Weird Laws in Alabama: Which Are Still on the Books?

Lists of weird Alabama laws tend to repeat the same handful of claims. We took three that recur on these lists and checked each against the Code of Alabama and, where a claim names a town, against that town's code, as of October 21, 2026. The short version: each one has a real law somewhere behind it, just not the law the list describes. For other states, see our guide to weird laws in every state.

Weird laws in Alabama: the verdicts

Each claim below was checked against the Alabama code and, where it names a town, the local code. 3 claims checked.

Real law, twisted claim

The claim: Wearing a fake mustache to church that makes people laugh is illegal.

What the law says: No Alabama statute mentions fake mustaches or laughter in church. The general disorderly-conduct statute makes it a Class C misdemeanor to disturb a lawful assembly or meeting without lawful authority, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm (or recklessly creating that risk); the mustache story is that general rule retold as an absurd specific.

Ala. Code § 13A-11-7

“Without lawful authority, disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons.”

Penalty: Disorderly conduct is a Class C misdemeanor.

Last cited by a court: Phillips v. City of Hanceville Alabama (2025)

Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.

City law, not state law

The claim: Mobile bans silly string / confetti.

What the law says: Mobile City Code § 39-77 makes it an offense against the city to possess, use, sell or handle non-biodegradable, plastic-based confetti, serpentine or similar substances within the city or its police jurisdiction. It is a city ordinance (not state law), it is limited to non-biodegradable plastic-based material, and the text does not name silly string.

Mobile, Alabama: Mobile City Code § 39-77 (Use, sale, etc., of confetti) (in force)

Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.

Repealed

The claim: Dominoes cannot be played on Sundays.

What the law says: Alabama's Sunday law (Ala. Code § 13A-12-1) penalised shooting, hunting, gaming, card playing or racing on Sunday, plus labor by one's child or servant and shopkeepers keeping store open. Dominoes was never named; it could only fall under 'gaming'. The section was repealed by Act 2015-70, effective April 21, 2015.

Ala. Code § 13A-12-1 (repealed)

“Repealed by Act 2015-70 effective April 21, 2015.”

Penalty: Former penalty: fine of $10 to $100 and possibly up to three months county jail or hard labor (2006 text).

Repealed in 2015 by Ala. Act 2015-70, effective April 21, 2015 (repeal note on ALISON; session law text itself not opened)

Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.

Checked October 21, 2026. This is legal history and information, not legal advice. Laws change; the linked official text is the authority.

A church, a mustache and a disorderly conduct statute

The fake mustache rule is the best known of the three, and the one with the least to it. No Alabama statute mentions mustaches, disguises or laughter in church.

What Alabama does have is a general disorderly conduct statute. Ala. Code § 13A-11-7 makes it disorderly conduct when a person, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm (or recklessly creating that risk), does any of several things, including when the person:

Without lawful authority, disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons.

Disorderly conduct is a Class C misdemeanor. The statute turns on disturbing a lawful gathering with that intent or recklessness, not on what anyone is wearing.

Mobile's confetti rule is real, and narrower than the claim

The silly string and confetti claim points at the right city. Mobile City Code § 39-77 makes it an offense against the city to possess, use, sell or handle non-biodegradable, plastic-based confetti, serpentine or similar substances within the city or its police jurisdiction.

Two details get lost in the retelling. The ordinance is limited to non-biodegradable, plastic-based material, and its text does not name silly string at all. It is also a city rule, so it applies in Mobile and its police jurisdiction, not across Alabama.

Sunday dominoes: a real Sunday law, now gone

Alabama really did have a Sunday law, and it lasted into the 21st century. The former Ala. Code § 13A-12-1 penalized shooting, hunting, gaming, card playing or racing on Sunday. It also reached a person who made a child or servant work on Sunday and shopkeepers who kept a store open.

Dominoes never appeared in the text. A Sunday domino game could only have fallen under the general word gaming. Under the 2006 text, the penalty was a fine of $10 to $100, with the possibility of up to three months in the county jail or at hard labor.

The section is no longer law. The Code of Alabama shows it as repealed by Act 2015-70, effective April 21, 2015.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it illegal to wear a fake mustache in church in Alabama?

No Alabama statute mentions fake mustaches or laughter in church. The claim is a retold version of the general disorderly conduct statute, Ala. Code § 13A-11-7, which covers disturbing a lawful assembly or meeting without lawful authority, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly creating that risk. Disorderly conduct is a Class C misdemeanor.

Is silly string banned in Mobile, Alabama?

Mobile City Code § 39-77 makes it an offense against the city to possess, use, sell or handle non-biodegradable, plastic-based confetti, serpentine or similar substances within the city or its police jurisdiction. The ordinance text does not name silly string. It is a Mobile rule, not Alabama state law.

Was playing dominoes on Sunday ever against the law in Alabama?

Alabama formerly penalized gaming and card playing on Sunday under Ala. Code § 13A-12-1, but dominoes was never named in the section. The whole section was repealed by Act 2015-70, effective April 21, 2015.

What are some weird laws in Alabama?

Three claims that recur on lists of weird Alabama laws are a ban on fake mustaches in church, a Mobile ban on silly string or confetti, and a ban on Sunday dominoes. On the record, the first is a retold disorderly conduct statute, the second is a narrower Mobile ordinance on plastic-based confetti, and the third rests on a Sunday law repealed in 2015.

Are any of these Alabama laws still in force?

The laws behind two of them are. The disorderly conduct statute, Ala. Code § 13A-11-7, is current, and so is Mobile City Code § 39-77 on plastic-based confetti. The Sunday law, Ala. Code § 13A-12-1, was repealed in 2015.