Twenty-third Judicial Circuit
Madison county, Alabama

                            
                                Hon. William K. Bell,
                                                         Presiding Circuit Judge

                                      Jane C. Smith
                                                                     Circuit Clerk

    The Madison County courthouse is located in downtown Huntsville.  The county consists of three District Judges and six Circuit Judges, serving approximately 290,000 residents.  There were 12,846 Circuit Court and 28,939 District Court cases filed and 11,974 Circuit cases and 28,651 District cases disposed of in 2004.  The circuit courts are Alabama's trial courts of "general jurisdiction" - meaning that these courts have the power to decide all cases that can be brought into a court under the Constitution and laws of the State. The circuit courts have exclusive, original jurisdiction of all civil actions in which the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000 and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts in civil actions in which the amount exceeds $3,000. The circuit courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over domestic relations cases, felony criminal cases, and capital murder cases. Circuit courts also have the authority to hear cases appealed from any courts of limited jurisdiction (i.e., municipal courts, probate courts, and district courts). A case appealed from a municipal, probate, or district court will be tried de novo in circuit Court - meaning the case will be tried again, usually with a jury, just as if it had not previously been heard in lower court. Circuit courts are "courts of record:" all proceedings are recorded and transcribed by an official court reporter.