Escambia County Circuit Court
Escambia County is in Alabama's Twenty-First Judicial Circuit. The Circuit Court is the general trial court for the county and handles the case categories most often described as major trial-court matters: felony prosecutions, domestic relations and divorce, protection from abuse, civil cases above the district-civil threshold, workers compensation, and appeals from district, probate, and some administrative settings. Alabama's court hierarchy places Circuit Court below the appellate courts and above narrower local trial courts such as District Court, Probate Court, and Municipal Court.
The official list of local judges is shown in the manifest image from the Escambia County judges page.
That local judge source anchors the Escambia County Circuit Court page because it identifies the judicial officers and local mailing contacts.
Escambia County's main courthouse is the Escambia County Courthouse at 314 Belleville Avenue in Brewton. The research lists the main county phone as (251) 867-0300 and public hours as 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Circuit Clerk is in the same courthouse and is the records and copies office for Circuit and District Court files, while Probate Court uses Suite 205 and a separate Probate Office structure.
The county history in the research helps explain why the court functions center in Brewton. Escambia County was created on December 10, 1868, Pollard was first named the seat of justice, and the county seat moved to Brewton in 1883. The first courthouse was built in 1901, and the present courthouse was built in 1960. Today, municipalities such as Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton, and Flomaton still matter because city traffic and ordinance cases may stay in municipal court rather than the county trial-court record system.
Escambia Circuit Court Judges
Escambia County does not have a long list of separately numbered circuit courts in the research. Instead, the county's Circuit Court sits within the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit with named circuit judges and the local courthouse record office. The table keeps the required court list in the local form supported by the research rather than inventing numbered courts that do not appear in the source material.
| Court or judge | Type | Address or mailing | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hon. Jeffrey Todd Stearns, Presiding Circuit Judge | Circuit Court | P.O. Box 982, Brewton, AL 36427; courthouse 314 Belleville Avenue | (251) 867-0281 |
| Hon. Wade Leon Hartley, Circuit Judge | Circuit Court | P.O. Box 324, Brewton, AL 36427; courthouse 314 Belleville Avenue | (251) 867-0253 |
| Escambia County Circuit Clerk, John R. Fountain | Records and filings | 314 Belleville Avenue, P.O. Box 856, Brewton, AL 36427 | (251) 867-0305 |
| Twenty-First Judicial Circuit District Attorney | State prosecution | P.O. Box 993, Brewton, AL 36427 | (251) 867-0239 |
Circuit Court vs Lower Courts
Venue is the first issue in an Escambia County court record search. Circuit Court is not the same as District Court, Probate Court, or Municipal Court. A felony or divorce case may belong in Circuit Court, while a small claim, eviction, misdemeanor, juvenile matter, state traffic ticket, estate, marriage record, or city ordinance case may be elsewhere.
| Issue | Circuit Court | District Court | Municipal Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil cases | Original civil matters above $20,000; appeals from district/probate/administrative matters; workers compensation. | District civil from $6,000.01 through $20,000; small claims up to $6,000; evictions. | Not the main civil venue in the research. |
| Criminal cases | Felonies before sentencing, preliminary hearings, trials, after-sentencing matters, probation violations, criminal appeals. | Misdemeanors before sentencing and preliminary hearings. | City misdemeanors, ordinance violations, and city enforcement cases. |
| Family or juvenile | Divorce, custody, visitation, PFA, domestic relations. | Juvenile matters through the district/juvenile judge. | Not a family court venue in the research. |
| Traffic | May receive appeals or related criminal matters. | State and county traffic cases issued through state or county officers. | City traffic tickets for Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton, and Flomaton. |
| Records office | Escambia County Circuit Clerk. | Escambia County Circuit Clerk. | City court or city payment portal. |
Escambia Court Case Flow
Case movement depends on the type of claim or charge. A felony may begin with arrest or complaint, move through preliminary hearing or grand jury steps, then proceed in Circuit Court after formal charging. A civil case begins with a complaint or petition, service, answer, motions, hearings, and a judgment or dismissal. Appeals from District Court, Probate Court, or administrative bodies can also move into Circuit Court under the research.
Criminal flow: Arrest or charge › first appearance or preliminary hearing › indictment or information › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition › service › answer › motions › discovery or hearing › trial or settlement › judgment › appeal.
Note: A municipal ticket or city misdemeanor may stay in municipal court unless an appeal or related state-court case changes the venue.
Escambia County District Court Records
District Court is the most important lower state court for Escambia County Circuit Court users to understand. The research says small claims handles civil cases with damages up to $6,000. District Civil handles civil cases from $6,000.01 through $20,000 and evictions or unlawful detainers. District Criminal covers misdemeanors before sentencing. Traffic cases issued through state or county officers also route through Alabama traffic systems and the clerk's traffic division.
The small claims source is shown in the manifest image from the Escambia County small claims court page.
Small claims records are not Circuit Court cases at filing, but they can matter when a user is trying to locate a civil dispute below the circuit threshold.
The district civil source is shown in the manifest image from the Escambia County district civil court page.
District civil records help draw the line between District Court and Circuit Court because the amount in controversy controls many civil filings.
Escambia Circuit Court Divisions
Escambia County Circuit Court records may be criminal, civil, domestic, or appeal records. Circuit Criminal covers felonies before sentencing, preliminary hearings, and trials, with a separate after-sentencing contact for transcripts, probation violations, and criminal appeals. Circuit Civil covers torts, larger civil lawsuits, and civil appeals. Domestic relations covers divorce, custody, visitation, and protection from abuse. The Circuit Clerk directory routes those divisions by extension.
- Circuit Criminal before sentencing: extension 456.
- Circuit Criminal after sentencing, transcripts, probation violations, and criminal appeals: extension 466.
- Domestic Relations and Small Claims: extension 285.
- Circuit Civil and District Civil: extension 227.
- Traffic: extension 339 for state or county traffic tickets and fines.
Escambia Traffic Court Routes
Traffic records are part of the Circuit Court venue analysis because not all traffic matters use the same court. Section 20 says Escambia County state or county traffic tickets use the Alabama Traffic Service Center and may take up to ten business days to enter the system. Some charges can be settled before court by guilty plea and payment, but serious charges require a court appearance. Missing a court date or failing to settle can lead to extra charges, an arrest warrant, and license suspension.
Municipal traffic is separate. Atmore Municipal Court handles traffic enforcement inside the city, plus ordinance violations and misdemeanors. Brewton Municipal Court handles misdemeanor and traffic offenses in Brewton police jurisdiction. East Brewton Municipal Court holds monthly court in City Hall council chambers. Flomaton Municipal Court handles town municipal matters and has local court-day office rules. City tickets should be checked with the city court or city payment portal, not assumed to be in Circuit Court.
Alabama Circuit Court Authority
Escambia County Circuit Court authority is grounded in Alabama's circuit court structure and the county's placement in the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit. The research cites Ala. Code section 12-11-30 for circuit court jurisdiction and Ala. Code section 12-12-30 for district court jurisdiction. Those two statutes help explain why one record may be in Circuit Court and a similar but smaller or narrower case may be in District Court.
The District Court jurisdiction source is included in the manifest from Alabama district court jurisdiction law.
That lower-court statute is relevant because Escambia County Circuit Court searches often fail when the case was actually filed in District Court or municipal court.
Access Escambia Circuit Records
The practical search path starts with venue. For online Alabama trial-court records, use Alacourt ACCESS / Just One Look, which supports name and case-number searches for Alabama trial-court records and lists criminal, civil, small claims, state traffic, domestic relations, and child support coverage. The portal is paid for full reports. For copies, certification, archived files, or records that do not appear online, use the Escambia County Circuit Clerk record request process.
Probate, marriage, estate, guardianship, conservatorship, name-change, and recorded instrument records route to Escambia County Probate Court. Municipal court records route to the city court for Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton, or Flomaton. Federal cases route to PACER or the Southern District of Alabama. Juvenile and sealed records are not ordinary public lookup records, even when the clerk has a division contact for routing.
Alabama public access rules make inspection and copying the baseline for court records unless a statute, court rule, or court order restricts access. Juvenile records, sealed records, expunged criminal records, adoption matters, mental-health materials, and protected personal identifiers are not handled as open public records. For Escambia County Circuit Court users, that means a case can exist even when the public portal or a routine clerk request does not release every document.