The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles on Friday announced that it has been forced to cancel over 100 hearings set for next week because the prior administration allegedly failed to perform due diligence to meet requirements set forth under a new state law passed in May regarding notifications to victims and witnesses.
Bureau Director Charlie Graddick, who just took leadership of the reformed board on Monday, said neither he, the three-member board nor his legal staff were informed of the apparent failure until noon on Thursday.
In a statement, Graddick, emphasized this type of incident is more proof that change was badly needed for the pardons and paroles leadership.
“I’m afraid this hot mess is indicative of what the state has suffered for some time,” he said.
Graddick is the former two-term attorney general of Alabama and a longtime fixture in the state judicial system.
“This is the classic failure to communicate,” Graddick commented further. “The previous administration had May, June, July and August to address these new guidelines and did nothing. Yesterday, our legal team received requests for clarification of new notification rules, questions that leave doubts whether proper notifications have been made.”
This comes in the wake of Graddick’s first action as director, which was to place three bureau officials on mandatory leave pending investigation into allegations of “malfeasance,” per Friday’s press release. This included his predecessor, former Board of Pardons and Paroles Director Eddie Cook.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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