United States District Court
Southern District of Alabama

The Court has adopted a schedule of maximum transcript fee rates subject to the maximum rates established by the Judicial conference, effective October 1, 2007. This General Order is located on our website here: View Order.

CM/ECF Version 3.1

CM/ECF Version 3.1 will be available Friday, November 30. Several new features have been included. Please review this PDF for highlights. Click here for a tutorial on version 3.1.

New Civil Subpoena Form, AO-88

The national Civil Subpoena form, AO-88, has been updated to reflect the "electronic discovery" amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that took effect on December 1, 2006. The new Civil Subpoena form is available here.

CM/ECF Version 3.0

CM/ECF Version 3.0 is now available. Several new features have been included. Please review these PDF slides for highlights.

Court Fees to Increase

The President signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 on February 8, 2006. The Act included the provision to raise a number of fees including the District Court filing fee from $250 to $350. Additionally, the fees associated with filing a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals will increase from $255 to $455. The new fees are effective 60 days from enactment, which would be Sunday, April 9th.

New Standing Order

Standing Order 31, which addresses electronic devices in the courthouse, was adopted by the Court on January 3, 2006, and is available at the link below.

Standing Order 31

New District Judge

Judge Kristi K. DuBose was sworn in on December 29, 2005, as the newest United States District Judge for the Southern District of Alabama, replacing Senior United States District Judge Charles R. Butler, Jr., who has now taken senior status.

Beware of Jury Duty Telephone Scam

This court will never contact you by phone to request personal information. If you receive a call from someone requesting personal information and claiming to be an officer of this court please contact the clerk's office immediately.

For more information on this scam click the following links:

• Press Release from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
• Press Release from the FBI

Long Distance Service - Updated

The Court is experiencing difficulty with its Sprint long distance phone service due to an outage caused by Hurricane Katrina. If you are attempting to call the Court and Sprint is your long distance provider, you probably will not be able to complete your call. If this is the case, you may try another long distance provider, try calling our backup number (251)434-4297, or email the Court using the link below. We are checking this email account often and will reply to you quickly. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this service outage. E-mail the court using the form on this page.

New Website Launches

Welcome to the new website for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. We've tried to lay this out better than our old one so that things will be in more logical places. If a document is new you'll see a notice on this page. If we have an attorney notice you'll see it here. If Jurors need information we now have a Jury tab. If you want information on our courtroom technology look in the Court Info tab. This site is also now printer-friendly so you can print out any page without unsightly links showing up. These are just a few of the new features, so look around!

Name Change

Please note that Magistrate Judge Kristi D. Lee reassumed her family surname and that all future correspondence and filings should be addressed to Magistrate Judge Kristi K. DuBose.

Increase to the Civil Filing Fee Effective February 7, 2005

On December 8, 2004, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 was signed into law. The Act increased the filing fee for civil actions prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) from $150 to $250. This change in the civil filing fee will become effective February 7, 2005.

Notice of Electronic Availability of Criminal Case File Documents

Please be informed that documents filed in criminal cases in this court are now available to the public electronically.

You shall not include sensitive information in any document filed with the court. You must remember that any personal information not otherwise protected will be made available over the Internet via WebPACER. The following personal data identifiers must be partially redacted from the document whether it is filed traditionally or electronically: Social Security numbers to the last four digits; financial account numbers to the last four digits; names of minor children to the initials; dates of birth to the year; and home addresses to the city and state.

In compliance with the E-Government Act of 2002, a party wishing to file a document containing the personal data identifiers specified above may file an unredacted document under seal. This document shall be retained by the court as part of the record. The court may, however, also require the party to file a redacted copy for the public file.

Because filings will be remotely, electronically available and may contain information implicating not only privacy but also personal security concerns, exercise caution when filing a document that contains any of the following information and consider accompanying any such filing with a motion to seal. Until the court has ruled on any motion to seal, no document that is the subject of a motion to seal, nor the motion itself or any response thereto, will be available electronically or in paper form.

1. any personal identifying number, such as driver's license number;
2. medical records, treatment and diagnosis;
3. employment history;
4. individual financial information;
5. proprietary or trade secret information;
6. information regarding an individual's cooperation with the government;
7. information regarding the victim of any criminal activity;
8. national security information; and
9. sensitive security information as described in 49 U.S.C. § 114(s).

Counsel is strongly urged to share this notice with all clients so that an informed decision about the inclusion of certain materials may be made. If a redacted document is filed, it is the sole responsibility of counsel and the parties to be sure that all documents and pleadings comply with the rules of this court requiring redaction of personal data identifiers. The clerk will not review filings for redaction.

Revision of Administrative Procedures for Filing, Signing, and Verifying Pleadings and Documents by Electronic Means

Amended to Administrative Procedures for Filing, Signing, and Verifying Pleadings and Documents by Electronic Means. The active Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama have entered a revised Administrative Procedures for Filing, Signing, and Verifying Pleadings and Documents by Electronic Means, to be effective September 1, 2004. The revised Procedure may be downloaded from the "Documents" or "CM/ECF" section of our website.

Revision of Standing Order Number 24

Amended Order In Re Assignment of Civil Cases to United States Magistrate Judges. The active Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama have entered a revised Standing Order Number 24, to be effective August 26, 2004. The revised Standing Order, along with a new Standing Order index, may be downloaded from the "Documents" section of our website.

Notice to Counsel of Mandatory Electronic Noticing and Electronic Filing

Effective September 1, 2004 counsel must file all documents electronically through CM/ECF. Additionally, all counsel must register for electronic service of documents. Please see the CM/ECF section of our website to register. Click here for Entire Notice.

Revision of Standing Order Number 9

Amended Order Adopting Guidelines for the Deposit of Registry Funds. The active Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama have entered a revised Standing Order Number 9, to be effective April 27, 2004. The revised Standing Order, along with a new Standing Order index, may be downloaded from the "Documents" section of our website.

Revision of Standing Order Number 5

Implementation of Sentencing Procedures Under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The active Judges of the Federal Court have entered a revised Standing Order Number 5, to be effective January 1, 2004. The revised Standing Order, along with a new Standing Order index, may be downloaded from the "Documents" section of our website.

Electronic Availability of Transcripts

The Court is participating in a pilot project regarding the electronic availability of transcripts. The pilot project will apply to all transcripts of civil or criminal proceedings ordered on or after June 15, 2004. Please download the following document for further details.

E-Filing and E-Mail Noticing

Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) is the new automated case management and electronic docketing system for the Southern District of Alabama. CM/ECF provides a new, easy-to-use electronic case filing feature that will make life easier for you by allowing you to file and view court documents over the Internet. Please click on CM/ECF on the left side of this page for further details or click here for online registration.

PACER Net

With PACER Net you can have access to an electronic history of a case of interest over the Web. Click here to learn more about PACER.