Alison Strickland Austin
Republican · AL · Circuit Judge, 23rd Judicial Circuit (Madison County)
Alison Strickland Austin has been a Madison County circuit judge since her 2014 election, after serving as a district judge from 2010. She was earlier a federal prosecutor in north Alabama and a Madison County assistant district attorney.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 8 records
Ordered an in-person mental health exam for Juan Laws, charged with killing Huntsville police officer Garrett Crumby. She paused his capital murder case until the state reports whether he is fit for trial.
December 1, 2025
Source: whnt.com
Sentenced Aleisha Parker to 20 years in prison for manslaughter in the shooting death of her 1-year-old son.
May 25, 2023
Source: whnt.com
Dismissed a lawsuit by Huntsville residents trying to stop a luxury housing development on Monte Sano. The residents had sued the developer and the City of Huntsville over zoning and traffic rules.
November 30, 2022
Source: whnt.com
Ended a court order that let the Alabama attorney general take a massage business's money and property without criminal charges. She found the state had not tried other legal options first.
August 9, 2019
Source: whnt.com
Sentenced John Clayton Owens to life in prison for murdering his 91-year-old neighbor. Prosecutors had pushed for death, but she followed the jury's recommendation of life.
April 20, 2016
Source: whnt.com
Denied a defense request to declare Alabama's death penalty system unconstitutional in John Clayton Owens's capital murder case. The defense had pointed to a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Florida's system.
February 3, 2016
Source: whnt.com
Won election as Madison County Circuit Judge, Place 2, on Nov. 4, 2014. She got 57,770 votes (97.32%), and write-in votes got 1,588.
November 4, 2014
Source: madisoncountyvotesal.gov
Ruled as a district judge that there was enough evidence to send Clarence Fearn's murder case to a grand jury. Fearn was charged in the 2009 shooting death of his stepfather.
October 22, 2014
Source: whnt.com
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 1 favorable
Had her death penalty ruling left in place when the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals refused to overturn it. That let John Clayton Owens's capital murder trial begin as planned.
February 5, 2016Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: whnt.com
Past race Alison Strickland Austin ran in:
- Madison County Circuit Court Judge Place 2 · November 3, 2026 · Madison County, Alabama · incumbent