Ala. Code
Code of Alabama

Ala. Code § 11-8-3 (2026)

Annual Budget.

✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, laws through the 2026 Regular Session
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(a) It shall be the duty of the county commission, at some meeting in September of each calendar year, but not later than October 1, to prepare and adopt a budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of the current calendar year which shall include all of the following:

(1) An estimate of the anticipated revenue of the county for all public funds under its supervision and control including all unexpended balances as provided in Section 11-8-6.

(2) An estimate of expenditures for county operations.

(3) Appropriations for the respective amounts that are to be used for each of such purposes.

(b) The appropriations made in the budget shall not exceed the estimated total revenue of the county available for appropriations.

(c) The budget adopted, at a minimum, shall include any revenue required to be included in the budget under the provisions of Alabama law and reasonable expenditures for the operation of the offices of the judge of probate, tax officials, sheriff, county treasurer, the county jail, the county courthouse, and other offices as required by law.

(d) In order that the budget adopted is based upon an estimate of revenue and operating expenditures as nearly correct as possible, at least 60 days before the meeting of the county commission at which the county budget is adopted:

(1) Any public official who receives public funds, including any official entitled to ex officio fees, or who issues any kind of order payable out of the county treasury without approval of such county commission shall furnish to the county commission in writing an estimate of the revenue and of the anticipated expenditures the official will be called upon to make during the next fiscal year.

(2) The judge of probate, tax officials, sheriff, county treasurer, and any other county official or employee named by the county commission shall prepare and submit to the county commission an itemized estimate of the amount the official or employee believes to be necessary for personnel, office supplies, and other expenditures during the following fiscal year. Any official entitled to ex officio fees shall include in his or her estimate the estimated amount of any ex officio fees the official will receive during the following fiscal year.

(e) Based upon the estimated revenue and expenditures set out in subsection (d), together with any other financial information available to the county commission regarding the anticipated revenue and expenditures for the next fiscal year, the county commission shall approve a budget which includes the expenditures it deems proper for the next fiscal year.

(f) Following the adoption of the budget, no obligation incurred by any county official or office over and above the amount or amounts approved and appropriated by the county commission shall be an obligation of the county unless the obligation is approved by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the county commission.

(g) The budget may be amended during the fiscal year as determined necessary by affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the county commission. No amendment may authorize an expenditure which exceeds anticipated revenue of the county except as otherwise specifically authorized by general law.

(Acts 1935, No. 379, p. 803; Code 1940, T. 12, §74; Act 2007-488, p. 1037, §1.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1992–2021 · leading case: Woods v. Gamel, 132 F.3d 1417 (11th Cir. 1998).
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Woods v. Gamel, 132 F.3d 1417 (11th Cir. 1998). “Ala.Code § 11-8-3 (1975). Defendants filed a motion to dismiss claiming that they were entitled to absolute legislative immunity from the suit against them in their individual capacities because the act of passing a county budget was a legislative act.”
City of Prichard v. Balzer, 95 So. 3d 1 (Ala. 2012). “Discussion The City of Prichard (“the City”) and a group of current City employees who are vested in the City’s retirement plan (“the employees”) have filed opposing briefs asserting their interpretations of § 11-8-3, Ala.Code 1975. Jefferson County has also filed an amicus…”
Jefferson Cnty. v. Weinrib, 36 So. 3d 508 (Ala. 2009). “1 Section 11-8-3, Ala. Code 1975, mandates that “appropriations made in the [county] budget shall not exceed the estimated total revenue of the county available for appropriations.”
Mobile Cnty. v. Rich, 216 So. 3d 1184 (Ala. 2016). · cites it 5× “Specifically, the County notes that the trial court’s judgment requires Rich, under Ala. Code 1975, § 11-8-3, to submit a budget request to the County so that it can budget the funds it will provide to the District Attorney’s Office.”
Green v. Henry Cnty. Comm'n, No. 1:19-cv-00874 (M.D. Ala. July 29, 2021). “6 “‘Cat's paw’ theory of liability, also referred to as ‘subordinate bias theory,’ is liability seeking to hold an employer liable for the animus of a supervisor who was not 6 Green makes much of the fact that a budgetary line item had already been created for his salary, which…”
Shelby Cnty. v. Shelby Cnty. Law Enf't Pers. Bd., 611 So. 2d 388 (Ala. Civ. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “” Ala.Code 1975, § 11-8-3. Ala.Code 1975, § 11-8-2, states the legislative purpose of the Budget Control Act as follows: “[T]o vest in the county commission more efficient power and control over all public funds that may now or hereafter be under its management and control, to…”
Woods v. Gamel, 132 F.3d 1417 (11th Cir. 1998). “Ala. Code § 11-8-3 (1975). Defendants filed a motion to dismiss claiming that they were entitled to absolute legislative immunity from the suit 4 against them in their individual capacities because the act of passing a county budget was a legislative act.”
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