Ala. Code
Code of Alabama

Ala. Code § 1-3-8 (2026)

Official State Holidays Enumerated; Observation of State Holidays; Personal Leave Days; Compensatory Leave Days.

✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
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(a) The following days are official state holidays:

(1) New Year’s Day, January 1.

(2) Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday and Robert E. Lee’s birthday, the third Monday in January.

(3) George Washington’s birthday and Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, the third Monday in February.

(4) Confederate Memorial Day, the fourth Monday in April.

(5) Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.

(6) Jefferson Davis’ birthday, the first Monday in June.

(7) Juneteenth, June 19.

(8) The Fourth of July, July 4.

(9) Labor Day, the first Monday in September.

(10) Columbus Day, Fraternal Day, and American Indian Heritage Day, the second Monday in October.

(11) Veterans’ Day, November 11.

(12) Thanksgiving Day, as designated by the Governor.

(13) Christmas Day, December 25.

(b) If any holiday falls on Sunday, the following day is the holiday. If any holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding day is the holiday.

(c) All state holidays shall be observed by the closing of all state offices. In addition, Veterans’ Day shall be observed by the closing of all county and municipal offices and all public K-12 schools, and Memorial Day shall be observed by the closing of all public K-12 schools and all public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education.

(d) The Superintendent of Banks, with the concurrence of not less than two members of the state Banking Board, may authorize the closure of state banks in observance of any state or federal holiday and on any other days as may be declared by the Governor to be a state holiday in honor of a special event. If a state holiday falls on Friday, the Superintendent of Banks may authorize the Saturday following that Friday to be a holiday. The superintendent may also authorize the closing of banks at 12:00 noon on the day prior to Christmas Day, and the day prior to New Year’s Day, if the holidays fall on business days.

(e)(1) In addition to the state holidays provided in subsection (a), Mardi Gras shall be deemed a holiday in Baldwin and Mobile Counties, and all state offices shall be closed in those counties on Mardi Gras.

(2) All state employees other than those employed in Baldwin and Mobile Counties shall be granted one personal leave day per year. The personal leave day shall be granted on January 1 of each year. All state employees employed in Baldwin and Mobile Counties shall be granted no personal leave day. All personal leave days granted in any year pursuant to this subdivision shall be used by the end of the calendar yearand must be scheduled during the year with the approval of the supervisor. Supervisors failing to schedule personal leave days for employees shall justify that action in writing to the Director of State Personnel and the employee shall receive pay at a rate not less than the employee’s usual and customary rate of pay for any personal leave day not taken by December 31 of each year.

(f)(1) Any state office may remain open on a state holiday upon written notice by the appointing authority to the State Personnel Board at least 60 days in advance of the holiday. In addition, any state office may be opened in the event of an emergency, and the State Personnel Board may grant a blanket approval for the opening of state offices needing to be open on holidays on a regular basis for essential services.

(2) Any state employee working on a state holiday shall receive a day of compensatory leave or paid compensation in lieu of the holiday. Each employee shall attempt to schedule any compensatory leave day provided in lieu of a regularly scheduled holiday, subject to the approval of his or her supervisor, during the quarter that the regularly scheduled holiday occurred. If any compensatory leave day cannot be scheduled during the designated quarter, the compensatory leave day may be accumulated at the request of the employee for up to one year. Supervisors failing to schedule compensatory leave days for employees within the quarter, unless the day is carried forward at the request of the employee, shall justify that action in writing to the Director of State Personnel and the employee shall receive pay at a rate not less than the employee’s usual and customary rate of pay for any compensatory leave day to which the employee may be entitled and which has not been taken.

(g)(1) The first day in December of each year is designated as Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day in this state. All citizens of this state are requested to devote some portion of Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day to commemorate the accomplishments of Mrs. Rosa L. Parks, a woman of great courage, vision, love, and faith who helped usher in the modern civil rights movement on December 1, 1955, by refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Each resident of this state is requested to observe the day with appropriate activities.

(2) Each county and municipality may elect to observe Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day as a holiday.

(Code 1852, §1528; Code 1867, §1836; Code 1876, §2097; Code 1886, §1759; Code 1896, §872; Code 1907, §§5141, 5144; Acts 1909, No. 146, p. 126; Acts 1911, No. 142, p. 120; Acts 1915, No. 287, p. 318; Acts 1919, No. 640, p. 885; Code 1923, §9212, 9215; Acts 1933, Ex. Sess., No. 173, p. 183; Code 1940, T. 39, §184; Acts 1951, No. 760, p. 1318; Acts 1965, No. 549, p. 811; Acts 1969, Ex. Sess., No. 218, p. 286; Acts 1969, No. 978, p. 1724; Acts 1969, No. 1103, p. 2040; Acts 1971, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 49, p. 87; Acts 1975, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 46, p. 94, §1; Acts 1980, No. 80-578, p. 890, §1; Acts 1984, No. 84-271, p. 456; Acts 1989, No. 89-789, p. 1576, §§1-3; Acts 1991, No. 91-250, p. 475, §1; Act 2000-114, p. 167, §1; Act 2002-390, p. 981, §1; Act 2018-527, §1; Act 2025-303, §1.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1988–2025 · leading case: Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018).
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Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). · cites it 7× “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Floyd v. Abercrombie, 816 So. 2d 1051 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). “, the third Monday in February ( see § 1-3-8, Ala.Code 1975). The mother argues that because the last day that Brad was a minor was a holiday, she was entitled, pursuant to § 1-1-4, Ala.”
Janie Ingalls v. U.S. Space & Rocket Ctr., 679 F. App'x 935 (11th Cir. 2017). “The holiday pay statute also instructs that an “employee shall receive pay at a rate not less than the employee’s usual and customary rate of pay for any compensatory leave day[,]” Ala. Code § 1-3-8 (f). Yet the Commission’s enabling legislation, contrary to this command, gives…”
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). · cites it 7× “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Carthen v. State, 845 So. 2d 8 (Ala. Crim. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “A-As used in this rule, ‘legal holiday’ includes New Years Day, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and any other day appointed as a holiday by the President or the Congress of the United States, or as…”
RCHP-Florence, LLC v. Colbert Cnty. Nw. Alabama Health Care Auth., 155 So. 3d 1005 (Ala. Civ. App. 2013). “Code 1975, provides that, if the last day of a period within which an act must be done falls on a Sunday, a legal holiday as defined in § 1-3-8, Ala.Code 1975, “or a day on which the office in which the act must be done shall close as permitted by any law of this state, the last…”
Arlington Props., Inc. v. Brown, 83 So. 3d 503 (Ala. Civ. App. 2010). “However, if the last day is a Sunday, or a legal holiday as defined in section 1-3-8, [Ala.Code 1975,] or a day on which the office in which the act must be done shall close as permitted by any law of this state, the last day must also be excluded, and the next succeeding…”
Greer v. State, 527 So. 2d 788 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988). “However, if the last day is Sunday, or a legal holiday as defined in section 1-3-8, or a day on which the office in which the act must be done shall close as permitted by any law of this state, the *789 last day also must be excluded, and the next succeeding secular or working…”
Scott v. Williams (In re Scott), 281 B.R. 48 (Bankr. S.D. Ala. 2001). · cites it 4× “Scott asserts that the scheduling -of the sale on a legal holiday voided the sale and/or that the postponement was improper and the sale thus void. The Williams assert that the sale was in all ways properly noticed and conducted.”
Mary A. Harris v. Monroe Cnty. Pub. Library Bd. of Trs. (11th Cir. 2023). · cites it 2× “See Ala. Code § 1-3-8 (a). In addition, the record reflects that Mr.”
Ohio Valley Conf. v. Randall Jones, individually & in his Off. capacity as Chair of the Bd. of Trs. of Jacksonville State Univ., & Don C. Killingsworth, Jr., individually & in his Off. capacity as President of Jacksonville State Univ. (Ala. 2023). “Code [1975,] § 36-6-11(a) and § 1-3-8). Representatives of ASSEC maintained, among other things, that the legislation pursuant to which it was created removed it from the purview of certain state employment laws, including the benefits 6In Ex parte Pinkard, [Ms.”
Ex parte John H. Jones, M.D. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS: CIVIL (In re: Tracey Grant, as Pers. Rep. of the Est. of Aaron McKenzie v. The Jackson Cnty. Health Care Auth. d/b/a Highlands Med. Ctr.; John C. Lucke, M.D.; Paul Avenel, M.D.; John H. Jones, M.D.; & Judy B. Haymon Homes, Inc.) (Jackson Circuit Court: CV-23-900034). (Ala. 2024). “However, if the last day is Sunday, or a legal holiday as defined in Section 1-3-8, [Ala. Code 1975,] or a day on which the office in which the act must be done shall close as permitted by any law of this state, the last day also must be excluded, and the next succeeding secular…”
Show all 15 citing cases →
— Ala. Code § 1-3-8(c) — 2 cases
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
— Ala. Code § 1-3-8(d) — 2 cases
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
— Ala. Code § 1-3-8(e) — 2 cases
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Barnhart v. Ingalls, 275 So. 3d 1112 (Ala. 2018). “" With regard to the compensation of Commission employees who worked on State holidays, DEPA noted that § 1-3-8, Ala. Code 1975, authorizes 13 State holidays: (1) New Year's Day; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.”
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