(a) The governing body of any municipality having a municipal court may at any time by ordinance abolish its municipal court and the jurisdiction of the court so abolished shall be transferred to the district court of the district in which the municipality is located under the conditions and effective dates provided in this section. A certified copy of the ordinance abolishing the municipal court shall be transmitted by certified mail to the clerk of the district court for the district in which the municipality is located, the presiding judge of the circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the municipality is located, the clerk of the circuit court, the Clerk of the Supreme Court, the Secretary of State and the Administrative Director of the Courts.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 12-14-17

  • circuit: means judicial circuit. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) All pending cases and process in those cases which are to be acted upon by the district court after the effective date of the municipal ordinance abolishing the municipal court as provided in this section shall be delivered by the clerk of the municipal court to the clerk of the district court at least 10 days prior to such effective date, but the records of completed cases and inactive process shall be retained by the clerk of the municipality for a period of 10 years.
(c) An ordinance abolishing the municipal court shall be effective as follows:

(1) In municipalities with a population of 5,000 or less, the transfer of pending cases to the district court shall occur 90 days subsequent to the date of adoption of the ordinance abolishing the municipal court.
(2) In municipalities with a population of 5,001 and up to 50,000, the transfer of pending cases to the district court shall occur 12 months subsequent to the date of adoption of the ordinance abolishing the municipal court.
(3) In municipalities of a population of 50,000 or more, the transfer of pending cases to the district court where the municipality is located shall occur two years subsequent to the date of adoption of the ordinance abolishing the municipal court.
(d) On the effective date of transfer of pending cases as provided in this section, all proceedings relating to ordinance violations shall be within the jurisdiction of the district court. Judgments of courts which cease to exist on the effective date of transfer shall continue in effect and the district court is empowered to enforce such judgments. Fines, forfeitures and costs due and unpaid on the effective date of transfer and those which will subsequently be collected on cases pending on the effective date of transfer shall be collected by the district court and remitted to the municipality.
(e) On the effective date of transfer of municipal cases to the district court, the authority, duties, powers, jurisdiction and term of the municipal judge or judges shall terminate.
(f) In the event a municipality ceases to have a municipal court, the judges of such courts entitled to receive commissions as district judges pursuant to the Constitution may be commissioned district judges as provided by the Constitution.
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