Alabama Court Records

Divorce in Alabama is heard by the circuit court, and the circuit clerk of the county where the case was filed keeps the file. Under the Alabama Rules of Court-Record Privacy and Confidentiality, in force since January 1, 2025, the public may inspect and copy any court record (Rule 104) except the categories the rules close. For a divorce file the closed items are the financial documents in Rule 202, such as tax returns, W-2 forms, tax schedules, wage stubs, credit card and bank statements, check registers and other financial information, and complete account, Social Security and taxpayer numbers. The complaint, the judgment, the property division and any agreement folded into the judgment remain public. The CS-41 child support income affidavit is part of the record under Rule 32(E) of the Rules of Judicial Administration, but its income figures are the kind of financial information Rule 202 closes.

The index is Alacourt Access, the statewide public access service for trial court records, which lists domestic cases statewide and sells document images, a paid route at $9.99 per search and $5.00 for the first 20 pages of images per county per day. The file itself is read at the clerk's counter. Sealing beyond Rule 202 takes a motion under Rule 301, a hearing and a written finding on clear and convincing evidence. The Alabama asset search page explains what the money pages show and how a creditor uses them.

These federal and national sources complement Alabama's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Alabama state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records
The U.S. federal judiciary's unified electronic records system. Every federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate case docket is here.
https://pacer.uscourts.gov/ (pacer.uscourts.gov) U.S. Courts, Federal Court Finder
The official directory of every federal district, bankruptcy, and circuit court. Use it to identify the correct Alabama district(s) before searching PACER.
https://www.uscourts.gov/federal-court-finder (uscourts.gov) National Center for State Courts
The NCSC's directory of state court websites, technology standards, and public-access policies.
https://www.ncsc.org/information-and-resources/browse-by-state (ncsc.org)  Frequently Asked Questions Alabama Court Records, FAQ  Last reviewed: April 2026  Updated: October 2026