Ala. Code § 35-10-27
If a mortgage or deed of trust which is of record has been fully paid or satisfied, the mortgagee or transferee or assignee of the mortgage, or trustee or cestui que trust of the deed of trust, who has received payment or satisfaction, must on request in writing of the mortgagor, or of a creditor of the mortgagor having a lien or claim on the property mortgaged, or of a purchaser from the mortgagor, or owner of the lands mortgaged, or a junior mortgagee, or of the debtor in a deed of trust, enter the fact of payment or satisfaction on the margin of the record of the mortgage or deed of trust. Such entry must be witnessed by the judge of probate, or his clerk, who, in his official capacity, must attest said satisfaction, and for making such attestation the judge of probate is entitled to a fee of $.25. Or satisfaction may be made by an attorney-in-fact authorized by an instrument executed and acknowledged as is required of conveyances and filed for record, which entry need not be attested. Such entry operates as a release of the mortgage or deed of trust, and is a bar to all actions thereon.
Ala. Code § 35-10-27 (1975)