MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Gov. Kay Ivey will soon have a new vacancy to fill on the high-profile Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Associate member Darryl Littleton is leaving the three-person board later this month to go on staff with the Bureau of Pardons and Parole as deputy director. Ivey will make another appointment to the body previously under fire because of low parole grant rates and failure to comply with its own guidelines for deciding who will be released from prison under state supervision.
Ivey will pick from a list of five candidates decided by a legislative committee comprised of Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger. Whoever she appoints will then have to be confirmed by the Legislature, whose session begins next week.
The new pick will join Board Chair Hal Nash and associate member Gabrelle Simmons. Nash was appointed in July of last year when former chair Leigh Gwathney’s term expired.
Under Gwathney’s six year tenure, the board saw a steep decline in parole rates, reaching a historic low of 8% in fiscal year 2023. Since Nash started in mid-July, ABPP granted parole in 318 of the 1,450 cases it heard. That’s a grant rate of around 28%, higher than the 23% grant rate for fiscal year 2025 as a whole.
The bureau, part of the executive branch, and the board, part of the legislative branch, are separate entities but work closely together.
“We are proud to have Darryl Littleton join the bureau’s leadership team,” Director Cam Ward said in a written statement. “His long record of service to the people of Alabama and his extensive background in law enforcement and public safety make him a strong addition.”