How to Check Criminal History in Selma
Start a Selma criminal records search with the kind of event involved. A police response begins at the Selma Police Department. A city citation or adopted misdemeanor belongs at Selma Municipal Court. Booking and current custody questions go to the Dallas County Jail, while felony and state misdemeanor files are held by the Dallas County Circuit Clerk. A person reviewing a full fingerprint-linked Alabama record uses the ALEA self-review process, not a public name search.
- Call Selma Police at (334) 876-1260 for a police report. Give the incident number, date, place, and exact record if known.
- Ask Selma Municipal Court at (334) 876-1299 about city traffic, ordinance, or adopted misdemeanor matters. Use a citation or case number when possible.
- Call Dallas County Jail at (334) 690-1200 for current local custody. No official online Selma or county booking log was found.
- Search Just One Look or contact the Circuit Clerk for District and Circuit Court filings.
- Use ALEA's fingerprint-based personal review when the goal is to inspect one's own statewide criminal history.
Two Selma Record Counters
Selma Police and Selma Municipal Court share 1300 Alabama Avenue, but they do not keep the same files. Police records document the call, investigation, allegation, and arrest. Court records document the citation or charge filed, hearings, plea, judgment, costs, and other case action. Asking the police desk for a judgment or asking the court clerk for an incident narrative sends the request to the wrong custodian.
The official Selma Police page shows the department and its city role. The captured page below helps identify the police source before a requester calls or visits.
A Selma criminal history review often needs both counters because the first allegation and final court result can differ.
The Selma Police Department
Selma Police is at 1300 Alabama Avenue, Selma, AL 36703. The department lists weekday public hours from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., a direct nonemergency number at (334) 876-1259, and a 24-hour incident-report number at (334) 876-1220. Its report-request page directs callers to the front desk at (334) 876-1260. Email may be sent to SPD@selma-al.gov. No public download form, fee, identification rule, turnaround promise, arrest log, crime map, or police app is published.
The Selma police-report page is the best official starting point. Ask whether the report is releasable, what proof of identity is needed, how much a copy costs, and whether pickup or another delivery method is available. A narrow request should identify the date, place, incident number, and record sought. Do not send payment until staff quotes the current terms.
Getting Selma Police Reports
Selma does not provide a public online police-report request portal. That makes the phone and counter route central, not a backup. The official request page shown below confirms the contact path without promising details the city has not posted.
For a report created outside city police jurisdiction, contact the agency that made it. Dallas Sheriff handles many county and booking records. ALEA handles state-trooper incidents, and Wallace Community College Selma Campus Police keeps reports for college-controlled property. Selma City Clerk's general records process is useful for city administration, but it does not replace the police desk for an incident or arrest report.
Keep a note of the date, staff guidance, quoted fee, and delivery method. If the record is withheld, ask which law or restriction applies and whether a redacted copy can be released.
Reading Selma Crime Records Carefully
The latest official city table located in the research is ALEA's 2017 Uniform Crime Reporting snapshot. It lists 1,482 index crimes reported by Selma Police: 2 homicides, 8 rapes, 38 robberies, 215 assaults, 323 burglaries, 821 larcenies, and 75 motor-vehicle thefts. These figures must stay labeled as 2017 reported data. They are not a current Selma crime level, a count of convictions, or a list of people.
UCR data describes reports grouped under program rules. It does not show the outcome of each arrest or charge. ALEA also warns against simplistic comparisons between jurisdictions because reporting and local conditions differ. For a specific Selma event, use the police report, jail booking, and court file instead of trying to infer a personal record from a city total.
Recent public-safety plans can also change police operations without changing access rules. Selma announced a coordinated response plan after gun violence in November 2025 and sought a mobile police command station in August 2025. Those city actions supply context, but the police desk and courts remain the official record custodians.
A local report can also lead to a federal case. Dallas County lies in the Southern District of Alabama, and the Selma federal courthouse is not staffed full time. PACER covers the federal docket, while routine clerk service is handled from Mobile. That path should be checked only when an event became a federal prosecution.
Arrests and Bookings in Selma
A Selma arrest can create records in several offices. Police write the incident and arrest papers. Dallas County Jail creates the booking record when the person is taken into county custody. A judge or magistrate creates probable-cause, bond, and initial-appearance papers. The municipal or county court then records the filed charge and outcome. Fingerprints and reported dispositions may later reach the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Dallas County publishes no official online jail roster or booking blotter. Call the temporary jail at (334) 690-1200 for current custody. If there is no match, call the arresting agency, then check the appropriate court. ADOC Inmate Search applies only after a person enters current state prison custody. It is not a Selma arrest log and does not show released local detainees.
Record flow: Selma Police › Dallas County Jail › Municipal, District, or Circuit Court › ALEA
Selma Warrant Hours Conflict
Two official Selma Municipal Court pages give different warrant windows. The main court page says Monday through Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The cost page says Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A person should call (334) 876-1299 before traveling instead of choosing one notice as definitive.
The municipal court page displays the address, hours, phone, and one version of the warrant schedule.
The conflict matters because the court warns that missing court twice after notice can cause a warrant. A city bench-warrant question belongs with Selma Municipal Court, while a possible unserved Dallas County felony warrant requires an in-person inquiry at the Sheriff.
Selma Municipal Court Records
Selma Municipal Court handles city traffic matters, ordinance violations, and adopted state misdemeanors within its jurisdiction. The clerk counter is at 1300 Alabama Avenue and lists weekday hours from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Call (334) 876-1299 or email slivingston@selma-al.gov. No public name-search portal or copy fee is posted, so a citation or case number is the best starting detail.
| Court Name | Selma Municipal Court |
|---|---|
| Case Types Heard | Traffic, city ordinances, and adopted state misdemeanors |
| Case Lookup Channel | Clerk counter, phone, or email; no public web search found |
| Useful Search Details | Name plus citation or case number when known |
| Copies & Fees | No copy fee posted; ask the clerk before payment |
The published cost list includes $147 for traffic, $197 for license traffic, $527 for DUI, $191 for a misdemeanor, and $330 for drug possession. These are listed court costs, not a promise of the total due in every case. Office payment is by money order only. Verify the amount and payee with the court.
Reading Selma Court Costs
The Selma court-cost page combines sample costs, payment rules, and a missed-court warning. Its captured view preserves the city source readers should verify before acting.
A cost entry is not the same as a case disposition. It does not show by itself whether a charge was dismissed, amended, or resulted in conviction. Ask for the case-action record or judgment when the outcome matters. Red-light tickets also use a different payment route, so the municipal clerk should confirm which process matches the citation.
Money-order-only payment is a local rule worth checking before a visit. Never use an unofficial payment link found through a broad search.
Where Selma Records End Up
A city event does not always stay in a Selma file. A municipal traffic or ordinance matter can remain with Municipal Court. State misdemeanors usually move through District Court, while felonies proceed in Circuit Court. The Dallas County Circuit Clerk holds those official county case files. A final disposition should be reported through the state court system and matched to the fingerprint-supported arrest cycle held by ALEA.
Record flow: Selma Police › Dallas County Courts › Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
Timing changes where to look. For a recent response, call police or the jail. For filed charges, check the correct clerk. For an older statewide cycle or a suspected missing disposition, review one's own ALEA history and compare it with a certified court result. The broader Dallas County criminal court case route explains the county file in more depth.
Selma City Records Fallback
The City Clerk at 222 Broad Street keeps Selma administrative records. The office lists (334) 876-1206, iharrison@selma-al.gov, and weekday hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. An official one-page Request for Information form is available. The linked Laserfiche portal chiefly concerns city minutes, ordinances, resolutions, and contracts.
The Selma City Clerk page shows the public-record resources and the city portal connection.
This administrative route should not be used as a substitute for a police incident file or a municipal case record. Send each request to the custodian that created the document.
Selma Campus Police Records
Wallace Community College Selma Campus Police is a separate record producer for college-controlled property. The department lists an emergency number at (334) 375-6036, a nonemergency number at (334) 876-9227, and report-copy or security inquiries at (334) 876-9248. An event at the campus may therefore require a campus report even when later jail or court records sit with Dallas County.
The campus asks callers to provide location, callback information, the event type, immediate dangers, and an offender description. Those details help identify the response. They do not replace a case number once a prosecution begins.
This split is easy to miss in a Selma criminal history search. Check the agency named on the citation, incident card, or booking entry before requesting a report.
Public Access Rules for Selma Records
Alabama law allows citizens to inspect and copy public writings unless another law creates an exception. That rule supports focused requests to Selma Police, the City Clerk, and the court custodian, but it does not make all criminal information open. Juvenile and Youthful Offender files, victim and minor identifiers, Social Security numbers, active investigative material, and expunged records may be restricted. ALEA's compiled criminal history has separate dissemination limits.
Key Statutes:
Ala. Code §36-12-40 gives Alabama citizens a right to inspect public writings unless an exception applies.
Ala. Code §36-12-41 allows a lawful certified copy after required fees are paid.
Ala. Code §41-9-636 places separate limits on dissemination of compiled criminal-history information.
Ask for a specific record and date range. Alabama's traditional public-records law does not supply a simple universal response deadline, so no Selma turnaround should be assumed.