Governor Kay Ivey on Monday issued an order allowing the board of Pardon and Paroles to resume hearings during the coronavirus pandemic as long as special safety precautions are taken.

The director of the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, Charlie Graddick, announced that hearings will resume May 18.

“[W]e have worked diligently to ensure efficiency and continuity of critical government services by allowing for virtual meetings. I appreciate the Board of Pardons and Paroles for collaborating with my Office to ensure we continue their important work,” said Ivey in a statement accompanying the announcement.

“We very much appreciate the governor’s swift and decisive action that clears the way for the resumption of hearing,” added Graddick in a statement of his own.

The governor’s order mandates the Bureau “to conduct pardon and parole hearings in a manner that reduces person-to-person interaction.”

Several neighboring states, including Mississippi and Georgia, have begun holding virtual parole hearings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The resumption of pardon and parole hearings had been championed by prominent Alabama Democrats, who have cited that prisoners have a legal right to have their cases heard.

In his announcement that hearings would resume May 18, Graddick noted that the governor’s order “also protects the rights of crime victims to have a 30-day notice of parole hearings.”

That 30-day notice is the reason the hearings will not resume until May 18.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95