Kay Ivey, the first woman elected twice as Alabama’s governor, begins her second full term with a swearing-in and inaugural speech at the Alabama Capitol this morning.

Ivey, 78, takes the oath of office at a ceremony that also includes swearing-in of the state’s other constitutional officers. A parade will follow the ceremony, which starts at 10 a.m.

Ivey, Alabama’s 54th governor, has held the office since moving up from lieutenant governor to replace Robert Bentley when Bentley resigned just before impeachment hearings in April 2017. Voters overwhelmingly elected her to a full term in 2018 and again last year.

The governor, a Wilcox County native and a Republican who was twice elected state treasurer and twice elected lieutenant governor before moving into the state’s top office, has said that education will be a focus of her second term.

During her inauguration speech four years ago, Ivey called on the state Legislature to pass an increase in the state gasoline tax to fund roads and bridges. Two months later, the Legislature followed through and did that in a special session, the state’s first gas tax increase since 1992.

During her 2019 speech, Ivey also promised to end decades of neglect of the state’s prison system. As she begins her new term, the prisons remain overcrowded and understaffed and the state is fighting a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in December 2020, alleging unconstitutional conditions. In October 2021, the Legislature approved a plan to build two 4,000-bed mega prisons, which the governor and legislative leaders have said is a key step toward fixing the problems but which are several years away from completion.

Others who will be sworn in today include Lieutenant Gov. Will Ainsworth, Attorney General Steve Marshall, Secretary of State Wes Allen, State Treasurer Young Boozer, State Auditor Andrew Sorrell, and Commission of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate. All are Republicans.

The state Constitution designates the start of the new terms as the first Monday after the second Tuesday in January. This year that coincides with MLK Day, which falls on the third Monday of January.

This story will be updated.