Troy King

Infobox_Politician
name = Troy King


caption = Photo courtesy Office of the Alabama Attorney General
birth_date = birth date and age | 1968|08|22
birth_place = Elba, Alabama, U.S.
residence = Montgomery, Alabama
death_date =
death_place =
office = 45th Alabama Attorney General
term_start = 2004
term_end = Present
predecessor = William H. Pryor, Jr. (R)
successor = Incumbent
constituency =
party = Republican
religion = Baptist
occupation = Attorney
majority =
relations =
spouse = Paige King
civil partner =
children = 3
website =
footnotes =

Troy Robin King (born August 22, 1968) is the current attorney general of the state of Alabama, United States. He previously served as an Assistant Attorney General. King was appointed by Governor Bob Riley in 2004, when William Pryor resigned to accept a federal judgeship. He then defeated Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, Jr. in the 2006 election by a 54-46% margin. ["Mission Accomplished for Attorney General," "The Montgomery Advertiser", November 8, 2006, p. A-2]

Personal

King was born in Elba, Alabama. He is currently married to Paige King with whom he has three children; Briggs, Colden, and Asher. He is a Baptist. King received his undergraduate degree from Troy University and is a 1994 graduate of the University of Alabama law school. [ [http://www.alabar.org/directory/dirDisplay.cfm?URLId=4Y9U9c6=GQ4B8dTw& Alabama State Bar Directory: Troy King] ]

Issues and Controversies

During the 2005 legislative session, King made headlines by wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet of the kind used by parolees and others under judicial monitoring. King promised to wear the bracelet until the legislature passed tougher monitoring laws for parolees and convicted sex offenders, and removed it when such laws were passed. ["Law and Order Measures Big at Session," "The Huntsville Times", July 28, 2005, p. 1B]

King has made opposition to gambling a central theme of his administration. In 2006, King asked the United States Department of the Interior to deny an application by the Poarch Creek Band of Indians to expand their gaming operations in Alabama. ["King Opposes Gambling Request," "The Montgomery Advertiser", July 30, 2006, p. B3] King later filed a lawsuit against the Department to keep it from pressuring Alabama to permit video gaming on Alabama reservations. ["Judge Agrees to Let Creek Indians Join Gambling Lawsuit," "Mobile Press-Register", April 28, 2008, p. B1]

King is also a staunch proponent of the death penalty. When many states voluntarily suspended executions during U.S. Supreme Court litigation over lethal injection, King continued to seek the setting of execution dates in Alabama. ["Editorial: Hop on the Execution Train: Ol' Troy's Revving to Go," "The Anniston Star", April 23, 2008 ] King's support of the death penalty created a controversy when, in 2007, a district attorney in suburban Birmingham supported commutation of the death sentence of an accomplice, in a case where the actual shooter had escaped the death penalty because he was a juvenile. King sought to block the district attorney's testimony to that effect, and criticized the district attorney. The incident led a wide, bipartisan coalition of local district attorneys, as well as newspaper editorials, to criticize King. ["Editorial: Troy King's War on Something," "The Birmingham News", October 29, 2007, p. 6A] King received support in the controversy from the victim's family, ["DA Group Leader Takes Aim at King, Says AG 'Has No Idea' on Death Penalty Cases," "The Birmingham News", September 21, 2007, p. 5C] and from some death penalty supporters, ["Letter to the Editor: Editorial Should Embolden King's Case," "The Birmingham News", September 18, 2007, p. 6A] for his stance in the case.

In late 2006, King was forced to recuse his entire office from the ongoing investigation of abuses in the Alabama community college system, when it emerged that he had asked community college chancellor Roy Johnson to hire the mother of one of King's employees. This request was made while King knew Johnson to be a target of the ongoing investigation. It later emerged that King had, also during the investigation, asked Johnson for community college system financial support for Victims of Crime and Leniency, an advocacy group politically supportive of King. ["State AG Solicited Target of Inquiry," "The Birmingham News", January 28, 2007, p. 1A] The investigation eventually resulted in a guilty plea by Johnson in the related federal investigation. ["Johnson Pleads Guilty to Kickbacks," "The Birmingham News", April 1, 2008, p. 1A]

In early 2007, an investigative article published by "The Birmingham News" revealed that King had accepted free tickets, food, and skybox access to an Atlanta Braves baseball game from Alabama Power Company the preceding season. Alabama Power had not reported the gifts to appropriate ethics agencies as required, until contacted by the "News". King attended the game in question with his family and family friends. The food bill for the outing was over $1,200, and the skybox normally rented for $2,400 a day. ["King Used Alabama Power Skybox," "The Birmingham News", January 14, 2007, p.1A] Because King, as Attorney General, was legally responsible for representing Alabama Power customers before the Alabama Public Service Commission and other agencies, he was widely criticized for accepting the gifts. ["Editorial: No Interests in Conflicts," "The Birmingham News", April 8, 2007, p. 2B] ["Editorial: Keeping 'em Honest," "The Anniston Star", October 15, 2007] King reimbursed Alabama Power for $486 for his family's food, but did not reimburse it for food eaten by his family's guests. King denied wrongdoing in the matter. ["Alabama Power Only Reported Gift Following Newspaper Query," "Mobile Press-Register", January 15, 2007, p. B2]

Later in 2007, Anthony Castaldo, formerly an investigator with the Attorney General's office, submitted an affidavit stating that King had ordered him to investigate a Birmingham-area judge for political reasons, and later punished Castaldo when a year-long investigation showed no evidence of wrongdoing. ["AG King Led 'Witch Hunt' to Remove Bessemer Judge, Investigator Says," "The Birmingham News", September 11, 2007, p. 1A] After other investigators took over the case, King secured an indictment against the judge, but the charges against the judge were later dismissed. ["Indictment Against King Dismissed," "The Birmingham News", October 17, 2007, p. 1A (The judge's name was also "King.")]

After his appointment as Attorney General in 2004, King was substituted as a defendant in the case of "Williams v. Morgan". [ [http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200611892.pdf "Williams v. Morgan", 478 F.3d 1316 (11th Cir. 2007).] ] This case, originally filed in 2001, unsuccessfully sought to enjoin the state of Alabama from enforcing a law prohibiting the sale of any “device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs,” commonly known as “sex toys.” [ [http://alisdb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/CodeOfAlabama/1975/13A-12-200.2.htm Ala. Code § 13A-12-200.2(a)(1)] ] King defended the law, both legally and politically. [“Ban on Sex Toys Targeted,” "Mobile Press-Register", December 4, 2007, p. A1] King’s stance in the litigation, while praised by religious conservatives, subjected him to considerable criticism from editorial writers and civil liberties advocates, one of whom mailed King an inflatable pig sex toy. ["Woman Fighting King on Sex Toys,” "Mobile Press-Register", November 14, 2007, p. A1] The latter incident became fodder for numerous editorial cartoons and other comment, such as that in the illustration to the left.

In 2008, another investigative story by "The Birmingham News" scrutinized the salaries paid by King to several members of his staff. The "News" focused on some aides whose salaries, it implied, were excessive for the employees in question. It pointed to one aide to King who was being paid $57,504 a year – almost the salary for starting lawyers – within three months of graduating from college. This staffer, the "News" reported, had been paid $39,456 a year as an "intern" while still enrolled in college. King responded, through a spokesman, that the aide in question was “an exceptional young man who is the chief aide to the attorney general and who is almost indispensable in terms of the many functions he carries out in this office,” and who travels extensively with King. In addition, the "News" noted that King is himself paid more - $164,000 a year – than any state attorney general other than California’s. [“AG King Boosts Top Aides’ Salaries,” "The Birmingham News", July 27, 2008, p. 11A] Despite King’s explanation, he was criticized in newspaper editorials, with one major local newspaper saying the salaries of the aides in question were “out of line for their experience and qualifications.” [“Editorial: King’s Pay Practices Questionable,” "The Montgomery Advertiser", August 7, 2008, p. A7]

King's name is mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2010. ["Hubbard Keeping Options Open for 2010," "Opelika-Auburn News", January 18, 2008] King was an early supporter of the 2008 presidential campaign of Arizona Senator John McCain. King serves as the Alabama chair of the McCain campaign. ["Presidential Fever," "The Huntsville Times", November 9, 2007, p. 8A]

Professional Experience

Legal Advisor, Governor Bob Riley, 2003-2004
Assistant Attorney General, 1999-2003
Deputy Executive Secretary, 1997-1999
Acting Executive Secretary, 1997
Deputy Legal Advisor, 1995-1997
Legal Advisor, 1995.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ago.state.al.us/bio.cfm Official site]
* [http://www.ago.state.al.us/contact_online.cfm Contact info]
* [http://naag.org/ag/ag_bios.php?id=120 NAAG bio]
* [http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1576&wit_id=4495 A.G. King's U.S. Senate testimony]