Autauga County Public Records: Where Residents Can Find Official Documents

Kathy Rhodes Evans, Revenue Commissioner, holds office at the Autauga County Courthouse on North Court Street in Prattville. That address, 135 N. Court St., is ground zero for much of what county government produces in writing. Whether you are tracking how your tax dollars move through county budgets, researching who owns a parcel off County Road 9 in Autaugaville, or confirming whether a commission vote went the way your neighbor said it did, the official record exists and, in most cases, is accessible without a lawyer or a formal request.

Here is where to find it.

Commission Agendas and Meeting Minutes

The Autauga County Commission meets at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Commission Chambers at 135 N. Court Street in Prattville. That schedule means there are typically two opportunities each month to watch county business conducted in public, and two corresponding sets of documents posted afterward.

The county's official website, autaugaco.org, maintains both a current Agenda/Minutes page and an archive of past minutes. The Minutes Archive section is accessible directly from the Commission Office page and includes records going back through at least 2020. If you want to know exactly what was discussed and voted on at a specific meeting, the minutes are the definitive record.

The Commission Office is located at 135 N. Court Street, Suite B, Prattville, AL 36067, and can be reached at 334-358-6700. The county's Treasurer/Administrator, Scott Kramer, can be reached directly at 334-358-6701.

Commission Members and District Contacts

The five-member commission includes District 1 Commissioner Rusty Jacksland based in Prattville, District 2 Commissioner John L. Thrailkill also in Prattville, District 3 Commissioner Bill Tatum on Criddle Road in Prattville, and District 4 Commissioner Jay Thompson, who serves as chairman and is based in Deatsville. District 5 Commissioner Terry Tanner is based in Autaugaville and can be reached at 334-657-4152. Each commissioner's direct contact information is listed on the county website, making it straightforward to reach your specific district representative rather than navigating a general switchboard.

Property Records and the Probate Office

The Autauga County Probate Office maintains all official property records, including deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments, and plats, filed in the Recording Department and kept for public viewing in the Records Room. Documents dating from November 1, 1996 to the present are available in digital format, while older records from 1820 to October 31, 1996 are stored on microfilm or in bound volumes.

The Recording Department is located at 176 West Fifth Street in Prattville. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., though documents presented for recording after 4:00 p.m. will be processed the next business day.

An important practical note: while staff members can respond to brief inquiries by phone, all records searches must be conducted in person, and book and page references are not provided over the telephone. Staff are available to help researchers use Records Room equipment.

Several of the Probate Office's records are also searchable online. The Probate Court handles estates, wills, adoptions, conservatorships, guardianships, automobile registration, business licenses, marriage recording, and elections. The Judge of Probate also serves as the Chief Election Officer of Autauga County, which means election-related records, including results and filings, flow through that office as well.

Property Tax and Assessment Records

The Revenue Commissioner is a publicly elected position responsible for the assessment of personal and real property and for the collection of Ad Valorem taxes levied by the State of Alabama. Revenue Commissioner Kathy Rhodes Evans is based at the Autauga County Courthouse, 135 N. Court St., Suite D, Prattville, AL 36067, and can be reached at 334-358-6750.

Property assessment and tax data can be searched online through the county's Citizen Access Portal at autauga.capturecama.com. The property tax rate in the county is 0.26% of assessed property value. If you are researching a specific parcel, whether to verify ownership, compare assessments, or check tax status, the Revenue Commissioner's portal is the starting point for current data.

Court Records

Court records are public records in Alabama. Autauga County is served by the Nineteenth Circuit Court of Alabama, accessible at autauga.alacourt.gov. Case action summaries for pending civil and criminal actions in all Alabama trial courts, with search capability, are available on alacourt.com. This covers filings, case status, and dispositions across civil and criminal dockets. Note that a subscription is required for full access to the statewide court system portal.

Your Rights Under Alabama's Open Records Law

The Alabama Open Records Act is a state law located at Sections 36-12-40 to 36-12-46 of the Alabama Code that gives members of the public the right to access "any public record" of state and local agencies and officials in Alabama. In 2024, the Alabama Legislature enacted several important changes to the Open Records Act, and those changes went into effect on October 1, 2024.

Only Alabama residents have the right to request public records under the Open Records Act. Agencies are allowed to require reasonable proof of residency, such as an Alabama state ID.

There is a general presumption in favor of disclosure under the Open Records Act, and exemptions are "narrowly construed" by Alabama courts, meaning that in close cases, agencies and courts should lean toward disclosing rather than hiding the record. That said, the Alabama Legislature has created numerous statutory exceptions, including one for law enforcement investigative reports and materials.

If an agency denies your request, there is no administrative appeals process under Alabama's Open Records Act; your recourse is to file a lawsuit in circuit court seeking a court order requiring the agency to produce the records.

A practical tip on requests: requests that clearly identify a specific, discrete document or record will be processed more quickly than requests requiring substantial staff time to search, locate, review, and produce a large volume of potentially responsive documents. The more precisely you can name what you need, the faster the response.

A Quick Reference

Here is a summary of where to direct specific requests:

• Commission agendas and meeting minutes: autaugaco.org, or Commission Office at 135 N. Court St., Suite B, (334) 358-6700
• Property deeds, mortgages, liens, plats: Probate Office Recording Department, 176 W. Fifth St., (334) 361-3731
• Property tax and assessment data: Revenue Commissioner, 135 N. Court St., Suite D, (334) 358-6750, or online at autauga.capturecama.com
• Court records: Nineteenth Circuit Court at autauga.alacourt.gov, or statewide at alacourt.com
• Election records: Autauga County Judge of Probate, 176 W. Fifth St.

Autauga County is one of Alabama's fastest growing counties, with a population of nearly 56,000. That growth makes transparent, accessible government records more important than ever. The infrastructure to access them is already in place at the courthouse square on North Court Street in Prattville; knowing where to look is the first step.