Clay County, Alabama
Clay County · Ashland · the foothill seat sits here · Lineville is not the hall
Ashland is the hall. Lineville is a town. Kentucky is a different Clay.
Clay County, Alabama, was erected 7 December 1866 and named for Henry Clay. Ashland is the seat — from the beginning of this county. Lineville is a city. It is not the county government. This is not Clay County, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, or South Dakota. This is not Clay, Jefferson County, Alabama — that city sits on a different map. Montgomery is the capital of Alabama. It does not sit here. Talladega is Talladega County. It is not this hall.
Places include Ashland, Lineville, and the country of Delta, Cragford, and Mellow Valley. 2020 census: 14,236. This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — forest-and-ridge patrol and the Highway 77 Detention Center — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Clay County.
Five districts at the Highway 77 annex. They do not sit in Lineville City Hall.
Clay is a five-member Board of Commissioners, one per district. There is no County Executive. The Commission meets the second Monday (planning 9:00 a.m., session 11:00 a.m.) at the Courthouse Annex, 41771 Highway 77 North, Ashland. They fund roads, the Detention Center, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Ashland City Council is a city body. Lineville is a city.
The Sheriff is four years, Article V § 138, 2026 with the Governor. Take office 18 January 2027. The Mayor of Ashland is a city clock. The Mayor of Lineville is a city clock.
Talladega National Forest sits here. Cheaha is Cleburne.
Clay sits in the Piedmont / Talladega foothills. Part of Talladega National Forest covers this map. Cheaha Mountain, Alabama’s high point, sits in Cleburne — not this hall. State 77 and State 9 are the through roads. Cleburne is north. Randolph is east. Tallapoosa and Coosa are south. Talladega is west. The Clay County Courthouse at 25 Court Square, Ashland (1903–1906, Italian Renaissance Revival) is the court of the 40th Judicial Circuit (with Coosa). Staff who paste a Kentucky courthouse onto Court Square, or treat Lineville as the county hall, or file “Cheaha as this jail,” are on the wrong county.
How an Ashland public finds the Clay desk
Courthouse / Circuit Clerk / Absentee: 25 Court Square, Ashland (SOS Absentee listing). Commission / Courthouse Annex / Sheriff headquarters and Detention Center: 41771 Highway 77, Suite 2, Ashland. Confirm live addresses on clayso.net and SOS county lookup. A student who only knows a forest recreation photograph has not found Ashland.
Highway 77 still jails. Ashland PD does not.
Crime in unincorporated Clay — Delta, Cragford, Mellow Valley, the forest roads — is this Sheriff. Crime in Ashland and Lineville where those governments keep officers is often municipal. This Sheriff is not Ashland PD. The official Sheriff site lists Clay County Detention Center at 41771 Hwy 77, Suite 2 — the same campus as headquarters. That is not a separate county Department of Corrections. Do not paste a Kentucky booking onto Highway 77. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Lineville City Hall. Civil process and courthouse security at 25 Court Square are the Sheriff. Rights do not change at the forest line. Remedy for Ashland Police is the City. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper is the Sheriff. Relief when a ridge fire sits is this count first.
Care without inventing a forest chapel as this county
A peace order served in Cragford. A transport from 41771 Highway 77 to 25 Court Square without becoming Lineville Police. Do not invent a church. Do not invent a national-forest chapel as this badge.
What Clay actually watches
Court calendar on Court Square. A wreck on State 77. Fog on a forest road toward Delta. Ice on the ridge. A night road outside Lineville. Coordination with Ashland PD, Lineville PD, and ALEA without becoming those departments. Coordination with Cleburne’s Sheriff or Talladega’s Sheriff is mutual aid between two offices, not a merger. A forest county does not shrink the Constitution.
Clay snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: Ashland · Other city (not the hall): Lineville · Capital of Alabama: Montgomery
- Government: five district Commissioners · annex 41771 Highway 77 North
- Sheriff: four years · 2026 · patrol and Detention Center at 41771 Highway 77, Suite 2
- Court: 25 Court Square · Absentee: 25 Court Square
- Neighbors: Cleburne · Randolph · Tallapoosa · Coosa · Talladega
- Not Clay County, Kentucky (or Georgia / Florida / Missouri / Minnesota / Iowa / Indiana / Illinois / West Virginia / Mississippi / Texas / Tennessee / Arkansas / North Carolina / South Dakota) · Not Lineville as the hall · Not Cheaha as this jail
What Ashland is not, as this county
- Not Lineville as the county government. Not Talladega as this hall.
- Not Clay County, Kentucky. Not the other Clay counties named above. Not Clay, Jefferson County.
- Not Ashland Police as this oval. Not a forest ranger as this jailer.
- Not a campaign flyer.