Despite the backing of the state’s top law enforcement official, the controversial chair of the Alabama parole board will not keep her seat.

Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday announced she would replace Leigh Gwathney, the most reliable “no” vote on the board, with a deputy from north Alabama.

On Monday, Ivey announced Hal Nash, the chief corrections deputy for Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, would take over Gwathney’s seat on the three-member board.

The governor wanted a “tough-on-crime, fair and pro-law enforcement candidate with leadership experience” to ensure public safety, according to a press release from Ivey’s office.

“Hal Nash is well-equipped to maintain the Board’s effectiveness in performing that task,” said Ivey. “He has a law enforcement perspective, and he has assured me he will approach each decision fairly and with that top goal in mind, which is to keep the people of Alabama safe.”

The announcement came via email after Gwathney’s seat expired on June 30. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshallpublicly supported Gwathney, a controversial figure on the three-member board, and had asked the governor to reappoint her despite “unprecedented and unwarranted criticism by the liberal media.”

Gwathney was known for being the most frequent ‘no’ vote on the board. She had been the focus for questions from both sides of the political aisle about why Alabama’s parole rate dropped so low in the past few years, and why the board was only letting out a fraction of people that their own guidelines recommended for release.

Ivey thanked Gwathney in her Monday announcement. “I am grateful to outgoing Chair Leigh Gwathney, who has stood firm for public safety. Leigh was an important part of our reform of Pardons and Paroles for the better, and I commend her for serving at the helm and helping make a safer Alabama.”

Gwathney is a former assistant attorney general and former prosecutor for Jefferson County. She’s been under fire for historic low parole rates.

AL.com spent 2024 delving into Alabama’s broken parole system, a system that had all but stopped releasing eligible prisoners in 2023. That year, the parole rate fell to just 8% – despite the parole board’s own criteria showing about 80% of the eligible inmates should be let out. The chairperson even denied parole to a quadriplegic inmate who couldn’t speak.

She fought to keep behind bars a man who stole a nail gun from a Lowe’s store in south Alabama, and an elderly, dying maneven though the victim’s mother had forgiven him for the accidental shooting death of her child.

As the reporting continued, the broken system began to change. Criticisms and concerns poured in from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Lawmakers held hearings and demanded answers. They said reporting increased public scrutiny on an issue lawmakers were already tracking. “This sort of accountability has changed things,” Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said last summer.

The board ended 2024 with a 20% grant rate and is on track for a 21% grant rate this year.

Nash’s appointment is effective immediately.

“This is not a position to be taken lightly,” Nash said in a statement released by the governor’s office, adding he was humbled by the appointment. “While remembering that people can choose to change for the better, this task will require weighing the safety of all the citizens of Alabama first. I pray for the wisdom to recognize both as I strive to serve the very best I can.”

Who else was on the short list of nominations remains a mystery. State law requires the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, and the Senate pro tem leader to submit a list of five nominations for the seat to the governor’s desk. Then, Ivey had to choose her pick from that list within 10 days.

According to the governor’s press release, Nash has been with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for the last five years. He formerly served as the chairman of the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Board and the Jackson County Hospital Authority. In his law enforcement career, Nash has worked as an investigator, a narcotics agent, and in other roles. He also worked for five years with the U.S. Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force’s Huntsville office.

Cam Ward, the director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, released a statement after the announcement, calling Nash’s appointment “a fine choice.”

“I know with Mr. Nash’s background as Chief Corrections Deputy at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and his work with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office that he will represent our law enforcement community well.”

He said that while the bureau functions separately from the board, the two “enjoy cooperation with its members and work to promote the safety of our state’s citizens while providing meaningful paths to reentry into society for formerly incarcerated Alabamians.” The bureau supervises the 45,000 people on probation and parole across the state and isn’t responsible for parole decisions.

“We appreciate former Chairman Leigh Gwathney’s service to our state and her commitment to answering the call to serve the state of Alabama in various capacities for more than two decades,” Ward said.