Alabama Attorney General Opinion 1979-0051

ft • OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL . Nat. ri (4_ 0006/ CHARLES A. GRADDICK ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF ALABAMA LEE L. MALE . ADMINISTRATIVE 'WILDING DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL 54 UNION STREET MONTGOMERY. 33333 WILLIAM M. •IEKLIRS. JR. AREA (001(. 011.1110 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT WALTER S. TURNER CHIEF ASSI GENERAL JANIE NOSLE5 ADMINI WE ASSI February 5, 1979 Mrs. Betty Ayers Clerk of the Municipal Court City of Sumiton P.O. Box 10 Sumiton, Alabama 35148 Warrants - Municipal Courts Municipal court clerk can issue failure to appear warrants after one year. Dear Mrs. Ayers: The Attorney General received your request for an opinion from this office as to whether a clerk of the municipal court may serve failure to appear warrants in cases which have been on the docket for a year or more. Your question is to be answered in the affirmative. Code of Alabama 1975, Section 15-3-2 states that unless otherwise provided, the prosecution of misdemeanors in circuit or district courts must be commenced within 12 months after the commission-of the offense. The Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that as a matter of public policy this section was also applicable to violations of city ordinances and thus municipal courts in order that there would be no variance in policy with that of the state in the time limitations on prosecutions of misdemeanors. Cit of Birmingham v. Brown, 13 Ala. App. 654, 69 So. 263 ( (dissenting opinion adopted for concurrance by Supreme Court, 195 Ala. 79, So. 718). However,the statute of limitations in the cases on your court docket had not run Mrs. Betty Ayers February 5, 1979 Page 2 on the original charge. Prosecution of the cases commence with the issuance of the original warrant as provided by Code of Alabama 1975, Section 15-3-7. Furthermore, failure-to-appear warrants are not criminal in themselves. They are a means for securing the presence of a defendant in court when he does'not appear to answer a charge. Therefore, they may be issued at any time to secure the defendant's presence to answer the original charge. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that failure-to-appear warrants can be issued in municipal court cases which ahve been on the clerk's docket for over a year. If our office can be of further assistance, please do not heistate to contact us. Very truly yours, CHARLES A. GRADDICK Attorney G neral By- LINDA F. KNIGHT Assistant Attorney General LFK/lg