she wrote that there would be a $20 fee for her to email, to mail, or even to get out the binder of ordinances for in-person viewing. Mayor Steven E. Baswell said the fee was justified because the the ordinance would have to be scanned. I offered to provide a digital file if they could mail me a paper copy. He chuckled and said that I could come in to view the ordinance for free; he was not aware that the town clerk was charging $20 for that also and replied “If that's what she said, we’ll stick to it.” The PD representative offered information, but I’m not confident that he was familiar with the subject. ✪ In Piedmont, Ben Singleton of the building and zoning department emailed Piedmont’s ordinance just 25 minutes after I emailed an informal request.

Cherokee County

Animal Control & Shelter: Duston Dutton, director, has been exceptionally generous in sharing information.

Chilton County

Commission: A Commission staff member stated in Apr. 2025 that records requests had to be submitted in person. I did not challenge that policy since the SO provided the document.

Sheriff’s Office: ACO Sgt. Rocky Mims provided the record on Apr. 24, 2025, the day after I emailed an informal request.

Municipalities: I emailed the two addresses posted on the Jemison website. After four business days with no reply, I spoke with City Clerk Vicki Potts, who emailed the City of Jemison public records request form and policy; I submitted the form on July 3, 2025; Vicki then added the city's animal ordinances to the city's Ordinances page. ✪ In Maplesville, my request had marked as spam; Town Clerk Dawn Smitherman found the email and provided the ordinance soon after I called.

Colbert County

Commission: Due to records not having been digitized, the Commission was unable to fulfill a request. County Administrator Roger Creekmore said on an Apr. 1, 2025 call that locating any record of the resolution or minutes in question (adoption of Alabama Code § 3-1-5), if even possible, would take several full days of searching.

Cullman County

See Animal Services in Cullman County.

Dale County

Commission & SO: After a few phone calls, Commission officials provided a decisive answer.

Dallas County

Commission: An Apr. 11, 2025 records request was not acknowledged by deadline. Upon follow-up, I was told that the record, if it exists, could not be found due to its age. This means that the county has no evidence of applicability of the law that the Animal Control page states is followed.

Elmore County

Commission: I submitted a records request via email on Apr. 11, 2025, and Chief Administrative Officer Courtney Clements Lee provided the document via email on Apr. 14. I prepared the request on the Commission’s form, which can also be accessed as of this writing through the Online Services > Forms page. Information on the county website made the process easy.

Etowah County

Commission: Though my Apr. 11, 2025 records request was fulfilled on time, there were several hurdles along the way. First was the lack of records request information on the county website: since there was no form, I submitted using the template; however, County Clerk Stephanie Franklin replied with a public records form and public records request procedure which I am including here to perhaps save someone a step. The next hurdle was that the procedure states that requests must be submitted in person (due to “cyber security and safety concerns”). I emailed the form anyway; Stephanie’s Apr. 14 reply stated that it had to be mailed, so I did so on Apr. 15. On Apr. 17, Stephanie emailed the record.

Fayette County

Commission & AC: After several phone calls, the ACO and Commission officials provided a decisive answer.

Geneva County

Commission: Dogs-at-large research required only a single call to Geneva County, since Cindy Williams, county administrator, was able to answer.

Hale County

Commission: Dogs-at-large research required only a single call to Hale County.

Jackson County

Commission: Dogs-at-large research required only a single call to Jackson County.

Jefferson County

See Animal Services in Jefferson County.

Lamar County

Commission & SO: Dogs-at-large research required only a couple calls to Lamar County.

Lauderdale County

Commission: I submitted a records request on Apr. 14, 2025. There was no response within the acknowledgement period. On May 15, County Administrator Brooke Nichols-Slatton emailed that she had searched the (apparently analog) records and concluded that the Commission had not adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5 (actually, the Commission had adopted in 2004).

Animal Shelter: I informally requested the document from Cheryl Jones, Florence-Lauderdale director of animal control, on May 2, 2025, and Cheryl provided it via FB Messenger on May 6.

Lawrence County

Commission: An informal request emailed Mar. 24, 2025 was fulfilled by County Administrator Heather Dyar Rose on Mar. 31. A second informal request, emailed Apr. 11, was fulfilled by Heather on May 1.

Animal Control & Shelter: Anthony Wilbanks, ACO and director at Lawrence County Animal Shelter, was glad to share information about animal control and sheltering.

Lee County

After initial calls with the Commission, I reached Lisa Wimberley, chief animal control officer, who was knowledgeable about the law and provided the record. I appreciate also that her Lee County Animal Control (which contracts with the county) website mentions the statute.

Limestone County

Commission: On a Mar. 18, 2025 phone call, Archivists April Davis and Allen located and guided me to the document on the County’s Archives website, an excellent effort by the county to archive records for officials and citizens alike.

Lowndes County

Commission: County Administrator Jackie Thomas said in Apr. 2025 that she would not be able to look for the record for the next three months since she was working on an audit.

Macon County

Commission: Josetta Stewart, office manager at the Compliance Office, searched for the document in question, which I requested via phone on Mar. 31, 2025. After several follow-up attempts, on Apr. 29 Josetta emailed that she did not find the document (it may not exist).

Madison County

See Animal Services in Madison County.

Marengo County

Commission: I requested the record via phone on Mar. 26, 2025; County Administrator Shannon Drake advised on Apr. 4 that she could not find any such record (it is likely that the record in question does not exist).

Marion County

Commission: In seven weeks of correspondence which included an Apr. 11, 2025 records request, County Administrator Scott Hunt did not provide records. I followed up several times after the response deadline had passed, but I did not hear back from Scott. Scott did respond the same day to a different request emailed on Aug. 25, saying “I will send a form for you to fill out.” Instead, he emailed the requested document on Sept. 4.

• Marion County Commission Public Records Request Form: It is unclear whether the county has a custom form. I prepared my request according to the Open Records Act template and emailed it to Scott Hunt.

Animal Shelter: Charlotte Williams, director of Marion-Winston Animal Shelter, was glad to share information.

Marshall County

See Animal Services in Marshall County.

Mobile County

Commission: Mobile County’s website provided all of the information and documents that I sought — without even the need for a single call or email.

Monroe County

Animal Shelter: Trisha Davis, director, was glad to share information.

Montgomery County

Commission: See at Dogs at Large by County Notes for a record of the challenges of obtaining records from Montgomery County Commission, including a records request portal that was supposed to have been de-activated and replaced with a new Montgomery County records request form (the original is a docx; here is a PDF); a records request policy that requires in-person submission; and the commendable handling of the situation by Executive Assistant Tammy Nix.

Animal Shelter: Steve Tears, director, was glad to share information.

Morgan County

Commission: I submitted a request on Apr. 11, 2025 using the template, since there was no form posted on the County website. Archivist John Allison replied on Apr. 14 with a public records form and procedure which I am including here to perhaps save someone a step in the future. Upon resubmitting on Apr. 14, I included a rebuttal to the in-person requirement. On Apr. 21, the record was provided via email.

Municipalities: Ashley Patterson, Trinity town clerk, provided animal control ordinances on June 27, 2025, the morning after I sent an informal request.

Perry County

SO: Dogs-at-large research required only a single call to Perry County.

Randolph County

SO: Dogs-at-large research required only a single call to Randolph County.

St. Clair County

See Animal Services in St. Clair County.

Shelby County

Commission: I submitted records requests on Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, 2025 via the County’s webform. Both times, Office Administrator Stefanie Knight replied with the requested document within a single day.

Animal Shelter: Saundra Ivey, director, was glad to share information.

Talladega County

Commission & SO: After a misstep with the SO, Jennifer Lacey at the Commission was able to provide dogs-at-large info.

Walker County

See Animal Services in Walker County.

Winston County

Animal Shelter: Charlotte Williams, director of Marion-Winston Animal Shelter, was glad to share information.