Calhoun County Circuit Court Overview
Calhoun County is part of Alabama's Seventh Judicial Circuit. The local AOC-hosted court site is titled "Calhoun County - Seventh Circuit Court of Alabama," and the county's main trial-court building for Circuit and District Court matters is the courthouse in Anniston. Circuit Court is the general-jurisdiction trial court for major civil cases, felony cases after indictment or bind-over, domestic relations and divorce, appeals from lower courts, and matters Alabama law places in circuit jurisdiction.
District Court is still a trial court, but it is more limited. In Calhoun County it handles misdemeanors except municipal-court prosecutions, preliminary felony matters, certain felony guilty pleas allowed by law, state and county traffic cases, district civil cases, small claims, and eviction or unlawful-detainer matters. Probate Court and Municipal Courts sit outside the Circuit Clerk's core Circuit Court identity, though they are essential for marriage, estates, recording, city tickets, and municipal ordinance cases.
Calhoun County Circuit Judges
The Circuit Court bench is listed by the official Calhoun County court site. The judge list is useful for reading orders, dockets, settings, and case assignments because Circuit Court files may identify the assigned judge, suite, or courtroom contact. The District Judge list follows because District Court is the common entry point for misdemeanors, preliminary felony processing, traffic, district civil, and small claims records.
| Court or judge | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hon. Shannon Page | Presiding Circuit Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Suite 326, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1830 |
| Hon. Dustin Merritt | Circuit Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Suite 340, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1820 |
| Hon. Jennifer Weems | Circuit Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1822 |
| Hon. Peggy P. Lacher | Circuit Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Suite 210, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1735 |
| Hon. Timothy C. Burgess | Circuit Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Suite 320, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1821 |
| Hon. Randy J. Moeller | District Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1870 |
| Hon. Matthew McCullars | District Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Suite 285, Anniston, AL 36265 | (256) 231-1866 |
| Hon. Thomas Wright | District Judge | 25 West 11th Street, Anniston, AL 36201 | (256) 231-1733 |
Circuit Court vs Lower Courts
Alabama court names can be easy to mix up because both Circuit Court and District Court are state trial courts. The difference is jurisdiction. Circuit Court is broader and handles higher-stakes civil, felony, domestic relations, and appeal work. District Court handles lower civil, small claims, state and county traffic, misdemeanors, and early felony proceedings. Municipal Courts are separate city courts for municipal prosecutions and city tickets. Probate Court handles probate and county probate-office matters.
| Point | Circuit Court | District Court | Municipal or Probate Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal work | Felonies after bind-over or indictment, circuit criminal files, sentencing, and some appeals. | Misdemeanors except municipal prosecutions, preliminary felony processing, and certain guilty pleas. | Municipal Court handles city ordinance and municipal-ticket cases; Probate does not handle criminal trials. |
| Civil work | Circuit civil cases and appeals from lower courts. | District civil, small claims, eviction, and unlawful detainer matters. | Probate handles estates, guardianships, conservatorships, commitments, adoptions, name changes, recording, and notary work. |
| Family matters | Domestic relations, divorce, child support, protection-related filings, and related circuit work. | Some related lower-court or juvenile routing may appear through family court staff. | Probate handles adoptions and some sensitive probate-family matters under separate access rules. |
| Record clerk | Circuit Clerk, generally Suite 300 or related division. | Circuit Clerk, generally Suite 260 for district divisions and traffic. | Municipal court clerk for city cases; Probate Office for probate records. |
Calhoun County Case Flow
A criminal case can move between court levels. District Criminal processes records for people arrested on misdemeanor or felony charges in Calhoun County. Misdemeanor defendants appear before a District Judge, enter a plea, and may be sentenced or set for trial. Felony arrestees appear before a District Judge for counsel and preliminary processing. If bound over, the charge goes to the grand jury and then into Circuit Court under a new case number for a Circuit Judge.
Criminal flow: Arrest › District Judge appearance › Preliminary felony processing › Grand jury review › Circuit Court case number › Arraignment › Pretrial hearings › Plea or trial › Disposition and sentencing › Appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed › service and answer › motions or discovery › hearing or trial setting › judgment or order › post-judgment enforcement or appeal. District civil and small claims follow a more limited track, while Circuit Civil handles broader circuit-level civil files.
Note: Court dates in District Criminal can be changed only in extreme emergencies and by a judge's order.
Circuit Court Record Divisions
The Circuit Clerk's division directory is the best local map for finding the right counter. Circuit Court divisions at the courthouse include circuit criminal, circuit civil, and bookkeeper functions. District divisions cover district criminal, traffic, district civil, small claims, payments, and related civil work. Family Court divisions cover domestic relations, child support, juvenile, appeals, and passports.
Record contents vary by division. Circuit civil files may include complaints, answers, motions, orders, notices, judgments, garnishment documents, executions, and appeal papers. Domestic relations files may include divorce pleadings, child support orders, withholding orders, contempt or enforcement matters, and protection-from-abuse routing. District criminal files may show charges, court dates, bond, case numbers, plea or sentencing entries, and bind-over status for felony matters.
- Circuit Criminal: felony files after grand jury or circuit assignment, expungement filing guidance, and circuit-level criminal orders.
- Circuit Civil: larger civil files, attorney notices, judgments, and post-judgment filings.
- Domestic Relations: divorce, child support, withholding, contempt, garnishment, and related family filings.
- District Criminal: misdemeanors, preliminary felony processing, conservation violations, non-uniform citations, and related payments.
- Traffic and District Civil: state or county traffic citations, small claims, district civil, eviction, and unlawful detainer matters.
Seventh Judicial Circuit Access
The official county court site, Calhoun County Seventh Judicial Circuit, provides the local Circuit Clerk pages, division contacts, judge lists, forms, traffic information, and record request instructions. The Alabama Administrative Office of Courts is the statewide judiciary source, and the judicial circuits page provides state-level circuit context.
The main courthouse address for Circuit Court, District Court, Domestic Relations, Juvenile, Traffic, Circuit Criminal, District Criminal, and Civil divisions is 25 West 11th Street, Anniston, AL 36201. For court records, the public access terminal and written request process are handled through the Circuit Clerk. Paid online access for many Alabama trial-court records is available through AlacourtACCESS / Just One Look.
Municipal Probate and Federal Courts
Lower and adjacent courts can be the correct source even when a matter feels like a court record. The District Criminal page states that district misdemeanor jurisdiction excludes prosecutions by municipalities that have municipal courts. For city tickets or municipal ordinance cases, check the city court named on the ticket or the local municipal court channel. For Probate Court matters, use the Probate Office at 1702 Noble Street rather than the Circuit Clerk public terminal.
Federal cases are separate. Calhoun County is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and the Anniston federal court location is at 1100 Gurnee Avenue. The official federal court page states that the Anniston location does not have a clerk's office for accepting filings. Federal records are searched through PACER or federal court sources, not the Calhoun County Circuit Clerk.