Gov. Mike Beebe today announced his intention to grant 15 pardons, which begins a 30-day process in which people can object to those decisions.
The list includes a pardon for Troy Nations of Camden, who’d be pardoned on a 2003 delivery of marijuana conviction in Ouachita County. The governor notes that all terms of the sentence have been completed, he’s had no subsequent law violatons and no objections were filed.
Nations is noteworthy because he talked in an interview with KATV of finding himself still waiting for action from the governor despite an earlier application and nearly identical circumstances to those of the governor’s son, Kyle Beebe. The governor has announced his intention to pardon his son on a 2003 felony marijuana conviction that stemmed from the discovery of about two ounces of pot in his home.
Beebe has not yet formally recommended the pardon for his son, who lives in Searcy, but plans to do so before leaving office. He’ll have another round of recommendations in December.
You can see the full list of most recent recommendations here.
Beebe’s spokesman Matt DeCample says that the Kyle Beebe pardon is still on track for December. He said Beebe was attempting to clear as much of the backlog as possible. The office still is not moving ahead with the Michael Jackson pardon. Beebe had recommended a pardon for Jackson, a sex offender who was a friend of the Beebe family. The pardon was put on hold when objections were raised about him in child custody matter.
DeCample also said that the governor has said all along that there were cases, such as Nation’s, similar to that of his son. “Nations received more attention than most because of the similarities, but in the end, each pardon is decided based on each individual’s circumstances,” he said.
Beebe has issued 731 pardons in his almost eight years in office.