Blacks and women are underrepresented on appointed boards and commissions in Alabama, according to the numbers in a report compiled by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.

The report, released Jan. 6, is an update of one compiled about every two years by the Examiners Department. It includes information from more than 300 boards and commissions as of Sept. 30, 2022.

African Americans comprise 27 percent of Alabama’s population, according to the U.S. Census estimate in July 2021. But only 18 percent of board and commission appointees were Black. The Census estimate says 51 percent of Alabama’s population is female, but women made up only 31 percent of board and commission members.

Other minorities who make up smaller shares of Alabama’s population are underrepresented on boards and commissions. Hispanics accounted for 4.8 percent of the population but only 0.6 percent of appointees. Asians made up 1.6 percent of the population and 0.5 percent of board appointments. Native Americans made up 0.7 percent of the population and 0.5 percent of board appointments.

Here is a link to the report.

Chief Examiner Rachel Riddle said the Examiners Department has done the minority representation report for many years. It’s her understanding that it was first requested decades ago. The Legislature created the Examiners Department in 1947 to audit state agencies, county commissions, school systems, universities, and other public entities. The department posts the audits on its website every week.

Riddle, who became chief examiner in 2018, said she has tried to improve the minority representation report to more accurately reflect appointment practices. For example, the new report distinguishes ex-officio members of boards from those who are appointed. Ex-officio members are those who serve on boards because of the job they hold. The report no longer includes boards made up entirely of ex-officio members, Riddle said.

There is wide variation in size and scope of the boards, in who makes the appointments, and in the degree to which the appointed members reflected the racial breakdown of the state.

For example, the State Board of Veterans Affairs had 12 white members and four black members, and the Alabama Youth Services Board had nine white members and four black members, roughly in line with the state population.

On the other hand, 11 of the 12 appointed members of the Alabama Sentencing Commission were white, and all 18 members of the Water Resources Commission were white.

The Examiners Department compiled the report from information provided by the boards and commissions.

“The minute the data is given to the Department it is obsolete,” Riddle said. “Appointments occur constantly throughout the year and thus the data changes constantly and is not static. This is to be more of a tool for appointing authorities and members of the Legislature when making new appointments.”