Lawrence County Criminal Docket Searches
Eligible Circuit and District criminal cases in Lawrence County run through Alacourt ACCESS V2.0, or Just One Look. This is a statewide paid service. It is not a free county portal. A name search costs $9.99 and includes one case detail. Each additional detail you select from that name search costs another $9.99. A case-number search costs $9.99 and includes the identified detail. Registration is required. An exact case number helps you avoid paying for the wrong Lawrence County criminal docket.
The paid route is not the only channel. Rule 201 lets you view eligible electronic dockets and court records for free at the Lawrence County Circuit Clerk's office during regular hours. You can also call or visit the clerk, phone the assigned judge's office about a setting, contact a municipal clerk for a city offense, or use the District traffic channel for a state or county citation. Before mailing a written copy request, confirm the address. Current and older official sources list different addresses.
- Read the citation, notice, bond paper, or prior order for the owning court and case number.
- Choose Circuit, District, or the named municipal court before opening a paid search.
- Use Case Number Search when possible; otherwise use the portal's Name Search.
- Confirm Lawrence County, the court, case style, charge, and filing date before relying on the result.
- Read the Case Action Summary in date order, then confirm the newest setting or final disposition.
- Ask the proper clerk for a missing image, an older file, or a certified copy.
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Lines
Jurisdiction decides where the record lives. Lawrence County Circuit Court, Alabama's 36th Judicial Circuit, receives felonies and any lesser offenses connected to them. Lawrence County District Court handles county misdemeanors, state and county traffic matters, felony preliminary proceedings, and certain pleas. A misdemeanor committed inside Moulton, Town Creek, Courtland, North Courtland, or Hillsboro ordinarily stays with that municipality unless it ties to a felony or an extraordinary circumstance.
Where does the county-versus-city line fall? The Lawrence magistrates and warrants page is the local source. It lists a magistrate appointment number, (256) 974-2438, and notes that an unserved arrest warrant is not public. The official source illustrates the division:
That boundary explains a common failed search. A case missing from Just One Look may sit with a municipal clerk or fall under a lawful restriction. Its absence does not prove no case exists.
Criminal Dockets: What They Show
Alabama names the chronological register a Case Action Summary. A Lawrence County criminal docket first identifies the court and case, then logs events one after another: the initiating charge, warrant or complaint, bond activity, settings, motions, plea or trial, disposition, sentence, and appeal. Just One Look can add setting dates, actions and rulings, public party details, financial information, and purchasable document images. Treat the summary as an index. It is not each pleading, order, or transcript behind an entry.
| Case Number | An Alabama number may follow the pattern 38-CC-2014-000659, but Lawrence's county code was not verified and should not be guessed. |
|---|---|
| Charge and Class | The alleged offense and felony, misdemeanor, or municipal classification. An accusation is not a conviction. |
| Bond | Issue, commitment, release, amount, type, surety, or later forfeiture fields when applicable. |
| Settings | Arraignment, docket call, motion hearing, pretrial, trial, or sentencing dates, including later resets. |
| Disposition | Guilty, acquitted, dismissed, nolle prosequi, or another final action, followed by sentence where applicable. |
| Appeal | A notice showing that review was sought; appellate records may then be kept in a different court. |
Read the fields as a sequence. Bond data does not state the outcome, and a trial date does not show that trial occurred. The last ruling, plus any later appeal entry, supplies the context you need.
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Fields
The blank criminal Case Action Summary holds many fields. A short results list shows only some of them. Its header carries the case number, county or municipality, court selection, and the State or Municipality versus Defendant caption. Process fields include warrant or capias dates, jail commitment, and bond release. They also cover bond amount, bond type, and sureties. Proceeding fields cover preliminary hearing, jury or nonjury status, custody status, offense class, prosecutor, judge ID, grand-jury number, attorney, indictment, trial date, Defendant Index, and Court Calendar.
A once-filed matter may not stay in ordinary public results, and the Alabama criminal expungement law explains why. The official source confirms it here:
Old form fields do not mean all personal data is remotely visible today. Current privacy rules put redaction duties on filers and allow sealing. That is why the public Lawrence County criminal docket may show less than the underlying court file.
Criminal Case Stages on the Docket
A felony may begin with a complaint, warrant, or arrest. It then passes through preliminary work before grand-jury action and indictment. The Circuit docket then records arraignment, bond, and motions. Pretrial settings follow, then a plea or trial, disposition, sentencing, and any appeal. District misdemeanor cases take a shorter route. Even so, the reader still has to separate an early charge from the last ruling. City misdemeanors follow the register of the municipal court that issued them.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Dates must be read in sequence. A docket call checks status or readiness; it is not the trial. A motion asks the judge to act; it is not the ruling. Discovery exchanged between prosecution and defense may never be filed with the clerk. So do not expect it behind every entry. Does the index not answer the question? Purchase an order image or request a certified copy.
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Terms
Wording matters on a Lawrence County criminal docket. A one-letter difference can shift what an entry means. So skip the last substantive entry and read the full sentence instead of treating every closed case the same. Alabama posts no Lawrence-specific list of machine codes, and when an abbreviation puzzles you, ask the Circuit Clerk rather than guessing.
- Nolle prosequi
- The prosecutor formally decides not to continue the charge. It is not an acquittal.
- Acquitted
- A not-guilty adjudication after the matter is decided.
- Dismissed
- The charge ends without the requested merits judgment; the entry or order supplies the reason.
- Disposition
- The outcome that resolves the case or a major case stage.
- Bond forfeiture
- An action involving the bond after a required return or condition is not met; it is separate from guilt.
Give probation and sentencing entries the same care. A docket may show the plea first and the sentencing order weeks later. When the fine points matter, pull the actual order instead of trusting a condensed docket label.
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Courts
One office holds the criminal court records for both trial courts. The Lawrence County Circuit Clerk keeps the dockets for Circuit and District criminal proceedings alike. Visit Suite 300, 14451 Market Street, Moulton, or call (256) 974-2432. Posted hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday is left out, so phone ahead before a midweek trip. Judge Callie Waldrep's Circuit office is (256) 974-2444. District Judge Angela D. Terry's office is (256) 974-2450.
| Court | Criminal docket scope | Access route |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Circuit | Felonies and connected lesser offenses | Just One Look or Circuit Clerk |
| Lawrence District | County misdemeanors, felony preliminaries, state/county traffic | Just One Look, Circuit Clerk, or traffic channel |
| Municipal courts | City misdemeanors, ordinance cases, and city traffic | Issuing city's clerk |
| Federal court | Federal charges in the Northern District of Alabama | PACER or federal clerk, not Just One Look |
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Filings
Filing counts explain why there is no single criminal docket line. The FY2023 Alabama court report logged 1,058 Circuit filings in Lawrence County. Criminal matters were 59 percent of that. That works out to roughly 624 cases once the rounded share is applied. District Court took on far more volume with 5,885 filings. Criminal cases there came to 29 percent, about 1,707. Circuit felonies and District misdemeanors run on separate schedules. The same Lawrence County Circuit Clerk maintains the court records for both.
Treat the percentages as reported shares and the case counts as estimates, since the source rounds them. They measure workload only, never the pace of any one Lawrence County criminal docket.
Access Rules for Criminal Dockets
Alabama's Court-Record Privacy and Confidentiality Rules grant public access to eligible records. They also require free viewing of electronic Circuit and District dockets at the clerk's office during regular hours. Remote access may still carry a fee. Access stops at the criminal courthouse door for some files, however. Juvenile records stay confidential. Youthful-offender records are restricted, and a sealing order or expungement can shut ordinary access down. Lawrence's official page adds that an unserved warrant is not public.
Key access rules:
Alabama Court-Record Privacy Rules 104 and 201 protect public inspection while preserving lawful limits and free clerk-office viewing.
Ala. Code §12-15-133 makes juvenile legal and social records confidential except for authorized access.
Ala. Code §15-19-7 restricts youthful-offender records subject to its stated exceptions and court discretion.
For one clear limit on the Lawrence County criminal docket, read the youthful-offender statute itself.
A blank remote result has other explanations. It may point to the wrong jurisdiction or an older record. Parties and authorized users should contact the court that holds the case, state the basis for access, and never assume the matter never existed.
Lawrence County Criminal Docket Gaps
When the paid result is missing or murky, work down a fallback chain. First confirm whether the case sits in Circuit or District. Then call or visit the Lawrence County Circuit Clerk. Ask the assigned judge's office to verify any current setting. A city charge belongs with its municipal clerk. A state or county traffic citation goes to the District traffic channel, and a federal case lives on PACER. A transcript is a separate record made by the court reporter. It is not an image on a Case Action Summary. Just One Look charges $5 for the first 20 pages of document images. Each page after that costs $0.50. Those are portal prices, not Lawrence County certification fees. The clerk publishes no local plain-copy fee, certification price, archive cutoff, or turnaround promise. Ask for a quote and confirm the mailing address. Before buying, check the county's broader docket search options to pin down the right record layer. A criminal docket entry summarizes a filed event. It does not guarantee that discovery, exhibits, or every related record is open to the public.