Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 15-7-1 (2026)
“Complaint” Defined.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
A “complaint” is an allegation made before a proper judge or magistrate that a person has been guilty of a designated public offense.
(Code 1852, §428; Code 1867, §3977; Code 1876, §4647; Code 1886, §4255; Code 1896, §5204; Code 1907, §7584; Code 1923, §5217; Code 1940, T. 15, §119.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Brown v. State, 565 So. 2d 585 (Ala. 1990).
Brown v. State, 565 So. 2d 585 (Ala. 1990). “Code 1975, Chapter 7 of Title 15, §§ 15-7-1 through 15-7-4, govern the procedures for handling misdemeanor charges generally, but an entirely different procedure is required by the legislature when the offense is a "traffic infraction" and the charge is made by a law enforcement…”
Susan Boda v. United States, 698 F.2d 1174 (11th Cir. 1983). “Under Florida and Alabama law plaintiff would not be able to obtain jurisdiction over Abate even if Abate was extradited from Florida to Alabama, unless he was then convicted of a criminal offense, See Ala.Code § 15-9-63 (1975).”
Ex parte John Sandifer PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF Crim. APPEALS (In re: City of Huntsville v. John Sandifer) (Madison Circuit Court: CC-22-3285; Crim. Appeals: CR-2023-0354). (Ala. 2025). “, and § 15-7-1, Ala. Code 1975, in arguing that the complaint against him did not designate the proper public offense or any statute enumerating a crime, and he asserts that the complaint failed to contain a sufficient averment of "authorized ordination.”
Ex parte Dillon Barrett PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF Crim. APPEALS (In re: City of Huntsville v. Dillon Barrett) (Madison Circuit Court: CC-22-3440; Crim. Appeals: CR-2023-0349). (Ala. 2025). “, and § 15-7-1, Ala. Code 1975, in arguing that the complaint against him did not designate the proper public offense or any statute enumerating a crime, and he asserts that the complaint failed to contain a sufficient averment of "authorized ordination.”
Ex parte Curtis Tanner PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF Crim. APPEALS (In re: City of Huntsville v. Curtis E. Tanner) (Madison Circuit Court: CC-23-464; Crim. Appeals: CR-2023-0353). (Ala. 2025). “, and § 15-7-1, Ala. Code 1975, in arguing that the complaint against him did not designate the proper public offense or any statute enumerating a crime, and he asserts that the complaint failed to contain a sufficient averment of "authorized ordination.”
Ex parte Brodrick Fearn PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF Crim. APPEALS (In re: City of Huntsville v. Brodrick D. Fearn) (Madison Circuit Court: CC-22-4774; Crim. Appeals: CR-2023-0348). (Ala. 2025). “, and § 15-7-1, Ala. Code 1975, in arguing that the complaint against him did not designate the proper public offense or any statute enumerating a crime, and he asserts that the complaint failed to contain a sufficient averment of "authorized ordination.”
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.