The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles announces additional hearings on requests for pardons will be scheduled on special dockets. Previously, requests for both pardons and paroles were considered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. With this new policy, special dockets will be scheduled on additional days to exclusively consider requests for pardons.
Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward said, “We want to make sure everyone who is eligible for a pardon hearing is receiving a hearing in the most efficient way possible. We are willing to work as hard as possible to accomplish this goal.”
Special dockets will help to reduce the backlog of pardon requests. According to Gabrelle Simmons, director of the Bureau’s Board Operations division, the Board currently has a backlog of approximately 8,500 requests for pardons.
Leigh Gwathney, Chair of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, said, “The Board of Pardons and Paroles looks forward to partnering with the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles in order to best serve the citizens of Alabama by hearing as many cases as possible while fulfilling our primary duty of protecting the public’s safety.”
Up-to-date pardon results can be found here.