Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 15-15-21 (2026)
Information Preferred and Filed Against Defendant.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
When the desire of a defendant to plead guilty is made known to the court, it shall direct the district attorney of such court to prefer and file an information against such defendant, under the oath of such district attorney or some witness, which information shall accuse the defendant, with the same certainty as an indictment, of the criminal offense for which he is being held.
(Acts 1939, No. 227, p. 367; Code 1940, T. 15, §261.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8
cases, 1990–2013 · leading case: Patton v. State, 964 So. 2d 1247 (Ala. Crim. App. 2007).
Patton v. State, 964 So. 2d 1247 (Ala. Crim. App. 2007). “, petitions, claiming that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his petitions because, he says, the district attorney’s office failed to prepare and present an information signed under oath by the district attorney in each case, as required by § 15-15-21,…”
Coleman v. State, 843 So. 2d 237 (Ala. Crim. App. 2002). “In his petitions, Coleman alleged that the district court lacked jurisdiction to accept his guilty pleas, to render judgment, and to impose sentence because, he said, the district attorney failed to comply with § 15-15-21, Ala.Code 1975, and § 15-15-22, Ala.”
Turner v. State, 51 So. 3d 394 (Ala. Crim. App. 2010). “Therefore, when this Court held in Patton that Patton's claim regarding the district attorney's failure to present informations signed under oath as required by § 15-15-21, Ala.Code (1975), might have raised a jurisdictional claim under Looney , if that case had not been…”
Ex Parte Pardue, 797 So. 2d 409 (Ala. 2000). “Section 15-15-22 states: "When an information has been filed as provided in Section 15-15-21 and counsel employed or appointed, the court shall, by order entered upon the minutes of the court, fix a date for the defendant to formally make and enter his plea of guilty in open…”
Simmons v. State, 179 So. 3d 244 (Ala. Crim. App. 2013). “See § 15-15-21, Ala.Code 1975, and Rule 2.2(e), Ala.”
Vaughn v. State, 588 So. 2d 500 (Ala. Crim. App. 1990). “Section 15-15-22 reads: “When an information has been filed as provided in Section 15-15-21 and counsel employed or appointed, the court shall, by order entered upon the minutes of the court, fix a date for the defendant to formally make and enter his plea of guilty in open…”
McLaurin v. State, 895 So. 2d 1010 (Ala. Crim. App. 2004). “Code 1975, provides: "When an information has been filed as provided in Section 15-15-21 and counsel employed or appointed, the court shall, by order entered upon the minutes of the court, fix a date for the defendant to formally make and enter his plea of guilty in open court,…”
Green v. State, 774 So. 2d 535 (Ala. 2000). “Section 15-15-22, reads as follows: "When an information has been filed as provided in Section 15-15-21 and counsel employed or appointed, the court shall, by order entered upon the minutes of the court, fix a date for the defendant to formally make and enter his plea of guilty…”
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