Terms Used In Alabama Code 30-4-55

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

The juvenile courts of the several counties of the state shall have and exercise exclusive and original jurisdiction in all cases arising under this article. Except as is, or may hereafter be, otherwise provided by law, the institution and trial of such cases shall be had and conducted as other misdemeanor cases are begun and tried in district courts.