Russell County, Alabama
Russell County · Phenix City · the eastern wall sits here · Phenix City is this hall
Phenix City is the hall. Columbus, Georgia, is not this hall. This is not Russell County, Kentucky.
Russell County, Alabama, was erected 18 December 1832 and named for Colonel Gilbert C. Russell. Seats moved: Girard (1832–1834), Crawford (1834–1868), Seale (1868–1934), Phenix City from 1934. Phenix City is the seat. Phenix City is also the large city. A slice of Phenix City sits in Lee — that slice is not this county government. Opelika is Lee. Columbus, Georgia, is Muscogee — a different state. This is not Russell County, Kentucky. This is not Russell County, Virginia or Kansas. Montgomery is the capital of Alabama. It does not sit here. Phenix City is not the capital.
Places include Phenix City, Hurtsboro, Ladonia, Seale, Fort Mitchell country, and Pittsview. 2020 census: about 59,000. This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — Chattahoochee-wall patrol and the Prentiss jail — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Russell County.
Seven districts at 1000 Broad. They do not sit in Columbus as this county.
Russell is a seven-member County Commission elected from districts. The chair rotates. There is no County Executive. Commission offices sit at 1000 Broad Street, Phenix City. They fund roads, the jail, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Phenix City Council is a city body. Columbus, Georgia, consolidated government is Georgia.
The Judicial Center is at 501 14th Street, Phenix City (26th Judicial Circuit). The Circuit Clerk and Absentee list that 14th Street door. Probate lists 1000 Broad Street. A city hall in Phenix City is not this county. Opelika City Hall is Lee.
The Sheriff is four years, Article V § 138, 2026 with the Governor. Take office 18 January 2027. The Mayor of Phenix City is a city clock.
The Chattahoochee is the east wall. Montgomery is still the capital.
U.S. 80 and U.S. 431 meet this map. The Chattahoochee is the Georgia line. Lee is north. Macon and Bullock are west. Barbour is south. Muscogee / Columbus, Chattahoochee County, and Stewart County, Georgia, are east. Staff who paste a Columbus skyline onto 14th Street, or treat Opelika as this courthouse, or file “Fort Moore as this jail,” are on the wrong county. Phenix City unofficially keeps Eastern hours; Hurtsboro often keeps Central. That split is this county, not a second county.
How a Phenix City public finds the Russell desk
Judicial Center / Circuit Clerk / Absentee: 501 14th Street, Phenix City. Commission / Probate: 1000 Broad Street. Sheriff headquarters (SOS): 305 Prentiss Drive, Phenix City. Jail: 307 Prentiss Drive — the Griffith house. Confirm live addresses on russellcountyal.gov. A student who only knows a Columbus, Georgia, photograph has not found this hall. A student who only knows Russell County, Kentucky, has not found Alabama.
307 Prentiss still jails. Phenix City PD does not. Columbus PD is Georgia.
Crime in unincorporated Russell — Hurtsboro country, Seale, Ladonia, Fort Mitchell roads off U.S. 431 outside city limits — is this Sheriff. Crime in Phenix City is often Phenix City Police. This Sheriff is not Phenix City PD. Columbus Police is Georgia. Jail listings for this badge use 307 Prentiss Drive. That is not a separate county Department of Corrections standing in for the Sheriff’s house. Do not paste Fort Moore onto Prentiss Drive. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Phenix City Police or across the river. Civil process and courthouse security at 501 14th Street are the Sheriff. Rights do not change at the 14th Street bridge. Remedy for Phenix City Police is the City. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper is the Sheriff. Relief when a Chattahoochee storm sits is this count first.
Care without inventing a river-bridge chapel as this county
A peace order served in Hurtsboro. A transport from 307 Prentiss to 501 14th Street without becoming Phenix City Police. Do not invent a church. Do not invent Columbus, Georgia, as this badge.
What Russell actually watches
Court calendar on 14th Street. A wreck on U.S. 80. Fog on U.S. 431. A night road outside Seale. Coordination with Phenix City PD and ALEA without becoming those departments. Coordination with Lee’s Sheriff or Barbour’s Sheriff is mutual aid between two offices, not a merger. Coordination with a Columbus or Fort Moore desk is interstate / federal liaison, not a merger of badges. A Georgia photograph does not steal the seat. An Opelika photograph does not steal this hall.
Phenix City snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: Phenix City · Large city (also the hall): Phenix City · Capital of Alabama: Montgomery
- Government: seven district Commissioners · rotating chair · Commission 1000 Broad Street · Judicial Center 501 14th Street
- Sheriff: four years · 2026 · patrol and jail at 307 Prentiss Drive
- Court / Absentee: 501 14th Street · HQ (SOS): 305 Prentiss Drive
- Neighbors: Lee · Macon · Bullock · Barbour · Muscogee County, Georgia · Chattahoochee County, Georgia · Stewart County, Georgia
- Not Columbus, Georgia, as this hall · Not Opelika as this hall · Not Fort Moore as this jail · Not Phenix City PD as this Sheriff
What Phenix City is not, as this county
- Not Columbus, Georgia. Not Russell County, Kentucky. Not Russell County, Virginia or Kansas.
- Not Opelika as this hall. Not Fort Moore as this jailer.
- Not Phenix City Police as this Sheriff.
- Not the capital — Montgomery is still the capital.
- Not a campaign flyer.