Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

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View of the Upper Rotunda from the Court of Criminal Appeals entrance

Contents

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is one of two intermediate appellate court in the Alabama judicial system. The court was established in 1969 when what had been one unitary state Court of Appeals was broken into a criminal appeals court and a civil appeals court. The unified Court of Appeals had been operative since 1911.

The court is composed of five judges, one of whom is elected by the members of the court to serve as presiding judge. The Court of Criminal Appeals hears all appeals of felony and misdemeanor cases, including violations of city ordinances and all post-conviction writs in criminal cases.

Overview

The Court of Criminal Appeals hears appeals on cases that have been decided at the Circuit Court level (of which there are 40 in the state). The five judges that sit on the Court of Criminal Appeals hears all criminal appeals including felony cases, convictions involving misdemeanors, and violations of multiple ordinances.[1]

The court's judges

Election of judges

Main article: Judicial selection in Alabama

Judges are elected to the court in partisan elections for six-year terms on the court.

Current judges

Judge Party First elected Term ends
Kelli Wise, Chief Judge Republican 2000 2012
J. Elizabeth Kellum, Place 1. Republican 2008 2014
Mary Windom, Place 2. Republican 2008 2014
Samuel Henry Welch, Place 3. Republican 2006 2010
James Allen "Jim" Main, Place 4. 2009 (appointed)

[2]

Former Court of Criminal Appeals judges

Qualifications

To serve on the court, a person must:

  • Be licensed to practice law in the state of Alabama
  • Have resided in the state for a minimum of one year
  • Be no more than 70 years of age.[3]

See also

External links

References

The Alabama Project on Judgepedia