Bills pending in the Alabama Legislature would give the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole more decision-making authority over parole revocations and modify the current law that doesn’t require a conviction to send people back to prison after arrests.
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Senate Bill 254 by Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor. Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, is carrying the House version of the bill. The House Judiciary Committee will consider it this week.
Givhan recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the bill easily got its first favorable vote, the measure needed to give the board more discretion over the revocation of paroles based on the totality of facts. Currently, an arrest is enough for an automatic revocation.
Archie’s story
Givhan retold the story of one of his constituents, Archie Hamlett, who was convicted as a young man to life in prison for marijuana trafficking and served 22 years in prison before being paroled in 2017. He is a post-prison success story, starting a trucking business with an education he received while incarcerated. He bought a home and property in Madison County. He restored vintage cars in his free time.
Hamlett had been on parole for about eight years when he was stopped by police during icy weather in 2024 for an alleged traffic violation. While pulled over, he told officers he had a medical condition that made him urinate frequently and he asked to retrieve a portable urinal from the back of his truck. He was told no.
He walked away from his vehicle to urinate in the darkness, Givhan said, and was charged with, but never convicted of, public lewdness, a misdemeanor.
“The parole board was unable to consider the hearing officer’s recommendation and had no choice but to revoke Archie for the balance of his life sentence,” Givhan said. “He has been in jail for over a year now.”
Givhan said it’s absurd that the state could spend money keeping Hamlett in jail for decades.
“There’s got to be a reasonable approach to this,” he said.
Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward said the legislation from Givhan and Hall is “absolutely” needed.
Full story.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mary Sell and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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