Supervised visitation across Shelby County

Shelby County is Birmingham's southern suburban county and one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama — more than 230,000 residents spread across the I-65 corridor (Alabaster, Pelham, Calera), the US-280 corridor (Chelsea, Inverness, Greystone), and the historic center of the county around Columbiana and Montevallo. Families here routinely live twenty or thirty minutes apart even within the same county.

TruVisit Alabama supervisors meet Shelby County families at locations close to where the child lives. We don't charge mileage and we don't make families drive across the county to a fixed office.

Shelby County courts and custody cases

Custody and divorce matters in Shelby County are heard in the Shelby County Circuit Court at the county seat in Columbiana, which handles domestic relations cases for the county.

Our session reports are formatted in the objective, non-editorial, timestamped style these courts expect. They're designed to be filed directly with the court, delivered to your attorney, or shared with the guardian ad litem on your case.

Shelby County communities we serve

  • Alabaster — the county's largest city
  • Pelham — along I-65 at Oak Mountain
  • Helena
  • Calera — the fast-growing south
  • Chelsea — the US-280 corridor
  • Columbiana — the county seat
  • Montevallo — home of the University of Montevallo
  • Hoover & Vestavia Hills — the portions in Shelby County
  • Westover, Wilsonville, Vincent, Harpersville

How a Shelby County custody case typically moves

  1. Complaint filed with the circuit clerk in Columbiana — the filing party files, the other party is served.
  2. Answer — the responding party typically has 30 days to answer under Alabama's civil procedure rules.
  3. Pendente lite hearing — for temporary custody, visitation, and support orders while the case is pending. Supervised visitation can be ordered here.
  4. Discovery — exchange of financial and case-relevant information.
  5. Mediation — courts frequently order mediation in contested custody cases before trial.
  6. Trial — custody cases in Alabama are decided by the judge in a bench trial; there are no jury trials for custody.
  7. Final judgment / decree.

Where supervised visitation enters the process

  • At the pendente lite stage — interim supervised visitation while the case is pending
  • In the final judgment — longer-term supervised visitation as part of the custody order
  • By petition to modify — changing an existing custody order to add or remove supervision
  • By emergency motion — when an immediate safety concern arises

For procedural detail, see our how to request supervised visitation in Alabama guide.

Live in Hoover or Vestavia Hills? Both cities straddle the Jefferson–Shelby county line. Your custody case belongs to the county where it was filed — which may be Shelby even if you think of yourself as a Birmingham-metro family, or Jefferson even with a Shelby County address. Check the heading on your court order, and we'll confirm during intake. We serve both counties at the same flat rate.

Pricing for Shelby County families

Same flat rate across the entire county: $150 one-time intake, $65/hour for supervised sessions or monitored exchange. Two-hour minimum. No mileage. No monthly case management fee. Reports delivered within 24 hours.

How to start a Shelby County case

  1. Submit our online inquiry form.
  2. Intake call (20–30 min) — court order review, $150 intake fee, supervisor assignment.
  3. First session coordinated with both parties at a Shelby County location of mutual convenience.
  4. Visit happens; report delivered within 24 hours.