A state court of last resort / Established 1828

Supreme Court of Alabama

Montgomery · A court of last resort in Alabama.

The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in Alabama. Its justices are chosen by partisan election. This page lists every justice to serve on the court, current and former, with when they joined the bench and whom they succeeded.

Justices in history

Currently serving

Partisan

Selection

6-yr

Term

Current justices

Justice	Since
Lyn Stuart	2001
Michael F. Bolin	2005
Tom Parker	2005
Glenn Murdock	2007
Greg Shaw	2009
James Allen Main	2011
Alisa Kelli Wise	2011

Former justices

Justice	Years
Chuck Malone	2011–2013
Sue Bell Cobb	2007–2011
Patricia M. Smith	2005–2011
Drayton Nabers	2004–2007
R. Bernard Harwood Jr.	2001–2007
Roy S. Moore	2001–2003
Tom Woodall	2000–2012
Jean Brown	1999–2005
John Henry England Jr.	1999–2001
Douglas I. Johnstone	1999–2005
Champ Lyons	1998–2011
Harold See	1997–2009
Perry O. Hooper Sr.	1996–2000
Terry L. Butts	1995–1998
Ralph D. Cook	1993–2001
Kenneth F. Ingram	1991–1997
Ermest C. Hornsby	1989–1995
Mark Kennedy	1989–1999
Henry B. Steagall II	1986–1995
J. Gorman Houston Jr.	1985–2005
Oscar W. Adams Jr.	1980–1993
Clement Clay Torbert Jr.	1977–1989
Samuel A. Beatty	1976–1989
Reneau P. Almon	1975–1999
T. Eric Embry	1975–1985
Janie L. Shores	1975–1999
James H. Faulkner	1972–1986
Richard L. Jones	1972–1991
Ormond Somerville Jr.	1972–1972
Howell T. Heflin	1971–1977
Alva Hugh Maddox	1969–2001
Daniel T. McCall Jr.	1969–1975
James N. Bloodworth	1968–1980
John B. Kohn	1968–1968
Robert B. Harwood	1962–1975
James S. Coleman	1957–1975
Norman T. Spann	1956–1957
James J. Mayfield	1954–1956
Preston C. Clayton	1953–1954
Pelham J. Merrill	1953–1976
John L. Goodwyn	1951–1968
Robert Tennent Simpson Jr.	1944–1972
Davis F. Stakely	1943–1962
Thomas S. Lawson	1942–1972
J. Edwin Livingston	1940–1971
Thomas Edmund Knight	1931–1943
Arthur B. Foster	1928–1953
Joel B. Brown	1927–1953
Virgil Bouldin	1923–1944
Benjamin M. Miller	1921–1927
William H. Thomas	1915–1945
Lucien D. Gardner	1914–1951
J. J. Mayfield	1909–1920
Anthony D. Sayre	1909–1931
John Crawford Anderson	1904–1940
Rober Tennent Simpson	1904–1912
Henry A. Sharpe	1898–1904
Thomas N. McClellan	1889–1923
Henderson M. Somerville	1880–1890
Robert C. Brickell	1873–1884
Thomas M. Peters	1868–1874
Benjamin F. Safford	1868–1874
Samuel F. Rice	1853–1859
John D. Phelan	1852–1854
Simon L. Perry	1828–1831

How a justice reaches this court. Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama are chosen in partisan elections to 6-year terms. Midterm vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment until the next general election. Selection methods vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time; this page reflects the court’s current method (source: National Center for State Courts). Open any justice to see their tenure and whom they succeeded.

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project; selection method from the National Center for State Courts. Data last verified 2026-06-30. Verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).