Ala. Code
Code of Alabama

Ala. Code § 11-50-340 (2026)

Definitions.

✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaAla. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

As used in this article, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context shall indicate another meaning or intent:

(1) CITY. Any incorporated city in the State of Alabama.

(2) COUNCIL. The city council, city commission, or other board or body in which the general legislative powers of a city shall be vested.

(3) BOARD. A board of water and sewer commissioners created under the provisions of Section 11-50-341 or, if any such board shall be abolished, the board, body, or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers given by this article to such board shall be given by law.

(4) WATER SYSTEM. Such term shall include all plants, systems, facilities, or properties used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply or distribution of water, and any integral part thereof, including but not limited to water supply systems, water distribution systems, reservoirs, wells, intakes, mains, laterals, aqueducts, pumping stations, standpipes, filtration plants, purification plants, hydrants, meters, valves, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and all properties, rights, easements, and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the board for the operation thereof.

(5) SEWAGE. The water-carried wastes created in and carried or to be carried away from residences, hotels, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments, commercial establishments, or any other private or public building together with such surface or ground water or household and industrial wastes as may be present.

(6) SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM. Such term shall include any plant, system, facility, or property used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the collection, treatment, purification, or disposal of sewage (including industrial wastes resulting from any processes of industry, manufacture, trade, or business or from the development of any natural resources) or any integral part thereof, including but not limited to treatment plants, pumping stations, intercepting sewers, trunk sewers, pressure lines, mains, and all necessary appurtenances and equipment and all property, rights, easements, and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the board for the operation thereof.

(7) SEWERS. Such term shall include mains, pipes, and laterals for the reception of sewage and carrying such sewage to an outfall or some part of a sewage disposal system, including pumping stations where deemed necessary by the board.

(8) SEWER SYSTEM. Such term shall embrace both sewers and sewage disposal systems and all property, rights, easements, and franchises relating thereto.

(9) IMPROVEMENTS. Such repairs, replacements, additions, extensions, and betterments of and to a water system or a sewer system as are deemed necessary by the board to place or to maintain such system in proper condition for its safe, efficient, and economic operation or to meet requirements for service in areas which may be served by the board and for which no existing service is being rendered.

(10) COST. As applied to a water system or a sewer system, such term shall include the purchase price of any such system, the cost of construction, the cost of all labor and materials, machinery, and equipment, the cost of improvements, the cost of all lands, property, rights, easements, and franchises required, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for one year after completion of construction, the cost of plans and specifications, surveys, and estimates of cost and of revenues, the cost of engineering and legal services and all other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of such construction, administrative expenses and such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing authorized by this article. Any obligations or expenses incurred by the board in connection with any of the foregoing items of cost may be regarded as a part of such cost and reimbursed to the board out of the proceeds of revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this article.

(Acts 1951, No. 775, p. 1359, §1.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1995–2018 · leading case: Mobile Cnty. Water, Sewer & Fire Prot. Auth., Inc. v. Mobile Area Water & Sewer Sys., Inc., 567 F. Supp. 2d 1342 (S.D. Ala. 2008).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Mobile Cnty. Water, Sewer & Fire Prot. Auth., Inc. v. Mobile Area Water & Sewer Sys., Inc., 567 F. Supp. 2d 1342 (S.D. Ala. 2008). · cites it 2× “) Defendant, Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (“MAWSS”), 4 is formally organized as a Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners pursuant to Ala.Code §§ 11-50-340 et seq. The parties agree that MAWSS sells treated water and centralized sewer service to customers both within the…”
Bd. of Water & Sewer Com'rs, City of Mobile v. Yarbrough, 662 So. 2d 251 (Ala. 1995). · cites it 2× “In 1952, the Board was incorporated as a public corporation pursuant to the predecessor of Ala.Code 1975, § 11-50-340, and in that year it began to operate the City of Mobile's existing water and sewer systems within the city limits and in some of the surrounding areas.”
Water & Wastewater Bd. v. City of Athens, 17 So. 3d 241 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009). “and § 11-50-340 et seq., are codified within the ‘public utilities’ Chapter of the Alabama Code, and because the legislature clearly expressed its intent that ‘utility boards’ be subject to the ethics law, no error occurred here.”
In re Bd. of Water & Sewer Commissioners of Mobile, 272 So. 3d 635 (Ala. 2018). · cites it 3× “The Board is a public, governmental agency established by the Mobile City Council under § 11-50-340 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, which concerns the creation and operation of boards of water and sewer commissioners.”
In re Bd. of Water & Sewer Commissioners of Mobile, 272 So. 3d 635 (Ala. 2018). · cites it 3× “The Board is a public, governmental agency established by the Mobile City Council under § 11-50-340 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, which concerns the creation and operation of boards of water and sewer commissioners.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.