Alabama Supreme Court Ends Gulf Shores’ Appeal in Tater Harris Golf Cart Case

GULF SHORES, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has turned away the City of Gulf Shores’ last bid to revive the criminal convictions of Baldwin County Commissioner John Carl “Tater” Harris III in a golf cart case stemming from a rental business, leaving a lower court’s ruling in Harris’ favor as the final word.

In an order issued Friday, Oct. 9, the state’s highest court denied the city’s petition asking the justices to review a June decision by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals that overturned Harris’ two convictions for operating a business without a license.

The Supreme Court did not issue an opinion explaining its decision. Five justices concurred in denying the petition, according to the order, which was signed by the court clerk and includes a certificate of judgment formally recording the outcome.

How the case began

The case stems from golf cart rentals made by Gulf Coast Rental Company to customers in May and June 2024. Harris owned a minority interest in the company and served as its vice president.

Gulf Shores prosecuted Harris on two counts of operating a business without a license, and he was convicted on both. His sentence included two suspended 30-day jail terms, 12 months of probation and two $500 fines.

Harris appealed, and the case reached the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the intermediate appellate court that hears appeals in criminal cases, including misdemeanors and violations of city ordinances.

What the appeals court decided

In June, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed both convictions. The appeals court found that Gulf Coast Rental Company held a valid Gulf Shores business license when the rentals took place.

The court also found that the city had failed to prove the company needed a separate license specifically for renting golf carts. At the time of the rentals, Gulf Shores had no ordinance prohibiting commercial golf cart rentals. The city adopted such an ordinance later, in August 2024, after the rentals at the center of the case.

Rather than sending the case back for a new trial, the appeals court reversed the convictions and rendered judgment in Harris’ favor. A judgment “rendered” by an appellate court is a final resolution of the case, as opposed to a remand that would have allowed the city to try him again.

Gulf Shores then asked the Alabama Supreme Court to step in. The justices’ Oct. 9 denial leaves Harris’ victory intact and the convictions overturned, ending the city’s effort to reinstate them through the state’s highest court.

What a denial without opinion means

When a party loses before the Court of Criminal Appeals, it can ask the Alabama Supreme Court to review the case by filing a petition for a writ of certiorari. Unlike the intermediate appellate courts, which must hear appeals that are properly brought before them, the Supreme Court has discretion over most of the petitions it receives and grants review in only a small share of them.

A denial does not necessarily mean the justices fully agreed with every part of the lower court’s reasoning. It means the court declined to take up the case, which leaves the lower court’s decision standing as the final ruling. Because the Supreme Court issued no opinion, the Court of Criminal Appeals’ June decision remains the controlling explanation of why Harris’ convictions were reversed.

The certificate of judgment included with the order is the formal document that marks the end of the appellate process and certifies the court’s judgment.

Golf carts in Gulf Shores

The dispute played out against a broader debate over golf carts and other low-speed vehicles in Gulf Shores and other Baldwin County beach communities. Golf carts are a popular way for residents and visitors to get around beach neighborhoods, and their growing numbers have prompted coastal cities to adopt rules about where carts may be driven, who may drive them and whether businesses may rent them to tourists.

Gulf Shores’ August 2024 ordinance prohibiting commercial golf cart rentals came after the rentals in Harris’ case. The appeals court’s ruling turned on the fact that no such ban existed when Gulf Coast Rental Company rented the carts, and that the company’s general business license was valid at the time.

A county commissioner and a city prosecution

The case pitted a Baldwin County commissioner against one of the county’s largest beach cities. Harris was prosecuted in his role as an officer and part owner of a private business, not over any action he took as a county commissioner.

The Baldwin County Commission is the county’s governing body, responsible for county roads, the county budget, planning and zoning in unincorporated areas, and other county services. City business licensing, by contrast, is controlled by each municipality, and Alabama cities set their own license requirements and fees by ordinance.

What happens now

With the Supreme Court’s denial and certificate of judgment, the state appellate process is complete. Harris’ two convictions remain reversed, along with the suspended jail sentences, probation and fines that came with them, and the city has no further route to reinstate the convictions through the state courts.

Gulf Shores’ ordinance banning commercial golf cart rentals, adopted in August 2024, was adopted after the rentals at issue and was not the basis of the charges against Harris.