Alabama is back to having three people decide the fate of an inmate’s shot at freedom.

Gov. Kay Ivey appointed Kim Davidson on Friday to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, according to a press release Tuesday from the agency.

Davidson will step in after the board has been operating with only two board members for months following the retirement of Dwayne Spurlock. She will join board chair Leigh Gwathney and member Darryl Littleton.

According to a press release from the agency, Davidson is an attorney who graduated from the Birmingham School of Law and became a member of the Alabama State Bar in 1996. She’s worked for her own firm, the Law Office of Kim Davidson, since 2002.

“It is an honor to become part of this team, and I am looking forward to working with fellow Board members,” said Davidson in the press release.

“I am genuinely committed to leaving a positive impact on people I serve by making careful and informed decisions focusing on public safety, offender accountability and victims’ rights.”

Spurlock stepped away from the Board of Pardons and Paroles after more than four years.

“Kim will be a great addition to the Board of Pardons and Paroles,” said Bureau Director Cam Ward. “Her legal background in family law and mediation makes her well suited for this position. I look forward to working with her in this new role.”

The appointment comes as the parole board is facing scrutiny for its low approval ratings, granting just 10 percent of the people who were eligible for parole in fiscal year 2022. So far in fiscal year 2023, the board has approved six percent of those eligible, according to the agency’s data.

The low approval ratings are in stark contrast from years like 2017 and 2018, where the board granted more than half of those who applied for parole.

In January, the board approved 2 percent of those eligible for parole. That’s compared to 82 percent who were had a “recommended grant rate,” according to the agency’s official data. And so far in this fiscal year, 35 people over the age of 70 have been up for parole. Zero have been granted.

Pardon rates have also dipped, data shows. In fiscal year 2022, 57 percent of those who applied for pardons were granted; that’s compared to 80 percent in 2018.