Ala. Code § 23-1-173

When the application has been made, filed and recorded, as provided in Section 23-1-172, the applicants shall constitute a public corporation under the name proposed in the application and the Secretary of State shall make and issue to the applicants a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this article, under the Great Seal of the State, and shall record the same with the application. There shall be no fees paid to the Secretary of State for any work in connection with the incorporation or dissolution of the corporation so organized, which, for convenience, is referred to in this article as “the corporation.”