Legislative leaders sent Gov. Kay Ivey the names of five candidates for a new appointment to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Current and sometimes controversial board chair Leigh Gwathney is on the list, according to information obtained by Alabama Daily News.
Multiple sources told ADN that Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office asked that Gwathney be included. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
She was appointed to the board in 2019 and her term expires Monday. Per state code, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter had to give Ivey the names of five candidates. Ivey has 10 days to make an appointment.
“I can confirm we received the list today,” Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola told ADN Thursday afternoon. “The governor will review the submissions and make a determination.”
Gwathney can keep serving on the board until she is reappointed or one of the other candidates is selected. It’s also possible Ivey makes a new appointment, but names one of the two current associate board members, Darryl Littleton and Gabrelle Simmons, as chair. The chair presides over and sets board meetings.
Other names on the list are:
Anna Marie Findley of Greenville was previously nominated for the board in 2023. She is a victim service officer and public safety advocate for the district attorney’s office in Lowndes, Butler and Crenshaw counties.
Cecilia Saulters Tubbs of Vestavia Hills was also on a 2023 nomination list. She is a member of the Alabama Council on Crime and Delinquency, and a former federal probation officer.
Billy Troutman of Cullman has a background in career tech education. He’s also an adjunct professor at Athens State University. In 2023, Troutman was named modern manufacturing project manager for North Alabama Works, part of a statewide workforce development initiative.
Hal Nash is the chief corrections deputy at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. He previously worked for the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, according to previous media reports.
The board’s parole grant rate dipped to single digits earlier in Gwathney’s tenure, from 53% in 2019 to 8% in 2023, decisions she defended by saying the panel wouldn’t be driven by statistics. The low rates have frustrated prison reform advocates and Gwathney has at times frustrated lawmakers.
The rates increased in 2024 and recently began another decrease. Alabama Daily News reported earlier this month that the ABPP parole grant rate in April was 15% of eligible inmates and its conformance rate to its own release guidelines was 19%.
Al.com reported Saturday that the board was sued this month over a parole denial last year. The lawsuit also asks for a criminal investigation into Gwathney, for “knowing neglect of mandatory duties.”
Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward called the suit “flippant and frivolous.”