QUALIFYING
Candidates for elected positions on the county and state level must qualify within their parties on Monday. Qualifying of candidates shall be handled by the Credentials Committee of each respective party. Qualifying fees, not to exceed $1.00, will be determined by party action.
VOTING
Primary Elections
In the event of a tie in any election, the winner will be determined by a flip of the coin, as is the case with the State of Alabama.
SUMMARY OF SPEECHES AND APPEARANCES
Governor – Three-minute speech before Party; five minutes during Whistle Stops before Party to answer two questions; three-minute speech before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
Lieutenant Governor – Two-minute speech before Party; two minutes during Whistle Stops before Party to answer one question; two-minute speech before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
Attorney General – Two-minute speech before Party; two minutes during Whistle Stops before Party; two minutes before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
All Other State Official Candidates – Speak one minute before party for Primary Election; speak one minute before entire assembly for General Election if party nominee.
Experience has shown that while speeches by candidates are important, winning candidates have been those who conducted person-to-person campaigns. So, plan to meet every delegate and make as many friends as possible!
STATE GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIBILITIES –
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The Executive Branch of the government is given the duty of enforcing and administering the law. All agencies of Alabama’s government outside of the Legislative and Judicial branch are considered to be part of the branch of government. Eighteen of the executive officers are elected by popular vote. They are: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, three members of the Public Service Commission, and eight members of the Board of Education.
Each of these officers is elected by popular vote for a four-year term at the same time the legislators are elected and can succeed themselves only once. Members of the Public Service Commission and the State Board of Education serve for four-year staggered terms, and may succeed themselves without a limit in terms.
The Governor, the chief executive officer of the state, is elected by popular election, must be at least 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least ten years and a resident of Alabama for at least seven years immediately preceding election. The Governor serves a four-year term of office and may succeed himself for one term. The method for removal from office is by impeachment. The Governor sees that laws are faithfully executed; acts as Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard; signs all grants and commissions; makes appointments to fill some elective offices when vacancies exist, and orders special elections to fill such vacancies; prepares and submits a balanced Executive Budget to the Legislature; may veto bills passed by the Legislature; call special sessions of the Legislature; extradites criminals; grants commutations of persons under sentence of death; approves all conveyances of land by any state agency and all contracts made by the State Highway Department.
The Governor appoints the heads of the following: Military Department; Bureau of Publicity and Information; Civil Defense Agency; Alabama Developmental Officer; Department of Banking; Department of Finance; Department of Industrial Relations; Department of Insurance; Department of Labor; Department of Revenue; Department of State Docks and Highway Department; Department of Mental Health and Retardation; Department of Human Resources. The Commissioners and Directors are considered to be the Governor’s “cabinet” to advise and to implement the programs advocated by the Governor.
The Governor serves as an ex-officio member and as president or chairman of boards of trustees of the colleges and universities and institutions for physically and mentally handicapped children; State Building Commission and many others. In addition, the Governor is member-ex-officio of many other commissions, organizations or groups such as the Alabama Arts Commission, the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind, and appoints one member to many state agencies.
In addition, the Governor has a staff, which is divided into legal, administrative, public relations, and housekeeping units. The Governor may appoint an attorney or attorneys to advise her/him in her/his official capacity or to institute, conduct, or appear in any court in any civil or criminal cause in which the state is interested. Other personnel may include an Executive Secretary; Press Secretary; administrative assistants; and clerical personnel.
Lieutenant Governor has no official duties except to preside over the Senate during sessions of the Legislature, unless the office of Governor becomes vacant. Though President of the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor is not a member of that body and cannot vote except in the case of a tie. Despite this, he/she holds a very influential position in the Senate because of the appointment of all committees and controlling the flow of legislature by the assignment of bills to those committees.
The Lieutenant Governor becomes the Chief Executive if the Governor dies, resigns, is absent from the state for over 20 days or becomes incapacitated. In case both Governor and Lieutenant Governor become unable to serve, a Governor and Lieutenant Governor are chosen in a special election. In the meantime, the office of Governor is held by the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Attorney General, the State Auditor, the Secretary of State, or the State Treasurer, in the order named.
Attorney General has supervision over legal matters in which the state is interested. He, or his assistants, represent the state in all criminal cases, which are appealed from the trial courts to the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court and represents the state in all civil cases in which it is a party. The Attorney General prepares and passes on contracts for the state, and is the legal advisor to the state, county, and city officers and to numerous state boards and bureaus. He regularly reports to the Governor the condition of the state in regard to law enforcement, and offers suggestions for improvement.
Secretary Of State is the Custodian of the State Seal, and original copies of laws and records of the two houses of the legislature; affixes the State Seal on all official documents; issues certificates concerning records of the office; keeps complete records of all lands of the State and furnishes copies of any portion of these records upon request; issues commissions to every elected and appointed state and county official; registers corporations doing business within the state; registers trademarks used on products within the state; prepares extradition papers and warrants of arrest; acts as agent for the serving of legal summons for a non-resident operator of motor vehicles in the state; keeps records of all deeds filed for record by any department, agency, commission or public corporation created by act of the legislature; keeps a copy of all annual reports filed by all state departments.
Treasurer is the banker of the state, receiving all state funds and paying all properly drawn warrants. She also invests state monies in the state’s banks to earn interest for the state account. She keeps the Governor advised on the financial conditions of the Treasury and prepares a printed report of receipts and disbursements for the Legislature.
Auditor audits the accounts and records of the Department of Finance and those of the State Treasurer, inventories of all state property, and is a member of the Board of Adjustment, the Board of Compromise, and the Board of Appointment for Voter Registration.
Commision Of Agriculture And Industries heads the Department of Agriculture and Industries, whose primary objective is to administer and enforce regulatory laws which affect agriculture, such as statutes which govern the manufacture and sale of seed, feed, fertilizer, and insecticides, poultry, poultry inspection, anti-cattle rustling, livestock sanitation, cooperative marketing associations, shipment of plants into and within the state, apiary inspection, and dairy product laws.
Laws affecting the general public administered and enforced by this department are those pertaining to weights and measure, public warehouses, gasoline and kerosene inspection, food, drugs, and cosmetics. The Department performs many services including market news service and publishes a farmer’s bulletin to assist the farmer in buying, selling, and exchanging farm products, equipment and supplies.
The Superintendent of Education is the head of the Department of Education and has charge directly or indirectly of public education in the state. The Superintendent receives reports from county/city superintendents of education; distributes state funds to the public schools; examines teachers and issues certificates to those found qualified; and performs other duties connected with educational affairs.
State Board of Education is comprised of members who have been elected from districts, which were the congressional districts of 1969. Their jurisdiction includes K-12 and the public post-secondary institutions – junior colleges and trade schools. They serve terms of four years with no limit to the number of terms. The Governor is the Chairman of the Board. The State Superintendent is secretary and executive officer of the Board for elementary-secondary education. The Board appoints the State Superintendent of Education and the chancellor of post-secondary.
The Public Service Commission is an agency of the state created by the Legislature to regulate privately owned public utilities and transportation companies. The utilities that it regulates include electric companies, gas companies, a few small water companies, telephone companies, telegraph companies, railroads, express companies, sleeping car companies, trucks, buses, and taxis. The commission does not have jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives (except those furnishing rural telephone service), or gas districts incorporated as public corporations. The membership of the Commission consists of President and Two Associate Commissioners who are elected by the people. The term of office is four years and there is no limitation as to the number of terms a commissioner may serve. No tax money is spent on operations of the Commission. The expenses of operating the commission are financed by fees paid by the utilities and transportation companies.
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Judicial Branch of state government interprets the laws enacted by the Legislative Branch when challenged and sit as tribunals to settle disputes between citizens and in criminal cases where the peace and dignity of the state have been violated. Alabama courts operate on two levels – trial courts and appellate courts. The first tier of the judicial branch is the trial courts of limited jurisdiction, which are municipal courts, probate courts, and district courts. Municipal courts are served by judges appointed by the mayor and/or the city council and try cases alleging violations of municipal ordinances, which deal with traffic infractions and criminal misdemeanors. District courts are part of the state unified judicial system whose jurisdiction includes criminal misdemeanors, traffic violations brought by state troopers, juvenile cases involving dependency (child abuse and neglect) and delinquency, civil actions where the amount of controversy does not exceed $10,000, and small claims with a limit of $3,000. There is a district court in each county and district judges are elected to six-year terms with no limit to the number of terms by voters within the single county.
The courts of general jurisdiction are the circuit courts where judges are elected by voters within the circuit to six-year terms with no limit to the number of terms. The state is divided into forty judicial circuits, which range from one county to five counties within the circuit. Trial by a jury may be requested in circuit court. The circuit courts hear all civil matters where the amount of controversy exceeds $10,000, all criminal prosecutions involving felony offenses and domestic relations (divorce) cases. The circuit court may also have juvenile jurisdiction. Circuit courts exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases appealed from municipal and district courts.
The third tier in the judicial branch is the appellate courts. The intermediate appellate courts are the COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS and the COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS, each served by five judges elected statewide for terms of six-years. The Court of Criminal Appeals hears all appeals of criminal felony and misdemeanor cases. The Court of Civil Appeals hears appeals and civil cases not exceeding $50,000, all domestic relation appeals, and dependency appeals form juvenile court as well as appeals from state administrative agencies.
The SUPREME COURT is composed of a CHIEF JUSTICE and EIGHT ASSOCIATE JUSTICES who are elected statewide for six-year terms. As the highest state court, the Supreme Court has both judicial duties and administrative responsibilities for all state courts. The Supreme Court may accept appeals of criminal cases from the Court of Criminal Appeals, and has exclusive jurisdiction of appeals of civil matters exceeding $50,000 and appeals from the Public Service Commission.
The appellate courts may affirm a lower court’s decision, reverse the lower court’s ruling and remand the case to the trial court for a new trial, or variations of these actions such as remand a case for additional actions by the trial court.
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
To be eligible for the office of state Senator, a person must be at least 25 years old; for the office of representative, at least 21 years old. For either position, a person must be a duly qualified voter, and have been a resident citizen of the state for three years and of the county or district for the year immediately preceding the election, and must continue to live in the county or district he represents as long as he holds office.
The Legislative Branch of government is charged with the duty of making laws. As a part of this function, the Legislature controls the state’s purse strings. No money can be expended unless appropriated through a legislative act.
The Legislature is composed of two bodies – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Alabama Senate is comprised of 35 members and the House of Representatives has 105 members. After each federal decennial census, legislative districts must be redrawn to accommodate shifts in population. Basically, a Senate district contains three House districts.
Members of the House and Senate are elected to four-year terms and may be reelected without a limit on the number of terms. The qualifications include being citizens and residents of Alabama for at least three years, and they must have lived in the district for one year immediately preceding the election. A representative must be at least 21 years of age when elected and a senator must be at least 25 years of age.
A legislator’s salary is $10 per day while in session and 10 cents per mile for one round trip from the district to Montgomery per session. However, legislators are paid a monthly expense allowance plus a per diem allowance equal to that paid to a state employee for official business while in session.
In 1975, the Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment setting annual sessions and the electorate approved it. Subsequent legislation set the length of the annual Regular Session at 30 days within a 105-calendar day period.
Each house of the legislature adopts its own rules of procedures as well as a set of joint rules and procedures to govern business between the two Chambers. The House and Senate establish the number of standing committees and the number of members on each committee when they adopt their standing rules at the beginning of each quadrennial.
In the House of Representatives, the presiding office is the Speaker, who is elected by the 105 Representatives. A Speaker Pro-Tempore is also elected from among the House members to preside in the Speaker’s absence.
The presiding officer in the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor, who is elected by the voters. The 35 Senators elected a fellow Senator to be President Pro-Tempore to preside in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor.
The Speaker of the House may cast a vote on any bill or motion, but the Lieutenant Governor cannot vote except to break a tie.
Within their power to appoint standing and interim committee members, committee chairmen, and board members of various state boards and organizations as well as referring bills to committees, both the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House can wield enormous power and can be particularly influential on the course and content of legislation.
When the Alabama House and Senate meet at the State House in Montgomery to conduct business, it is called a session. Under the Constitution, there are three types of sessions - organizational, regular, and special.
An Organizational Session opens the first Tuesday after the second Monday in January following quadrennial elections and continues for ten consecutive days. The Constitution prohibits transaction of any legislative business during an organizational session, but administrative business must be conducted. Members elect the officers of both houses and adopt the Rules. Later, Chairmanships and committee appointments are announced.
Annual Regular Sessions last thirty meeting days within a 105 calendar-day period. Meeting dates and times for Legislature are set by statutes. The business in Regular Session includes the General Fund and Education budgets, general and local bills to amend existing statutes or propose new statutes.
A Special Session can be called only by the Governor, who sets the convening date and subjects to be considered. Special Sessions are limited to twelve meeting days within the thirty calendar-day period.
Candidates for elected positions on the county and state level must qualify within their parties on Monday. Qualifying of candidates shall be handled by the Credentials Committee of each respective party. Qualifying fees, not to exceed $1.00, will be determined by party action.
- Persons desiring to seek State and County Offices must qualify to run with the Credentials Committee of their party at the designated time.
- Each candidate will give her name, office she is seeking, and pay her qualifying fee.
VOTING
Primary Elections
- Delegates will cast their votes in the Party Primaries electronically by city. Both county and state officials will appear on each party’s ballot.
- Counselors will handle the voting process.
- All delegates must vote during the Primary Election. The delegate must vote within her own party (selecting the best person who could be the winner against the nominee from the other party) for each position on the ballot.
- Run-offs may be required in races where no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes.
- Delegates will vote by city to cast their votes in the General Election.
- Voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. You may choose to vote the straight party ticket or you may vote a “split” ticket vote and choose candidates from both parties.
In the event of a tie in any election, the winner will be determined by a flip of the coin, as is the case with the State of Alabama.
SUMMARY OF SPEECHES AND APPEARANCES
Governor – Three-minute speech before Party; five minutes during Whistle Stops before Party to answer two questions; three-minute speech before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
Lieutenant Governor – Two-minute speech before Party; two minutes during Whistle Stops before Party to answer one question; two-minute speech before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
Attorney General – Two-minute speech before Party; two minutes during Whistle Stops before Party; two minutes before entire assembly if party nominee; five minutes to answer questions during Whistle Stops by County for General Election.
All Other State Official Candidates – Speak one minute before party for Primary Election; speak one minute before entire assembly for General Election if party nominee.
Experience has shown that while speeches by candidates are important, winning candidates have been those who conducted person-to-person campaigns. So, plan to meet every delegate and make as many friends as possible!
STATE GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIBILITIES –
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The Executive Branch of the government is given the duty of enforcing and administering the law. All agencies of Alabama’s government outside of the Legislative and Judicial branch are considered to be part of the branch of government. Eighteen of the executive officers are elected by popular vote. They are: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, three members of the Public Service Commission, and eight members of the Board of Education.
Each of these officers is elected by popular vote for a four-year term at the same time the legislators are elected and can succeed themselves only once. Members of the Public Service Commission and the State Board of Education serve for four-year staggered terms, and may succeed themselves without a limit in terms.
The Governor, the chief executive officer of the state, is elected by popular election, must be at least 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least ten years and a resident of Alabama for at least seven years immediately preceding election. The Governor serves a four-year term of office and may succeed himself for one term. The method for removal from office is by impeachment. The Governor sees that laws are faithfully executed; acts as Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard; signs all grants and commissions; makes appointments to fill some elective offices when vacancies exist, and orders special elections to fill such vacancies; prepares and submits a balanced Executive Budget to the Legislature; may veto bills passed by the Legislature; call special sessions of the Legislature; extradites criminals; grants commutations of persons under sentence of death; approves all conveyances of land by any state agency and all contracts made by the State Highway Department.
The Governor appoints the heads of the following: Military Department; Bureau of Publicity and Information; Civil Defense Agency; Alabama Developmental Officer; Department of Banking; Department of Finance; Department of Industrial Relations; Department of Insurance; Department of Labor; Department of Revenue; Department of State Docks and Highway Department; Department of Mental Health and Retardation; Department of Human Resources. The Commissioners and Directors are considered to be the Governor’s “cabinet” to advise and to implement the programs advocated by the Governor.
The Governor serves as an ex-officio member and as president or chairman of boards of trustees of the colleges and universities and institutions for physically and mentally handicapped children; State Building Commission and many others. In addition, the Governor is member-ex-officio of many other commissions, organizations or groups such as the Alabama Arts Commission, the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute of Deaf and Blind, and appoints one member to many state agencies.
In addition, the Governor has a staff, which is divided into legal, administrative, public relations, and housekeeping units. The Governor may appoint an attorney or attorneys to advise her/him in her/his official capacity or to institute, conduct, or appear in any court in any civil or criminal cause in which the state is interested. Other personnel may include an Executive Secretary; Press Secretary; administrative assistants; and clerical personnel.
Lieutenant Governor has no official duties except to preside over the Senate during sessions of the Legislature, unless the office of Governor becomes vacant. Though President of the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor is not a member of that body and cannot vote except in the case of a tie. Despite this, he/she holds a very influential position in the Senate because of the appointment of all committees and controlling the flow of legislature by the assignment of bills to those committees.
The Lieutenant Governor becomes the Chief Executive if the Governor dies, resigns, is absent from the state for over 20 days or becomes incapacitated. In case both Governor and Lieutenant Governor become unable to serve, a Governor and Lieutenant Governor are chosen in a special election. In the meantime, the office of Governor is held by the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Attorney General, the State Auditor, the Secretary of State, or the State Treasurer, in the order named.
Attorney General has supervision over legal matters in which the state is interested. He, or his assistants, represent the state in all criminal cases, which are appealed from the trial courts to the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court and represents the state in all civil cases in which it is a party. The Attorney General prepares and passes on contracts for the state, and is the legal advisor to the state, county, and city officers and to numerous state boards and bureaus. He regularly reports to the Governor the condition of the state in regard to law enforcement, and offers suggestions for improvement.
Secretary Of State is the Custodian of the State Seal, and original copies of laws and records of the two houses of the legislature; affixes the State Seal on all official documents; issues certificates concerning records of the office; keeps complete records of all lands of the State and furnishes copies of any portion of these records upon request; issues commissions to every elected and appointed state and county official; registers corporations doing business within the state; registers trademarks used on products within the state; prepares extradition papers and warrants of arrest; acts as agent for the serving of legal summons for a non-resident operator of motor vehicles in the state; keeps records of all deeds filed for record by any department, agency, commission or public corporation created by act of the legislature; keeps a copy of all annual reports filed by all state departments.
Treasurer is the banker of the state, receiving all state funds and paying all properly drawn warrants. She also invests state monies in the state’s banks to earn interest for the state account. She keeps the Governor advised on the financial conditions of the Treasury and prepares a printed report of receipts and disbursements for the Legislature.
Auditor audits the accounts and records of the Department of Finance and those of the State Treasurer, inventories of all state property, and is a member of the Board of Adjustment, the Board of Compromise, and the Board of Appointment for Voter Registration.
Commision Of Agriculture And Industries heads the Department of Agriculture and Industries, whose primary objective is to administer and enforce regulatory laws which affect agriculture, such as statutes which govern the manufacture and sale of seed, feed, fertilizer, and insecticides, poultry, poultry inspection, anti-cattle rustling, livestock sanitation, cooperative marketing associations, shipment of plants into and within the state, apiary inspection, and dairy product laws.
Laws affecting the general public administered and enforced by this department are those pertaining to weights and measure, public warehouses, gasoline and kerosene inspection, food, drugs, and cosmetics. The Department performs many services including market news service and publishes a farmer’s bulletin to assist the farmer in buying, selling, and exchanging farm products, equipment and supplies.
The Superintendent of Education is the head of the Department of Education and has charge directly or indirectly of public education in the state. The Superintendent receives reports from county/city superintendents of education; distributes state funds to the public schools; examines teachers and issues certificates to those found qualified; and performs other duties connected with educational affairs.
State Board of Education is comprised of members who have been elected from districts, which were the congressional districts of 1969. Their jurisdiction includes K-12 and the public post-secondary institutions – junior colleges and trade schools. They serve terms of four years with no limit to the number of terms. The Governor is the Chairman of the Board. The State Superintendent is secretary and executive officer of the Board for elementary-secondary education. The Board appoints the State Superintendent of Education and the chancellor of post-secondary.
The Public Service Commission is an agency of the state created by the Legislature to regulate privately owned public utilities and transportation companies. The utilities that it regulates include electric companies, gas companies, a few small water companies, telephone companies, telegraph companies, railroads, express companies, sleeping car companies, trucks, buses, and taxis. The commission does not have jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives (except those furnishing rural telephone service), or gas districts incorporated as public corporations. The membership of the Commission consists of President and Two Associate Commissioners who are elected by the people. The term of office is four years and there is no limitation as to the number of terms a commissioner may serve. No tax money is spent on operations of the Commission. The expenses of operating the commission are financed by fees paid by the utilities and transportation companies.
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Judicial Branch of state government interprets the laws enacted by the Legislative Branch when challenged and sit as tribunals to settle disputes between citizens and in criminal cases where the peace and dignity of the state have been violated. Alabama courts operate on two levels – trial courts and appellate courts. The first tier of the judicial branch is the trial courts of limited jurisdiction, which are municipal courts, probate courts, and district courts. Municipal courts are served by judges appointed by the mayor and/or the city council and try cases alleging violations of municipal ordinances, which deal with traffic infractions and criminal misdemeanors. District courts are part of the state unified judicial system whose jurisdiction includes criminal misdemeanors, traffic violations brought by state troopers, juvenile cases involving dependency (child abuse and neglect) and delinquency, civil actions where the amount of controversy does not exceed $10,000, and small claims with a limit of $3,000. There is a district court in each county and district judges are elected to six-year terms with no limit to the number of terms by voters within the single county.
The courts of general jurisdiction are the circuit courts where judges are elected by voters within the circuit to six-year terms with no limit to the number of terms. The state is divided into forty judicial circuits, which range from one county to five counties within the circuit. Trial by a jury may be requested in circuit court. The circuit courts hear all civil matters where the amount of controversy exceeds $10,000, all criminal prosecutions involving felony offenses and domestic relations (divorce) cases. The circuit court may also have juvenile jurisdiction. Circuit courts exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases appealed from municipal and district courts.
The third tier in the judicial branch is the appellate courts. The intermediate appellate courts are the COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS and the COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS, each served by five judges elected statewide for terms of six-years. The Court of Criminal Appeals hears all appeals of criminal felony and misdemeanor cases. The Court of Civil Appeals hears appeals and civil cases not exceeding $50,000, all domestic relation appeals, and dependency appeals form juvenile court as well as appeals from state administrative agencies.
The SUPREME COURT is composed of a CHIEF JUSTICE and EIGHT ASSOCIATE JUSTICES who are elected statewide for six-year terms. As the highest state court, the Supreme Court has both judicial duties and administrative responsibilities for all state courts. The Supreme Court may accept appeals of criminal cases from the Court of Criminal Appeals, and has exclusive jurisdiction of appeals of civil matters exceeding $50,000 and appeals from the Public Service Commission.
The appellate courts may affirm a lower court’s decision, reverse the lower court’s ruling and remand the case to the trial court for a new trial, or variations of these actions such as remand a case for additional actions by the trial court.
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
To be eligible for the office of state Senator, a person must be at least 25 years old; for the office of representative, at least 21 years old. For either position, a person must be a duly qualified voter, and have been a resident citizen of the state for three years and of the county or district for the year immediately preceding the election, and must continue to live in the county or district he represents as long as he holds office.
The Legislative Branch of government is charged with the duty of making laws. As a part of this function, the Legislature controls the state’s purse strings. No money can be expended unless appropriated through a legislative act.
The Legislature is composed of two bodies – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Alabama Senate is comprised of 35 members and the House of Representatives has 105 members. After each federal decennial census, legislative districts must be redrawn to accommodate shifts in population. Basically, a Senate district contains three House districts.
Members of the House and Senate are elected to four-year terms and may be reelected without a limit on the number of terms. The qualifications include being citizens and residents of Alabama for at least three years, and they must have lived in the district for one year immediately preceding the election. A representative must be at least 21 years of age when elected and a senator must be at least 25 years of age.
A legislator’s salary is $10 per day while in session and 10 cents per mile for one round trip from the district to Montgomery per session. However, legislators are paid a monthly expense allowance plus a per diem allowance equal to that paid to a state employee for official business while in session.
In 1975, the Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment setting annual sessions and the electorate approved it. Subsequent legislation set the length of the annual Regular Session at 30 days within a 105-calendar day period.
Each house of the legislature adopts its own rules of procedures as well as a set of joint rules and procedures to govern business between the two Chambers. The House and Senate establish the number of standing committees and the number of members on each committee when they adopt their standing rules at the beginning of each quadrennial.
In the House of Representatives, the presiding office is the Speaker, who is elected by the 105 Representatives. A Speaker Pro-Tempore is also elected from among the House members to preside in the Speaker’s absence.
The presiding officer in the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor, who is elected by the voters. The 35 Senators elected a fellow Senator to be President Pro-Tempore to preside in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor.
The Speaker of the House may cast a vote on any bill or motion, but the Lieutenant Governor cannot vote except to break a tie.
Within their power to appoint standing and interim committee members, committee chairmen, and board members of various state boards and organizations as well as referring bills to committees, both the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House can wield enormous power and can be particularly influential on the course and content of legislation.
When the Alabama House and Senate meet at the State House in Montgomery to conduct business, it is called a session. Under the Constitution, there are three types of sessions - organizational, regular, and special.
An Organizational Session opens the first Tuesday after the second Monday in January following quadrennial elections and continues for ten consecutive days. The Constitution prohibits transaction of any legislative business during an organizational session, but administrative business must be conducted. Members elect the officers of both houses and adopt the Rules. Later, Chairmanships and committee appointments are announced.
Annual Regular Sessions last thirty meeting days within a 105 calendar-day period. Meeting dates and times for Legislature are set by statutes. The business in Regular Session includes the General Fund and Education budgets, general and local bills to amend existing statutes or propose new statutes.
A Special Session can be called only by the Governor, who sets the convening date and subjects to be considered. Special Sessions are limited to twelve meeting days within the thirty calendar-day period.