Alabama Code 41-1-2. Maintenance and defense of state authority and jurisdiction

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

It is the duty of the Governor and of all the subordinate officers of the state to maintain and defend its authority and jurisdiction.