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08-12-2003, 07:27 AM
The following is from the Montgomery Advertiser this morning:
Parole board vacancy unfilled
By Todd Kleffman
Montgomery Advertiser
Gov. Bob Riley is seeking new nominees to fill a vacancy on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles after his first choice for the post turned him down.
The three-member board continues to operate normally despite having only two members, but officials are ready for Riley to appoint a third member.
"Right now, we're functioning with no problems with two members, but it's just a matter of time," said Cynthia Dillard, the board's assistant executive director. "If one of those two got sick or had a family emergency and had to miss, it would absolutely shut us down. There would be no pardons or paroles granted."
Riley selected retired Shelby County Sheriff James L. Jones for the post, which pays $76,336 a year. But Jones declined the appointment on July 30 after learning at the last minute that he could not be on the parole board without losing his status as a supernumerary sheriff and the retirement benefits that come with it.
"I was glad to get it, looking forward to the challenge and ready to serve," Jones said. "But it was just too great a risk."
Jones said his status as a supernumerary sheriff, which allows him to serve at the governor's request in time of emergency or unusual circumstances, paid him a retirement benefit of $60,000 a year. He also would have lost a survivor's benefit life insurance policy worth about $450,000 to his wife, he said.
Troy King, Riley's legal adviser, said the governor sent notice on Friday to Chief Justice Roy Moore, who chairs the nominating committee to the parole board, requesting that the committee again submit three names for nomination.
"Under the circumstances, we thought the best course was to ask for three new names," King said.
Jones, retired court reporter Robert E. Stamper of Huntsville and parole board attorney Frank A. Long Sr. were the three names the nominating committee submitted to Riley on July 21 to replace Gladys Riddle, who retired Aug. 1.
Along with Moore, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley and Judge Bucky McMillan of the Court of Criminal Appeals make up the nominating committee.
Baxley said Monday that she had not heard from Riley since the names were submitted, but assumed that the governor had rejected them because he did not name Riddle's replacement by the July 31 deadline.
"This is a very, very important appointment, but I do respect the fact that it is the governor's choice to make," Baxley said. "I am prepared to submit a second selection. I'm just waiting for some direction on this."
Moore, who nominated Jones, could not be reached Monday for comment about when he would reconvene the nominating committee. State law says the nominating committee must meet "as soon as practical after a vacancy occurs" to submit names to the governor, King said. The governor's selection must then be made within 10 days and ultimately confirmed by the Senate.
While the selection process remains in limbo, remaining parole board members Sidney Williams and Nancy Conn McCreary have continued to conduct parole hearings four days a week as scheduled, Dillard said.
The law requires a unanimous vote by the board to grant parole. Dillard said the attorney general's office issued an opinion about six years ago, when there was another prolonged vacancy on the board, that the two remaining board members could conduct hearings and grant paroles with a 2-0 vote in favor of the inmate's early release.
One board member, however, cannot hold hearings or grant parole, Dillard said, meaning that if Williams or McCreary missed a hearing, the process could not continue.
Parole board vacancy unfilled
By Todd Kleffman
Montgomery Advertiser
Gov. Bob Riley is seeking new nominees to fill a vacancy on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles after his first choice for the post turned him down.
The three-member board continues to operate normally despite having only two members, but officials are ready for Riley to appoint a third member.
"Right now, we're functioning with no problems with two members, but it's just a matter of time," said Cynthia Dillard, the board's assistant executive director. "If one of those two got sick or had a family emergency and had to miss, it would absolutely shut us down. There would be no pardons or paroles granted."
Riley selected retired Shelby County Sheriff James L. Jones for the post, which pays $76,336 a year. But Jones declined the appointment on July 30 after learning at the last minute that he could not be on the parole board without losing his status as a supernumerary sheriff and the retirement benefits that come with it.
"I was glad to get it, looking forward to the challenge and ready to serve," Jones said. "But it was just too great a risk."
Jones said his status as a supernumerary sheriff, which allows him to serve at the governor's request in time of emergency or unusual circumstances, paid him a retirement benefit of $60,000 a year. He also would have lost a survivor's benefit life insurance policy worth about $450,000 to his wife, he said.
Troy King, Riley's legal adviser, said the governor sent notice on Friday to Chief Justice Roy Moore, who chairs the nominating committee to the parole board, requesting that the committee again submit three names for nomination.
"Under the circumstances, we thought the best course was to ask for three new names," King said.
Jones, retired court reporter Robert E. Stamper of Huntsville and parole board attorney Frank A. Long Sr. were the three names the nominating committee submitted to Riley on July 21 to replace Gladys Riddle, who retired Aug. 1.
Along with Moore, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley and Judge Bucky McMillan of the Court of Criminal Appeals make up the nominating committee.
Baxley said Monday that she had not heard from Riley since the names were submitted, but assumed that the governor had rejected them because he did not name Riddle's replacement by the July 31 deadline.
"This is a very, very important appointment, but I do respect the fact that it is the governor's choice to make," Baxley said. "I am prepared to submit a second selection. I'm just waiting for some direction on this."
Moore, who nominated Jones, could not be reached Monday for comment about when he would reconvene the nominating committee. State law says the nominating committee must meet "as soon as practical after a vacancy occurs" to submit names to the governor, King said. The governor's selection must then be made within 10 days and ultimately confirmed by the Senate.
While the selection process remains in limbo, remaining parole board members Sidney Williams and Nancy Conn McCreary have continued to conduct parole hearings four days a week as scheduled, Dillard said.
The law requires a unanimous vote by the board to grant parole. Dillard said the attorney general's office issued an opinion about six years ago, when there was another prolonged vacancy on the board, that the two remaining board members could conduct hearings and grant paroles with a 2-0 vote in favor of the inmate's early release.
One board member, however, cannot hold hearings or grant parole, Dillard said, meaning that if Williams or McCreary missed a hearing, the process could not continue.