Jefferson County, Alabama
Jefferson County · Birmingham is the seat · Montgomery is still the capital · this is not a bigger Autauga
Birmingham is the seat. Montgomery is the capital. Bessemer is a courthouse division, not a second county.
Jefferson County, Alabama, was erected 13 December 1819 and named for Thomas Jefferson. Birmingham is the seat. Birmingham is also the largest city in Alabama. Birmingham is not the capital of Alabama. Montgomery is the capital. It sits in Montgomery County. Bessemer has a courthouse division of the 10th Judicial Circuit — Birmingham Division and Bessemer Division. That is one county with two court campuses. It is not a second county. Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, and Mountain Brook are municipalities. They are not the county hall. This is not Jefferson County, Texas. Not Kentucky (Louisville). Not Colorado. Not New York. Not Ohio. Not Pennsylvania. Not Arkansas. Not Georgia. Not Illinois. Not Indiana. Not Iowa. Not Kansas. Not Missouri. Not Montana. Not Nebraska. Not Oklahoma. Not Oregon. Not Tennessee. Not Washington. Not West Virginia. Not Wisconsin.
Places include Birmingham, Bessemer, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Mountain Brook, Center Point, Gardendale, Trussville, Hueytown, Fairfield, Irondale, Fultondale, Pleasant Grove, Clay, and Warrior. 2020 census: 674,721. This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — unincorporated remainder patrol and two detention houses this badge still holds — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Jefferson County.
Five Commissioners and a County Manager at 716 Richard Arrington. They do not sit in Hoover City Hall.
Jefferson is a five-member County Commission, one commissioner per district. The Commissioners choose a President from among themselves. An appointed County Manager (chief executive officer) sits at 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N., Suite 260. There is no elected County Executive. They fund roads, sewers, two courthouse campuses, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Birmingham City Council is a city body. Hoover City Council is a city body. Bessemer City Council is a city body.
The Jefferson County Courthouse is at 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North, Birmingham, AL 35203. Bessemer Courthouse lists at 1801 3rd Avenue North, Bessemer, AL 35020. Circuit Court, Bessemer Division, lists at 1851 2nd Avenue North. The Circuit Clerk / Absentee Election Manager (Birmingham) lists Room 500 at 716 Richard Arrington. A second Absentee Election Manager lists for Bessemer at 1851 2nd Ave. N. That is one county, two clerk doors — not two counties.
The Sheriff is four years, Article V § 138, 2026 with the Governor. Take office 18 January 2027. The Mayor of Birmingham is a city clock.
I-20, I-59, I-65, Red Mountain. Jefferson County, Texas is a different state.
Interstate 20, Interstate 59, Interstate 65, and Interstate 22 meet in this county. Red Mountain sits over the civic district. U.S. 31 and U.S. 280 are through roads. Blount is north. St. Clair is northeast. Shelby is southeast. Bibb is south. Tuscaloosa is southwest. Walker is west. Staff who paste a Montgomery State House onto Richard Arrington, or treat Birmingham as the capital, or file “Bessemer as a second county,” or drop Louisville, Beaumont, or Denver onto this hall, are on the wrong county.
How a Birmingham public finds two courthouses and two jails
Courthouse / Commission / Probate (Birmingham): 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North. Circuit Clerk / Absentee (Birmingham): Room 420 / Room 500 at that door. Board of Registrars: Suite A-410. Bessemer Courthouse: 1801 3rd Avenue North. Bessemer Circuit: 1851 2nd Avenue North. Sheriff headquarters: 2200 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35203 (jeffcosheriffal.com and jccal.org). Birmingham Jail: 809 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. Bessemer Jail: 1822 2nd Avenue North, Bessemer. Confirm live addresses on those doors. A student who only knows a Montgomery postcard, or a generic skyline that could be any city, has not found this civic district.
Two jails, one Sheriff. Birmingham PD does not jail the county.
Crime in unincorporated Jefferson — Mt. Olive, McCalla, Cahaba Heights remainder, the Cut-Off roads outside city limits — is this Sheriff. Crime in Birmingham is often Birmingham Police. Crime in Hoover is often Hoover Police. Crime in Bessemer is often Bessemer Police. Crime in Homewood, Vestavia Hills, and Mountain Brook is often those municipal departments. This Sheriff is not Birmingham PD. The county’s own jail page and the Sheriff’s Corrections Division list two Jefferson County Jails — Birmingham and Bessemer. That Corrections Division is this Sheriff’s shop. It is not a separate county Department of Corrections that took the jail. It is not ADOC. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Birmingham Police Headquarters or to a Texas Jefferson. Civil process and court security at 716 Richard Arrington and at the Bessemer Division are the Sheriff. Rights do not change at Red Mountain. Remedy for Birmingham Police is the City. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper is the Sheriff. Relief when I-20 ices is this count first.
Care without inventing Vulcan as this county
A peace order served in unincorporated McCalla. A transport from 809 Arrington to 716 Richard Arrington, or from 1822 2nd Avenue to 1851 2nd Avenue, without becoming Birmingham PD. Do not invent a church. Do not invent the iron statue as this badge.
What Jefferson actually watches
Court calendars on two campuses. A wreck on I-65. Fog on Red Mountain. A night road outside Center Point. Coordination with Birmingham PD, Hoover PD, Bessemer PD, and ALEA without becoming those departments. Coordination with Shelby’s Sheriff or Walker’s Sheriff is mutual aid between two offices, not a merger. A Montgomery photograph does not steal the capital. A Louisville rumor does not steal the seat.
Birmingham snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: Birmingham · Largest city (also the hall): Birmingham · Capital of Alabama: Montgomery
- Government: five Commissioners by district · appointed County Manager · courthouse 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. · Bessemer campus 1801 3rd Avenue N. / 1851 2nd Avenue N.
- Sheriff: four years · 2026 · patrol and detention at two houses this Sheriff still holds · HQ 2200 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. · Birmingham Jail 809 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. · Bessemer Jail 1822 2nd Avenue N.
- Neighbors: Blount · St. Clair · Shelby · Bibb · Tuscaloosa · Walker
- Not Montgomery as this county government · Not Bessemer as a second county · Not Jefferson County, Texas / Kentucky / any other Jefferson · Not Birmingham PD as this Sheriff
What Birmingham is not, as this county
- Not the capital of Alabama. Montgomery is still the capital.
- Not Bessemer as a second county. Not Hoover as the hall. Not Vestavia Hills, Homewood, or Mountain Brook as the hall.
- Not Jefferson County, Texas. Not Louisville. Not Denver. Not a New York, Ohio, or Pennsylvania Jefferson.
- Not Birmingham Police as this Sheriff. Not ADOC as this jailer.
- Not a campaign flyer.