Ala. Code § 45-58A-70.50

(a) An employee with regular status may appeal disciplinary action of dismissal, demotion, or suspension. The discipline imposed shall not be otherwise set aside during the pendency of an appeal. An employee desiring to appeal, within 10 calendar days after notice of disciplinary action, shall file with the director and the mayor a written answer to the charges and request a hearing. The answer shall contain all of the following:

(1) The reason for the dismissal, demotion, or suspension.

(2) An admission or denial of guilt.

(3) The reasons why the dismissal, demotion, or suspension should not take effect.

(b) Upon timely appeal, the board shall order a hearing of the charges before a hearing officer appointed pursuant to board rules and this part. The hearing shall be solely for the purpose of determining whether substantial evidence supports the disciplinary action, and whether the employee, by reason of his or her act or acts as charged and his or her record of service, should be retained in the service, removed, or otherwise disciplined. A hearing officer shall not be bound by the technical rules of evidence but shall diligently seek all the information bearing on the merits of the case. Each hearing officer shall be a practicing attorney licensed in this state who shall take testimony offered in support and denial of the charges and, within 15 days of the hearing, shall submit to the board and the parties a finding of facts, an interpretation of law, and a recommended decision. Either party may be represented by counsel.

(c) The hearing officer may permit discovery by any party. The hearing officer shall hold the hearing within 30 calendar days of his or her appointment by the board unless all parties consent to a continuance. The hearing officer may authorize the parties to use one or more discovery methods from the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, provided that the hearing officer shall determine the specific rules of discovery and shall set the required times of response.

(d) When a request for discovery is directed to an officer or employee of the city, the city shall make the individual available on official time for the purpose of responding to the request and shall assist the individual as necessary in responding to the request. A party seeking discovery from a nonparty shall initiate the process by serving a request for discovery signed by the hearing officer on the individual. The hearing officer may issue subpoenas for production and attendance, enforceable by the Circuit Court of Shelby County, upon failure to obtain the voluntary cooperation of a nonparty. Upon written request, the hearing officer may subpoena noncharacter witnesses for or against the employee. Employees in the regular service shall be required to attend and testify without subpoena.

(e) The parties shall be present at the next regular or special meeting held by the board after receipt of the hearing officer’s findings. The board shall consider the report and may do any of the following:

(1) Set aside the report.

(2) Order a new hearing.

(3) Rescind, modify, or increase the penalty imposed by the appointing authority.

(4) Affirm the report as written and certify its findings to the appointing authority.

(f) At the meeting, the board may request summation statements from the parties, not to exceed 15 minutes per party, in response to the hearing officer’s report. A summation statement shall be limited to the finding of facts. The board shall render its decision at the meeting, unless the board votes to continue the hearing to a date certain and notifies all parties of that date.

(g) A decision of the board shall be final and may be appealed by either party to the circuit court to review questions of law and whether the decision is supported by substantial and legal evidence. On appeal, the circuit court may not reverse the finding of the board unless the court finds the decision was arbitrary and capricious, against the great weight of evidence, or otherwise invalid due to fraud, and shall reverse, remand, or render the cause. The decision of the board shall be controlling until reversed on appeal.

(h) An appeal to the circuit court shall be perfected by filing a notice of appeal with the Circuit Court of Shelby County, signed by the appealing party, indicating that the party appeals the board’s decision and citing the reasons for the appeal. A notice of appeal shall confer jurisdiction upon the circuit court. A notice of appeal must be filed within 10 calendar days of the announcement of the board’s decision, and an appeal shall be served on the director within two days of the filing of the notice of appeal with the circuit court.