The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles on Friday announced that it cancelled hearings next week due to what it called failures in the office’s previous administration.
Earlier this week, new Executive Director Charlie Graddick placed three administrators, including the former executive director, on leave pending an investigation into wrongdoing. Read about that here.
See the bureau’s full press release below:
The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles has cancelled more than 100 hearings set for next week because the prior administration failed to perform due diligence to meet requirements set forth under a new state law passed in May regarding notifications to victims and witnesses.
Director Charlie Graddick, who took leadership Sept. 1, said neither he, the three-member board nor his legal staff were informed of the failure until noon Thursday.
“I’m afraid this hot mess is indicative of what the state has suffered for some time,” he said. “This is the classic failure to communicate. 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.”
Graddick’s first action as director was to place three agency officials on mandatory leave pending investigation into allegations of malfeasance.