Alabama public safety should be Gov. Kay Ivey’s top legislative priority for 2025
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Eye on Politics
Paul DeMarco
As we move into 2025, Gov. Kay Ivey will have the last two years of her long tenure as the state’s top executive.
The governor has taken on tough issues during her tenure in office, but has maintained her popularity. Actually she has ranked annually as one of the most popular governors in the nation.
Ivey worked her way up from reading clerk in the Alabama Legislature, to state treasurer, then lieutenant governor, and now governor. She has made history in her ascent to the state’s top office, and now she has two years to take on the issues she wants accomplished before she leaves Montgomery.
It will be interesting to see what she takes on as her priorities in the final remaining time in office. She has served the state during both tough times like the pandemic and then some of the best years of economic prosperity in Alabama’s history.
Thus, as Gov. Ivey prepares to set her agenda for the new year she will also be thinking of her legacy and what it will mean for the state. One of the most important issues she can tackle is the failures of the state’s criminal justice system and the revolving door at the state’s county courthouses.
With the continuing plague of violence across Alabama this past year, it is clear that there are many problems that must be addressed to bring safety to the citizens of the state. Birmingham just set a record in homicides, but crime is not isolated to the big cities, but rather the entire state. And there is a common denominator – those arrested usually have a long rap sheet, meaning they have been in and out of the state court system, eluding the punishment they deserve because of weak plea deals or sentences.
The governor has had success in this area. Back in 2019, she signed a new law into place that reformed the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, after its repeated wrongful release and supervision of violent felons. After the reforms went into effect, the board had made public safety truly a priority under the leadership of its Chair Leigh Gwathney.
However, with the two most recent board appointments the board is falling back into its old ways, and there is a push by liberal advocacy groups to release more criminals who have not served their time or may be a threat to the public. In addition, lawmakers are considering more bills that would weaken the system and put more felons back on the streets.
The governor should set out a list of bills that should stop the revolving door at the state’s county courthouses and keep those criminals behind bars.
First and foremost, legislation to enact truth in sentencing that models the federal system would be a good start. Leading the effort to bring justice to crime victims and ensuring public safety will be a fitting way for Gov. Ivey to finish her term in office.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and a native of the state. He can be found on X, formerly Twitter, at @Paul_DeMarco.
