(a) Civil docket. The clerk shall keep a book known as the "civil docket" of such form and style as the books now kept and known as the consolidated docket and fee books, and shall enter therein each civil action to which these Rules are made applicable. The file number of each action shall be noted on the folio of the docket whereon the first entry of the action is made. All papers filed with the clerk, all process issued and returns made thereon, all appearances, orders, bench notes, verdicts, and judgments shall be noted in this civil docket on the folio assigned to the action and shall be marked with its file number. These entries shall be brief but shall show the nature of each paper filed or writ issued and the substance of each order or judgment of the court and of the returns showing execution of process. The entry of an order or judgment shall show the date the entry is made. When in an action trial by jury has been properly demanded or ordered, the clerk shall enter the word "jury" on the folio assigned to that action. In the event a formal order is entered, the clerk shall insert the order in the file of the case.
Rule 79.Books and records kept by the clerk and entries therein.
Last amended October 24, 2008 · Last verified July 6, 2026
In one sentenceRule 79 spells out the record-keeping system the clerk must maintain for every civil case — a civil docket noting each filing, process, and order; a separate minute book or equivalent for final judgments and other significant orders; indices and trial calendars; and rules for keeping, storing, and transferring case files — so that the history and status of every action stays organized, traceable, and accessible over time.
Full Text of Rule 79
(b) Final judgments or appealable orders; minute book. The clerk shall keep a minute entry or correct copy of every final judgment or appealable order, or order affecting title to or lien upon real or personal property, or any other order that the court may direct to be kept. This record may be maintained either as a separate minute book or on microfilm.
(c) Indices; calendars. Suitable indices of the civil docket and of every civil judgment and order referred to in subdivision (b) of this rule shall be kept by the clerk under the direction of the court. There shall be prepared, under the direction of the court, calendars of all actions ready for trial, which shall distinguish "jury actions" from "court actions."
(d) Other books and records. The clerk shall also keep such other books and records as may be required by the Supreme Court of Alabama. The documents required to be kept under this rule may be recorded by means of a photograph or photostat machine.
(e) Records required to be kept by the clerk under this rule may be maintained electronically in accordance with the orders and rules of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
(f) Removing the file in a case. The file of a case shall not be removed from the office of the clerk except by permission of the court or the clerk.
(g) Transfer of files. For administrative purposes only, and unless the court orders otherwise, the complaint or other initial pleading shall be filed in the office of the register or of the clerk in accordance with the practice prior to the adoption of these Rules. Subsequent pleadings, motions, judgments, or other papers shall be filed in the office in which the initial pleading was filed, unless and until the file in that case is transferred; thereafter pleadings, motions, judgments or other papers shall be filed in the office to which the file was transferred. If the judge at any time, in considering the pleadings or other papers, finds that the file is being kept in an office not proper under prior practice, or otherwise determining the file should be transferred, the judge may so inform the clerk or the register who shall immediately note on the sheet or folio assigned to that case in the civil docket: "transferred to the office of (the clerk) (the register)," with the date, and shall immediately turn over the file to the proper office. The official receiving the file shall change the file number to one appropriate for the official's office, first noting the original file number on the sheet or folio assigned to that case in the civil docket in the official's office, with the notation: "transferred from the office of (the register) (the clerk)" and the date thereof. Entries in the docket or records already made by one office need not be duplicated in the other on receiving the file. The transfer of the file shall in no way affect the proceedings in the case, which shall continue before the same judge in the same manner as if the file had not been transferred. Fees or costs accrued prior to the transfer shall be included in the bill of costs of the official receiving the file and collected in the same manner as fees or costs accruing after the transfer. The register and clerk shall each account to the other, periodically, for any fees or costs collected that would have belonged to the office of the other under prior practice.
(dc) District court rule. Rule 79 applies in the district courts except that the requirement of the keeping of final judgments or appealable orders in a minute book in Rule 79(b) is deleted.
Amendment History
[Amended 12-16-78; Amended eff. 10-1-95; Amended eff. 10-24-2008.]
Committee Comments
Committee Comments on 1973 Adoption
Prevailing practice in many circuits on the law side is as follows. Each case is noted in an appearance docket and the civil docket book. All activity with respect to a particular case is noted in the civil docket. Not every act of the Court is the basis of a formal order. Every final order is noted in the minute book, a diary of court action by days. On the equity side, all orders of the Court are made the basis of a formal order which is retained in the Court file. In all other respects the record keeping is the same.
This redraft of Rule 79 is intended to make no change in this system. The rule differs in important particulars from the corresponding federal rule, in order to preserve existing Alabama practices of a consolidated civil docket, and separate offices of the clerk and of the register. All activity is recorded in the civil docket. Any separate orders are kept with the file of the case. Final or appealable orders or orders affecting title are to be placed in a minute book.
The original file of the case stands as the final record. The onerous recording requirements are no longer applicable because of an amendment to §§ 12-20-22 and 12-20-27, Code of Alabama. See Act No. 1510, Regular Session, 1971. This Act is not superseded by these rules.
These rules abolish the distinctions between law and equity. Rule 2. But they preserve the office of the clerk and office of the register of chancery as separate offices. Rule 81(d). Subdivision (f) makes administrative provisions intended to reconcile these two stated principles of the rules. Cases are to be filed with the clerk or the register as would have been proper prior to the adoption of the rules unless the court orders otherwise. If a paper is filed with the wrong office, the remedy is to transfer the file from one office to the other, under the procedure set out in the subdivision. Filing the papers with the wrong office has no effect on the proceedings in the case.
It has been customary in Alabama to copy every paper in the file into a separate permanent record. This is an expensive procedure, which will be of no value under these rules, where each attorney in the case, by virtue of Rule 5(a), has a copy of every paper in the case. Thus the rule does not require this separate record, but instead, as is the practice in federal courts, the original file is the permanent record. This scheme is implemented by subdivision (e), which governs removal of the file from the clerk’s office and thus insures the integrity of the file, and by subdivision (b), which requires a separate record of appealable judgments and orders, and of orders affecting the title to or creating a lien upon real or personal property.
The final sentence of subdivision (d) is in accord with present law. Code of Ala., § 12-20-22.
Committee Comments to October 1, 1995, Amendment to Rule 79
The amendment is technical. No substantive change is intended.
District Court Committee Comments
While the provision for the maintenance of a minute book in Rule 79(b) has been deleted, certainly no harm would attend the maintenance of such a record if the clerk should so desire.
Committee Comments to Addition of Rule 79(e) Effective October 24, 2008
This amendment recognizes that the State Judicial Information System has become a repository for many records previously maintained locally by the clerk.
Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending effective October 24, 2008, Rule 3, Rule 4, Rule 5, Rule 6, Rule 11, Rule 55, Rule 58, Rule 59.1, Rule 77, and Rule 79, and adopting effective October 24, 2008, the Committee Comments to Amendment to Rule 3(b) Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 4 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 5 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 6 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendment to Rule 11 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendment to Rule 55(a) Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 58 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendment to Rule 59.1 Effective October 24, 2008; Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 77(d) Effective October 24, 2008; and the Committee Comments to Addition of Rule 79(e) Effective October 24, 2008, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from 994 So. 2d.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 79 tells the clerk what records to keep for civil cases and how to keep them. At the center is the civil docket, a book in which the clerk enters every civil action, tagged with a file number, and in which every filed paper, issued or returned process, appearance, order, verdict, and judgment gets a brief entry describing its nature and, for orders and judgments, its substance and entry date. If a jury trial has been demanded or ordered, the clerk marks the file with the word "jury," and any formal order gets physically placed in the case file.
Beyond the civil docket, the clerk keeps a minute entry or accurate copy of every final judgment, appealable order, order affecting title to or a lien on property, and any other order the court directs to be preserved — maintained as a separate minute book or on microfilm. The clerk also prepares indices of the civil docket and of these judgments and orders, along with calendars of cases ready for trial that separate jury actions from court actions. The Alabama Supreme Court can require the clerk to keep additional books and records, and any of these records may be captured by photograph, photostat, or, under the court's rules, maintained electronically.
Rule 79 also protects the integrity of case files: a file cannot leave the clerk's office without permission from the court or the clerk. And it addresses the split between the clerk's office and the register's office that Alabama traditionally maintained. Initial pleadings get filed wherever practice before these rules would have directed, unless the court says otherwise, and later papers follow that same office until the file is formally transferred. A judge who finds a file sitting in the wrong office can direct that it be transferred, with each office documenting the transfer date and old file number on the docket and accounting to each other for any fees or costs that belong on the other side of the transfer. None of this affects how the underlying case proceeds — it stays with the same judge regardless of which office holds the file.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the "civil docket" the clerk must keep under Rule 79?
It is the book in which the clerk enters every civil action along with brief notes of every paper filed, process issued and returned, appearance made, and order or judgment entered in that case, each tied to the case's file number.
How is the minute book different from the civil docket?
The civil docket records brief entries of everything that happens in every case, while the minute book (or its microfilm equivalent) holds a full minute entry or accurate copy specifically of final judgments, appealable orders, and orders affecting title to or a lien on property.
Can case records be kept electronically?
Yes. Rule 79 allows records the clerk is required to keep to be maintained electronically, consistent with the orders and rules of the Alabama Supreme Court, and also allows documents to be recorded by photograph or photostat.
Can a party remove the case file from the clerk's office?
No, not without permission. Rule 79 states that the file of a case cannot be removed from the clerk's office except with permission of the court or the clerk.
What happens if a case file ends up in the wrong office?
If a judge determines the file is being kept in the wrong office, the judge can direct that it be transferred; the transferring and receiving offices note the transfer and file number changes on the docket and account to each other for any fees or costs, but the case itself keeps proceeding before the same judge as if nothing had changed.
Does Rule 79 apply in district court?
Yes, with one difference: district courts are not required to keep the separate minute book for final judgments and appealable orders described in Rule 79(b).
Source & verification. The rule text, amendment history, and Committee Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure (Ala. R. Civ. P. 79). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Alabama (Ala. Const. amend. 328, § 6.11). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 6, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: civil docket requirementsclerk minute bookelectronic court recordstransfer of case fileclerk record keeping dutiesAla. R. Civ. P. 79