The case files deal with debtor litigation suits filed against people who owe money. Included among the records are pleas from circuit courts to the Supreme Court, case descriptions, court transcripts, court opinions, requests for court transcripts, requests for court transcripts by circuit court clerks to be reviewed for error by the Judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals, and orders to sheriffs to take a certain person "wherever he may be found in your county and him safely keep so that you have his body before the Honorable, the Judge of our Cicuit Court...to answer to a plea..." that the accused render to the judge the sum of the amount stated on the order. Also included are records concerning writs of error: once suit is brought against a debtor, the accused can obtain a writ of error which is "...returnable to the next term of the Supreme Court to be held at the courthouse in..." the capitol of Alabama. The plaintiff in error shall pay the defendant in error 10% damages on the sum due, with lawful interest, from the day of rendering the judgement, including the cost of the original suit and the writ of error.(Toulmin's Digest, 1823). The case files can be cross-referenced to the cost bills, using the same file or case number.
