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Alabama State Administrative Law

Agency Decisions

You can find decisions published by various Alabama state agencies on Westlaw within Alabama State Materials under Administrative Decisions & Guidamce. Coverage will vary depending on the agency, however, Westlaw provides access to decisions or orders from the following agencies: the Attorney General of Alabama; Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Alabama Securities Commission; and Alabama Department of Revenue. You can easily find the 10 most recent decisions/orders for each option listed below and, if you want to see Westlaw's entire collection, you can use the search bar at the top of the page. 

Attorney General's Office

  • While they have some select documents from before 1975, most of the available documents are from 1975-present

  • You can find formal opinion letters that were prepared by the Attorney General's Office

Blue Sky Administrative Decisions

  • The collection begins in 1990
  • Collection contains orders or decisions that were issued by the Alabama Securities Commission concerning securities-related issues

Environmental Administrative Decisions

  • Documents from May 1983-present
  • Collection contains orders or opinions prepared by the the Alabama Department of Environmental Management concerning Environmental Law issues

Insurance Bulletins

  • Collection begins in 1959
  • Collection contains insurance bulletins and other advisory materials that were issued by the Alabama Department of Insurance

Judicial Ethics Opinions

  • Collection begins in 1976
  • Collection contains ethics and advisory opinions concerning professional ethics and conduct for judges

Public Service Commission Decisions

  • Collection includes documents from both the Public Service Commission and State Courts
  • The Public Service Commission documents begin in 1954 and the State Courts documents begin 1820
    • Supreme Court - 1820
    • Court of Civil Appeals - 1969
    • Court of Criminal Appeals - 1969
    • Former Court of Appeals - 1911-1969
  • Documents in this collection are agency decisions and court cases

State Banking Department Decisions

  • Collection has selected materials from 1986 but majority of collection begins in 2006
  • Collection contains administrative decisions issued by the Alabama State Banking Department

Taxation Administrative Decisions

  • Collection begins in 1984 for formal decisions and 1997 for revenue rulings
  • Collection contains formal decisions reached by the Alabama Department of Revenue's Administrative Law Decision

Alabama Administrative Materials can be found on Lexis under All Alabama Administrative Materials in the Alabama state materials. You can find all administrative materials and agency decisions pertaining to Alabama state agencies and the Alabama Attorney General's Office that are available on Lexis.

Alabama Insurance Bulletins & Notices

  • November 9, 1959 - present
  • Collection contains insurance bulletins and notices from Alabama

Alabama Attorney General Opinions

  • February 1952 - present
  • Collection contains Alabama Attorney General decisions

Alabama Department of Revenue Rulings

  • January 14, 1993 - present
  • Collection contains copies of rulings issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue
  • A Revenue Ruling describes the substantive application of any law or rule administered by the department as of the date the Ruling is issued
  • They are issued at the request of a person or entity, is limited to the facts set forth therein, and is binding on the department and the state, its political subdivisions, and taxing authorities only with respect to the taxpayer making the request and only with respect to the facts contained in the request
  • Subsequent changes in the law, administrative rules, judicial decisions, Tax Tribunal decisions, or changes in department policies could affect the validity of the information presented in a Revenue Ruling

Alabama Environmental Administrative Decisions

  • June 8, 1983 - present
  • Collection contains Hearing Officer Recommendations and Commission Orders issued by the Alabama Environmental Management Commission

Alabama Judicial Advisory Opinions

  • 1976 - present
  • Collection contains the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission's judicial ethics advisory opinions

Alabama Public Service Commission Decisions

  • April 21, 1954 - present
  • Collection contains the decisions from the Alabama Public Service Commission who is charged with regulating public utilities in Alabama
  • Document types may include:
    • Decisions 
    • Default orders 
    • Draft orders 
    • Emergency orders 
    • Final orders 
    • Initial decisions 
    • Interim orders 
    • Orders 
    • Pre-hearing orders 
    • Ratification orders 
    • Recommended decisions 
    • Rescission orders 
    • Short orders
    • Tentative orders

Alabama Secretary of State Securities Orders, Releases, and Letters

  • May 1973 - present
  • Collection contains orders, notices, releases and letters issued by the State of Alabama Securities Division

Alabama State Bar Office of General Counsel Formal Opinions

  • Current
  • Collection contains the formal opinions of the Alabama State Bar General Counsel

Alabama Department of Revenue Orders

  • December 1983 - present
  • Also has Tax Tribunal decisions from August 1991 - present
  • Collection contains Tax Tribunal orders, as well as administrative orders that provide interpretations of particular statutes, and in some instances, provide procedural background for the practitioner

Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission

  • 1976 - present
  • Collection contains documents of The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission 

Alabama Market Conduct Examinations

  • January 1996 - present
  • Collection contains copies of market examinations conducted by the state
  • Market conduct examinations focus on the business practices of insurers and producers and are designed to monitor marketing, advertising, policyholder services, underwriting, rating, and claims practices

You can find Alabama administrative materials on Bloomberg Law by searching Alabama Rulemaking in the general search bar or going to the Popular Links section and selecting All Legal Content. From there, make sure to change the source content type to Select Sources by U.S. Jurisdiction, then State Law, then Alabama, and Alabama Regulatory & Administrative. You can find proposed, final, emergency, temmporary and interim rules, as well as regulatory notices. Unlike other sources, the information on Bloomberg is organized by date of the rulemaking action.

Directories and Guides

Directories

Individual agencies are often an excellent source for news, regulations, hearings/administrative decisions, and other background information, though the quality or usefulness of the information often varies by agency. For a list of each agency with links to their websites, please check this page. You can also check out GODORT's (American Library Association Government Documents Round Table) page on Alabama State Agency Databases. They include links to Alabama State Agencies listed by database subject.

Guides

Alabama Law Office Practice Deskbook by Robert L. McCurley, Jr.

  • Call Number: KFA77 .M35 2020
  • This book covers a variety of different topics that are relevant to practice here in Alabama and does include a small section on Alabama's Administrative Procedure Act, which may be worth checking out