Code of Alabama
Part 3 - Motor Vehicles and Transportation.
Section 45-24A-32.07 - Appellate Procedures.

(a) The circuit court hearing an appeal shall use the procedures that apply to criminal convictions in municipal court with the following qualifications:
(1) The proceedings shall retain their civil nature on appeal with the circuit court applying the preponderance of the evidence standard.
(2) If the person is adjudicated by the circuit court to be responsible for payment of the civil penalty, circuit court costs shall be owed by the person adjudicated responsible, with 100 percent of those court costs retained by the circuit court. Court costs in the circuit court shall be calculated as are court costs for criminal appeals from the municipal court, and in the event the circuit court finds the person appealing to not be responsible, no municipal court costs shall be owed to the city.
(3) Regardless of the civil nature of the proceedings, the circuit court, in its discretion and for its administrative convenience, may assign case numbers as for criminal appeals and place the appeals on criminal dockets in the same manner as criminal appeals from municipal court.
(4) The circuit court shall sit as trier of both fact and law in the civil proceedings in the circuit court.
(5) The city shall be responsible for providing an attorney to represent the city and to prosecute the civil proceedings in the circuit court.

Structure Code of Alabama