text: For instance, Birmingham and Jefferson County taxes had supplied one-third of the state budget, but Jefferson County received only 1/67th of state services in funding.Through the legislative delegations, the Alabama legislature kept control of county governments.The executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws.It is headed by the governor of Alabama.Other members of the executive branch include the cabinet, the lieutenant governor of Alabama, the Attorney General of Alabama, the Alabama Secretary of State, the Alabama State Treasurer, and the State Auditor of Alabama.The current governor is Republican Kay Ivey.The members of the Legislature take office immediately after the November elections.Statewide officials, such as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and other constitutional officers, take office the following January.The judiciary is responsible for interpreting the Constitution of Alabama and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases.The state's highest court is the Supreme Court of Alabama.Alabama uses partisan elections to select judges.Since the 1980s judicial campaigns have become increasingly politicized.The current chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Republican Tom Parker.All sitting justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are members of the Republican Party.There are two intermediate appellate courts, the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals, and four trial courts: the circuit court (trial court of general jurisdiction), and the district, probate, and municipal courts.Alabama has the death penalty with authorized methods of execution that include the electric chair and the gas chamber.Some critics believe the election of judges has contributed to an exceedingly high rate of executions.Alabama has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the country.