Visitation Schedules
Three judges make custody decisions in Baldwin County, Alabama: Judge William Scully, Jr., Judge Karol Kemp and Judge Laurie Hoyt. There is no way to "choose" your Judge. As of now, you are subjected to fate, chance and the methods of assigning your case employed by the Baldwin County Circuit Clerk's office.
There is no longer a presumption in any of the Domestic Relations Courts that "fifty-fifty" true joint parenting is in the children's best interest. That approach was used by Judge Michelle Thomason and has seemingly fallen to the wayside following her retirement. Instead, the Baldwin County Courts are resorting to a more traditional approach whereby one parent is the primary caregiver (the "Custodial Parent") and the other has secondary visitation rights (non-custodial parent). The list of rules that accompany this arrangement is referred to as "Schedule A".
Judge Scully currently employs a traditional "every other weekend" Schedule A, whereby the non-custodial parent gets the kid(s) at 6pm on Friday and returns them at 6pm Sundays. This Order also allows for mid-week visitation every Wednesday night. Holidays are handled on odd/even numbered year basis. You can find a copy of it below.
Judge Kemp and Judge Hoyt are employing a different schedule, whereby midweek visitation occurs every Thursday night instead. Additionally, the non-custodial parent's weekend doesn't end until the start of School on Monday mornings. As with Judge Scully's schedule, holidays are addressed on an odd/even numbered year basis. You can find copies of both Judge Kemp's and Judge Hoyt's Schedule A below.
In some instances, the non-custodial parent lives too far away for any Schedule A to be practical. Where such conditions exist, the Court turns to the "Schedule B: Out of Town" parenting plan. Copies of these can be found below.
Although it likely won't be ordered in highly contested cases, some parents choose to do fifty-fifty, true joint physical custody. The list of rules that govern this arrangement is called "Schedule C". Copies can be found below.
Judge Laurie Hoyt's Parenting Schedules
https://baldwin.alacourt.gov/media/tgod4gvu/kjk-schedule-b-revised-2025.pdf
Judge Kemp's Parenting Schedules
https://baldwin.alacourt.gov/media/wwpjz4ja/kjk-schedule-a-january-2025.pdf
https://baldwin.alacourt.gov/media/tgod4gvu/kjk-schedule-b-revised-2025.pdf