The Judicial Article was introduced in the State Senate on May 22, 1973 by Senator Stewart O'Bannon of Florence. Two days later, Representative Bob Hill, Jr., also from Florence, introduced the identical measure in the House of Representatives. The proposed article provided: for a single court of appeals; for replacement of existing inferior courts, including municipal courts; for a requirement that judges be licensed to practice law; for a Judicial Compensation Commission, for an unitary and centralized judicial budget; for Supreme Court rule-making authority for criminal cases; the creation of a Nominating Committee for appointment of judges to fill vacancies; and establish a Judicial Inquiry Commission and Court of the Judiciary.
As the legislative process for the Judicial Article unfolded, a number of changes were accepted in order to increase the chance for approval. The courts of Criminal and Civil Appeals were left as separate courts. The Nominating Commission was dropped. Municipal courts were given the option to remain separate courts, but under the general policies and procedures of the unified court system.
To handle the legislative process Heflin put together a legislative team and staff, known as the "Muscle Shoals Mafia," mostly made up of individuals from the Northwest corner of the State. Senator Stewart O'Bannon and Representative Bob Hill, lawyers from North Alabama, were the primary sponsors of the bill. Representative Ronnie Flippo, from Florence, Alabama, was a non-lawyer who also played a major role in gaining House approval. William F. Gardiner, mayor of Heflin's home town and president of the Alabama League of Municipalities, played the lead part in securing a compromise agreement over the municipal court issue. Circuit Judge Ed Tease, also of Florence and a member of the Constitutional Commission like O'Bannon, took one of the leading roles in lobbying efforts in the legislature. Robert Martin, former editor of The Florence Times, handled the media campaign throughout the legislative session and the ratification campaign.
Many other people also joined the "mafia." Mike House, Heflin's administrative assistant, handled the main legislative lobbying chore and coordinated activities of the Citizens' Conference. Montgomery businessman Carl Bear served as chairman of the Citizens' Conference and Montgomery attorney M. Roland Nachman, president of the State Bar, provided influential support from the state's lawyer. Professor Charles "Bo" Cole of the Cumberland Law School handled research.
The Judicial Article passed the Senate on April 21, 1973, by a vote of 25-3. However, the opposition to the Article in the House of Representatives was strong, particularly in respect to the abolishment of municipal courts.. In addition, economic and philosophical arguments over centralized versus decentralized control of the judiciary were stronger in the House. The Senate bill contained the provision for the abolition of municipal courts, although some other matters had been modified, including the section which would have unified the two appellate courts.
The Senate bill was assigned to the House Constitutions and Elections Committee. However, Committee action on the bill was stalled over the issue of municipal courts. Until the 34th legislative day, August 30, the bill remained in Committee on a consistent 6-6 vote. Bill Gardiner, a mayor, President of the League of Municipalities, and a strong proponent of the article, met with Heflin and John Watkins, Executive Director of the League of Municipalities, to resolve the issue. The day before the last day of the legislative session where the committee would meet, Monsignor Oscar Lipscomb and others met with Representative Casey Downing, one of the people consistently opposed to the municipal court provision, to persuade him to accept the proposed amendment to the municipal court provision. The following day the committee adopted the amendment, with Downing's vote, and immediately approved the bill on a 7-5 vote. The bill then moved on to the House for the second reading.
The bill was still not assured of its success. The bill was placed so far down on the calendar that it could only be brought up for consideration by a special order. At that point though, the Legislature adjourned for a week. If the bill was to come up for consideration at all it would be on the last day of the session. On September 11, Mayor Gardiner announced to the media that through the efforts of Chief Justice Heflin, a compromise with the cities had been made that allowed municipalities to retain their municipal courts while also improving the quality of justice dispensed by municipal courts.
This compromise required all municipal judges to be attorneys and have fixed terms in office. Municipal courts would also be subject to the rule-making authority of the Supreme Court of Alabama and municipal judges were subject to the disciplinary provisions and administrative supervision provisions of the article. Cities were going to be given the option of retaining their courts or merging into the new district court and would be allowed to retain part-time judges. After this agreement, more mayors started actively supporting the article. However, even with all of this support and the support of the League of Municipalities, there were still three reasons the article may not be passed. First, passage would have to take place on the last day of session. Second, the House leadership was opposed to its passage. Third, Governor George Wallace was seemingly indifferent to its passage. He did not seem to be for or against the bill.
On the last legislative day, Heflin thought that there were enough votes to pass the article in its amended form, as long as it could be brought up out of order and get a vote. It would take a four-fifths vote of the House to do this and then a three-fifths vote, or 64 votes, for final passage. First time Representative Hill moved for a suspension of the rules to bring up Senate Bill 214 and failed. Around 8:00 p.m. he tried again. This time, he was successful. Fifteen amendments were offered, nine of which were adopted, but the article was not damaged. On final vote in the House, the article was approved 77-22.
The bill still faced one more hurdle. In order for a bill to be enacted into law and sent to the Governor for approval the bill has to be typed in final form and signed by the presiding officer of the Senate and House before the session ends. This session decided to end the session at midnight without stopping the clock. Usually, enacted bills can be signed after adjournment. However, if anyone protested the legislation could be killed. In this instance, several members privately opposed the bill and may have tried to kill the bill, Heflin's staff typed a number of versions of the bill as they predicted it could appear in its amended form to prevent opposition from happening. If they were lucky, they could get one of these versions, make a few last minute revisions, get the bill enrolled in the Senate, and over to the House for signature.
When the bill came up for consideration at 8:00 p.m. additional attempts were made to kill the bill by amending it. However, out of the fifteen amendments offered, nine, mostly committee amendments, were adopted. Representative Rankin Fite made a final attempt to kill the bill when he introduced his amendment which was to exempt Marion County from the bill. Obviously, if one county was exempted others could be as well and the concept of a unified judicial system would be defeated. This attempt was defeated and the bill was approved 15 minutes before midnight. Many people thought the bill, which was over 100 pages long, could not be typed and signed before the end of the session and the Judicial Article would be killed. However, the bill was quickly taken to the typing room and only needed a few minor changes on one of the previously written bills to conform with the adopted bill. A few minutes before midnight, the bill was signed by Lt. Governor Beasley. Senator O'Bannon and Representative Flippo then carried the bill to the House for the Speaker's signature at 2-3 minutes before midnight. The bill was signed and was finally approved and prepared for the Governor's signature and subsequent public ratification.