Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Franklin County, Alabama, has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Alabama the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Franklin County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Franklin County public records, Franklin County arrest records, Franklin County warrants, Franklin County court records, Franklin County police reports, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Franklin County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Franklin County is filed in the Franklin County Circuit Court or the District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings in felony cases, and the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Franklin County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at franklin.alacourt.gov (page title: Franklin County | Thirty-Fourth Circuit Court of Alabama), phone (256) 332-8861, 410 N. Jackson Ave., Russellville, AL 35653, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, Alacourt is the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription.
The Alabama Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is closed to the public in Alabama: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to ALEA. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at alea.gov/sbi/criminal-justice-services/criminal-records.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Russellville, Red Bay and Phil Campbell keep the arrest records in Franklin County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the four agencies in Franklin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,310 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Franklin County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Franklin County in 2025
The four agencies in Franklin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 75 violent and 322 property crimes to the FBI that year; the three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 389 crimes in 2025 against 450 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Franklin County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Franklin County
Registered sex offenders living in Franklin County are listed on the Alabama Sex Offender Registry, run by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency at alea.gov/node/43. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Franklin County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Alabama Public Records Law a county office must answer a request within a reasonable time; the statute sets no fixed deadline, and it may charge a reasonable fee for copies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Franklin County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Franklin County Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Alabama Public Records Law.
Can I search Franklin County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at franklin.alacourt.gov (page title: Franklin County | Thirty-Fourth Circuit Court of Alabama). Statewide, Alacourt is the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription.
How do I get my own Alabama criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to ALEA.
Is this the official Franklin County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.