Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 15-21-6 (2026)
To Whom Petition Addressed.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
(a) When the person is confined in a county jail or any other place on a charge of felony or under a commitment or an indictment for felony, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus must be addressed to the nearest circuit court judge.
(b) When the person is confined in the penitentiary or under a sentence, judgment or order of the supreme court or the circuit court, other than an indictment for felony, the petition must be addressed to the nearest circuit court judge.
(c) In all other cases, it may be addressed to any one of them, and when the person is confined in any other place than the county jail or the penitentiary and on any other than a criminal charge, it may be addressed to any circuit court judge.
(Code 1852, §713; Code 1867, §4264; Code 1876, §4940; Code 1886, §4764; Code 1896, §4817; Code 1907, §7012; Code 1923, §4310; Code 1940, T. 15, §6.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1982–2024 · leading case: Hall v. State, 223 So. 3d 977 (Ala. Crim. App. 2016).
Hall v. State, 223 So. 3d 977 (Ala. Crim. App. 2016). “2006) (finding that § 15-21-6, Ala.Code 1975, addresses the' venue in which a petition for -a *982 writ of habeas corpus may be filed and does not implicate the jurisdiction of the circuit court; thus, the State waived its improper-venue objection by failing to timely raise the…”
Brown v. State, 429 So. 2d 674 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983). “Code of Alabama 1975, § 15-21-6 provides: “(a) When the person is confined in a county jail or in any other place on a charge of felony or under a commitment or an indictment for felony, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus must be addressed to the nearest circuit court…”
Ex Parte Morgan Circuit Court, 620 So. 2d 148 (Ala. Crim. App. 1993). “If Baker’s petitions are treated as habeas corpus petitions, they must be filed in the county of the “nearest circuit court judge,” which is Barbour County, pursuant to Ala. Code 1975, § 15-21-6. If the petitions are actually petitions for post-conviction relief, they must be…”
Smith v. State, 673 So. 2d 831 (Ala. Crim. App. 1995). “It was therefore transferred to the Barbour County Circuit Court because at the time the petition was filed Smith was incarcerated in the Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio, Alabama; Ala. Code 1975, § 15-21-6, requires that a habeas corpus petition be addressed to the…”
Taunton v. State, 562 So. 2d 615 (Ala. 1990). “The question presented in this case seems simple enough — when a prisoner is seeking to receive credit on his sentence for the time he spent in jail awaiting trial, what kind of petition should he file and where should he file it? The Court of Criminal Appeals held that he could…”
Reed v. Taylor Hardin Secure Med. Facility, 545 So. 2d 782 (Ala. Civ. App. 1989). “Section 15-21-6(a), Ala.Code 1975 (1982 Repl.”
Peagler v. State, 708 So. 2d 242 (Ala. Crim. App. 1997). “Pursuant to § 15-21-6, Code of Alabama 1975, a habeas corpus petition should be addressed “to the circuit court nearest the inmate’s place of incarceration.”
Adcock v. State, 710 So. 2d 938 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998). “’ § 15-21-6, Ala.Code 1975.” Breach v. State, 687 So.”
Ex parte Joshua Lashawn Booth PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF Crim. APPEALS (In re: Alabama Dep't of Corr. v. Joshua Lashawn Booth) (Bibb Circuit Court: CV-22-900034; Court of Crim. Appeals: CR-2023-0426). (Ala. 2024). “The Court of Criminal Appeals determined that the Montgomery Circuit Court did not have jurisdiction over the inmate's habeas petition because it was not the "nearest circuit court" as is required by § 15-21-6, Ala. Code 1975, a statute pertaining to habeas petitions.”
Alabama Dep't of Mental Health & Mental Retardation ex rel. McClothan v. State, 819 So. 2d 113 (Ala. Crim. App. 2001). “See § 15-21-6, Ala.Code 1975. "In order to prevail in a habeas corpus proceeding, the petitioner must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he is no longer mentally ill or dangerous.”
Campbell v. State, 436 So. 2d 7 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983). “On the date of hearing, appellant was not present; the trial court dismissed the petition.”
Sandlin v. State, 554 So. 2d 401 (Ala. 1989). “Petitioner argues that he is entitled to maintain his petition for habeas corpus under the provisions of Ala.Code 1975, § 15-21-6, which states: “(a) When the person is confined in a county jail or any other place on a charge of felony or under a commitment or an indictment for…”
— Ala. Code § 15-21-6(a) — 2 cases
Reed v. Taylor Hardin Secure Med. Facility, 545 So. 2d 782 (Ala. Civ. App. 1989). “Section 15-21-6(a), Ala.Code 1975 (1982 Repl.”
Stringfellow v. State, 638 So. 2d 18 (Ala. Crim. App. 1994).
— Ala. Code § 15-21-6(b) — 2 cases
Hurst v. State, 484 So. 2d 1196 (Ala. Crim. App. 1986).
State v. Livingston, 885 So. 2d 854 (Ala. Crim. App. 2004).
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