In April 1974, Chief Justice Howell Heflin created the Advisory Commission on Judicial Article Implementation. A few months later he appointed 55 members to the Commission and gave them the task of drafting the policy and legislation required to implement the Judicial Article. Grants from the Alabama Law Enforcement Planning Agency and the National Law Enforcement Assistance Administration funded the Commission. Joseph F. Johnston chaired the Commission and Charles D. Cole was appointed as the full-time Director of the Staff.
The first meeting of the Commission took place June 23-25, 1974 where they organized themselves into four working committees that dealt with: district court organization, municipal courts and court related agencies, personnel and administration, and fiscal and budgetary matters. Later on, a committee was appointed on prosecution services and an interim committee was established to draft final recommendations. By July 1974, self-executing provisions of the Article were in effect such as: the Judicial Inquiry Commission, the Court of the Judiciary, the new rule-making authority of the Supreme Court of Alabama, and the mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges. The most difficult provisions of the Article remained to be worked out by the Commission.
While the Commission proceeded with its work, the Supreme Court of Alabama, under Heflin's leadership, addressed a number of related issues including: new rules of appellate procedure, a Code of Professional Responsibility, the appointment of an Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, and a Student Practice Rules. On March 01, 195 the Commission issued their 63 page Report of The Advisory Commission on Judicial Article Implementation. This Report provided basic recommendations upon which legislation could be drafted. Chairman Joseph F. Johnston stated in the preface of the Report that the Report was written to meet the two main objectives of bringing about uniformity in the courts of limited jurisdiction and establishing an effective managerial concept.
The Commission had 5 major recommendations:
1. Replacing the State's 85 intermediate trial courts with a district court structure.
2. Incorporating judicial employees into a state judiciary personnel system.
3. Establish an optional structure for municipal courts within the overall state judicial structure.
4. Assigned jurisdiction and established specific relationships between the district courts and courts of probate in specific areas.
5. Establish a unified state judicial budget.
In May 1975, the Commission completed work on a draft 168-page implementation bill to be introduced in the Legislature.