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HB384 • 2026

Tuscaloosa County; service of process fee for personal service amended

Tuscaloosa County; service of process fee for personal service amended

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Bolton
Last action
2026-03-31
Official status
Enacted
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Tuscaloosa County Service of Process Fee Change

This law changes the fee for personal service of legal documents in civil cases to $60 per document in Tuscaloosa County.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the fee to $60 per document when a sheriff's office serves legal papers in civil cases within Tuscaloosa County.
  • Keeps a $3 fee that goes to the circuit clerk or probate judge, and splits the rest between the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Fund and the District Attorney's Solicitor's Fund.
  • Sets an $85 fee for serving documents from outside of Alabama, with half going to each fund mentioned above.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who need legal papers served in Tuscaloosa County
  • Sheriff's office and other court officials

Terms To Know

Service of process
The act of delivering legal documents to someone, usually a defendant in a lawsuit.
Civil cases
Legal disputes between individuals or organizations that do not involve criminal charges.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Only applies to Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
  • Effective date is June 1, 2026.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-31 House

    Enacted

  2. 2026-03-19 Senate

    Signature Requested

  3. 2026-03-17 Senate

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 886 (Yeas 34, Nays 0)

  4. 2026-03-17 Senate

    Third Reading in Second House (Yeas 34, Nays 0)

  5. 2026-03-17 House

    Enrolled

  6. 2026-03-17 House

    Ready to Enroll

  7. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  8. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Reported Out of Committee Second House

  9. 2026-02-12 House

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 373 (Yeas 14, Nays 0)

  10. 2026-02-12 House

    Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 59, Nays 0)

  11. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Pending Committee Action in Second House

  12. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on Local Legislation

  13. 2026-02-10 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  14. 2026-02-10 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  15. 2026-02-05 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  16. 2026-02-05 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Tuscaloosa County Legislation

Official Summary Text

Tuscaloosa County; service of process fee for personal service amended

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB384 ENROLLED
Page 0
HB384
G3HIE62-2
By Representative Bolton (N & P)
RFD: Tuscaloosa County Legislation
First Read: 05-Feb-26
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HB384 Enrolled
Page 1
First Read: 05-Feb-26
Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to Tuscaloosa County; to amend Section 2 of
Act 99-219, 1999 Regular Session (Acts 1999, p. 278), as
amended by Act 2024-420, 2024 Regular session, providing fees
for service of process in civil matters requiring personal
service of process by the sheriff's office; and to make
nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing act
language to current style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 2 of Act 99-219, 1999 Regular
Session (Acts 1999, p. 278), as amended by Act 2024-420, 2024
Regular Session, is amended to read as follows:
"Section 2. (a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, in addition to all existing charges, fees, judgments,
and costs of court, the clerk, sheriff, or other appropriate
court official in the civil division of the district and
circuit courts of Tuscaloosa County shall assess a fee of
sixty dollars ($60) per document personally served by the
sheriff's office, or its designee. For purposes of this act,
the term "document" shall include multiple papers served on a
party or entity at one time.
(2) The process fee provided in this subsection shall
not apply to any civil documents issued specifically by the
circuit court or any mental health documents or orders issued
by the office of the judge of probate .
(b) The court official designated in Tuscaloosa County
by law for the respective courts shall collect the service of
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HB384 Enrolled
Page 2
by law for the respective courts shall collect the service of
process fee designated in subsection (a). In the case of
documents issued through the circuit clerk's office, three
dollars ($3) of each fee shall be retained in the circuit
clerk's office and deposited in the Circuit Clerk's Fund for
operation of the circuit clerk's office. In the case of
documents issued by the office of the judge of probate, three
dollars ($3) of each fee shall be retained by the office of
the judge of probate and used for the operation of the office
of the judge of probate. The net balance of the fees collected
shall be distributed as provided herein: Fifty percent of the
net balance shall be distributed to the Sheriff's Law
Enforcement Fund and used for the operation of the sheriff's
office; the remaining fifty50 percent of the net balance shall
be distributed to the Solicitor's Fund of the District
Attorney and used for the operation of the office of the
district attorney.
(c) In the case of documents requested to be personally
served by the sheriff's office in a civil case from outside of
this Statestate, a fee of eighty-five dollars ($85) shall be
collected by the sheriff for each document. Fifty percent of
these funds shall be distributed to the Sheriff's Law
Enforcement Fund and used for operation of the sheriff's
office. The remaining fifty50 percent of the funds shall be
distributed to the Solicitor's Fund of the District Attorney
and used for the operation of the office of the district
attorney."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on June 1,
2026.
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HB384 Enrolled
Page 3
2026.
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 12-Feb-26.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 17-Mar-26 Passed
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