Harassment Laws in Alabama: Penalties, PFAs, and Stalking

Harassment laws in Alabama run on two tracks that work independently. The state can prosecute the harasser criminally under its harassment, domestic violence, and stalking statutes, and you can file a civil Protection From Abuse (PFA) petition to force the person to stay away from you. You can pursue both at once, and in serious cases most people do.

What Counts as Harassment Under Alabama Law

Alabama’s harassment statute covers two kinds of conduct. In-person harassment means acting with the intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another person through unwanted physical contact like shoving or striking, directing obscene or abusive language at someone, or making a threat that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety.¹

Harassing communications covers the same intent channeled through technology or writing. You commit this offense by contacting someone by phone, mail, or any form of electronic communication in a way likely to harass or cause alarm, making phone calls with no legitimate purpose, or directing obscene language at someone over the phone. Repeated unwanted texts, emails, and social media messages all fit here. The statute carves out an exception for legitimate business communications.¹

Penalties for Harassment

Standalone harassment and harassing communications are Class C misdemeanors. The maximum penalty is three months in county jail and a fine of up to $500.²³ That ceiling rises quickly once the relationship between the people involved or the pattern of behavior brings a different statute into play.

When Harassment Becomes Domestic Violence

The same harassing conduct gets charged as domestic violence in the third degree when the victim is a current or former spouse, a parent or child, someone the offender shares a child with, a current or former household member in a romantic relationship, or a dating partner. The dating relationship has to involve romantic or intimate involvement, and if it ended more than 12 months before the filing, it no longer qualifies.⁴

A first offense is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.²³ Penalties escalate for repeat offenders:

A second conviction remains a Class A misdemeanor but carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail, with no reduction allowed.
A third or subsequent conviction becomes a Class C felony, punishable by one to ten years in prison and fines up to $15,000.
If the offender already has a prior conviction for domestic violence in the first or second degree, or for domestic violence by strangulation, even a first charge under the third-degree statute is treated as a Class C felony.

Municipal court convictions count toward the repeat-offense tally, so a prior guilty plea in a city court still triggers the enhanced penalties. If the offender commits the conduct while violating an active protective order, the minimum jail sentence jumps to 30 days with no reduction for good behavior.⁴

When the Pattern Becomes Stalking

Repeated harassing conduct can be charged as stalking, and Alabama recognizes three degrees.

Stalking in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor, with up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $3,000.⁵²³

Stalking in the first degree applies when someone intentionally and repeatedly follows or harasses another person and makes a threat, expressed or implied, that puts the victim in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury. This is a Class C felony, carrying one to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.⁶⁷⁸

Aggravated stalking in the first degree applies when first-degree stalking conduct also violates a court order or injunction such as a protection order. This is a Class B felony with a prison sentence of two to twenty years and a fine of up to $30,000.⁹⁷⁸

Getting a Protection From Abuse Order

A PFA is a civil order that directs the harasser to stay away from you and can also award things like temporary custody of children, removal of the abuser from a shared home, and possession of your car. Harassment, harassing communications, and stalking all count as “abuse” for PFA purposes when committed against someone in a qualifying relationship.

Who Qualifies

Alabama’s PFA system is built for domestic and dating situations. You can file only if you have one of the relationships listed in the statute:¹⁰

Current or former spouse, including common-law marriage.
Someone you share a child with, whether or not you lived together.
A current or former dating partner in a romantic relationship, as long as it ended within the last 12 months. Casual or purely business relationships do not qualify.
A current or former household member who lived with you in a romantic or intimate relationship. Platonic roommates do not qualify.
Parents, stepparents, children, stepchildren, grandparents, step-grandparents, grandchildren, and step-grandchildren.
A relative of one of the above, if that relative also lived with the offender.

If your harasser is a stranger, neighbor, co-worker, or anyone else outside these categories, you cannot get a PFA. Your options then are a criminal complaint for harassment or stalking, or a general civil injunction through circuit court, which requires an attorney, filing fees, and a different legal standard.

Filing and the Hearing

You file the petition at the circuit or district court in the county where you live or where the abuse occurred. There are no filing fees, no service fees, and no costs for issuing subpoenas in PFA cases.¹¹ Bring whatever documentation you can gather: dates and times of incidents, descriptions of what happened, text messages, screenshots, voicemails, and police reports.

If the judge finds you are in immediate danger, the court can issue a temporary ex parte order the same day without the other person present. That temporary order stays in effect until the full hearing, which must be held within 14 days of the petition being filed.¹² The sheriff’s office serves the respondent with the temporary order and the hearing notice at no cost to you.

At the hearing, both sides present evidence and testimony. The standard is preponderance of the evidence, meaning the judge has to find it more likely than not that abuse occurred. If the judge is persuaded, you get a final PFA.

What a Final Order Can Require

A final PFA in Alabama is permanent unless the court sets an end date or either party later asks the court to modify it.¹¹ The court has broad discretion over what to include:

A no-contact provision barring the respondent from reaching you in any way, directly or through third parties.
A stay-away distance, typically at least 300 feet from your home, workplace, school, or other specified locations, even if you share a residence.
An order requiring the respondent to vacate a shared residence regardless of who owns or leases it.
Temporary custody of children, with a prohibition on removing them from your care or from the court’s jurisdiction.
Possession and use of a vehicle and other essential belongings.

Either side can later petition to modify the order, but modification requires a new petition and another hearing.¹¹

What Happens If the Order Is Violated

Violating a PFA is more than contempt of court. If the respondent commits harassment or another qualifying offense against you while a PFA is active, the charge becomes domestic violence in the third degree with a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail and no reduction for good behavior.⁴ If the behavior adds up to stalking, violating a court order while stalking is aggravated stalking in the first degree, a Class B felony punishable by two to twenty years.⁹ Call the police as soon as a violation happens. The violation itself is evidence, and law enforcement can arrest on the spot.

The Federal Firearm Ban

A domestic violence conviction or a qualifying protective order triggers a federal ban on possessing firearms, and this catches many people off guard. Federal law permanently bars anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing any firearm or ammunition.¹³ A first-offense domestic violence third-degree conviction in Alabama, even though it is only a misdemeanor, results in a lifetime federal firearms prohibition.

A separate provision bans firearm possession by anyone subject to a qualifying protective order. The order must have been issued after a hearing where the respondent had notice and an opportunity to participate, and it must either include a finding that the respondent poses a credible threat or explicitly prohibit the use of force against the petitioner.¹³ A final PFA issued after the full hearing in Alabama will typically meet those requirements. Temporary ex parte orders, issued before the respondent has been heard, generally do not.

When Harassment Crosses State Lines

Online harassment often involves interstate communications, which brings federal law into play. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, it is a federal felony to use the mail, the internet, or any other interstate communication tool to engage in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes or is reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress. Federal prosecutors must show at least two acts constituting stalking rather than a single incident.¹⁴

If you have an Alabama PFA and move to another state, or if the respondent crosses state lines, federal law requires every state to honor and enforce valid protection orders from any other state. This applies to temporary, ex parte, and final orders, and the respondent does not need to have registered the order in the new state for it to be enforceable. The requirements are that the issuing court had jurisdiction and that the respondent received notice and an opportunity to be heard, or for ex parte orders, that the opportunity will be provided within the time required by state law.¹⁵

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-8 – Harassment or Harassing Communications
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-7 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violations
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-12 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-132 – Domestic Violence Third Degree
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-90.1 – Stalking in the Second Degree
6
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-90 – Stalking in the First Degree
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies
8
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
9
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-6-91 – Aggravated Stalking in the First Degree
10
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 30-5-2 – Definitions
11
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 30-5-7 – Ex Parte Orders or Modification of Orders
12
Justia Law. Alabama Code 30-5-6 – Hearing on Petition
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261A – Stalking
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders