Alabama public records are available in various forms from vital records to property records, with adoption records, criminal records and court records. Alabama Public Records Law is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies. The official Alabama code does not state a limitation on the use of records. The Code also provides that no purpose must be stated in order to request open records. However, a number of lawsuits have altered this provision. In Holcombe v. State ex rel. Chandler the Alabama supreme court ruled that records may not be requested for mere "idle curiosity". Further, a 1991 decision, Blankenship v. City of Hoover affirmed the right of departments to inquire as to the reason for a public records request.
