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Governor names new chair of Arkansas parole board

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders named a new chair of the state Post-Prison Transfer Board (also known as the parole board) late Wednesday.
John Sykes
/
Arkansas Advocate
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders named a new chair of the state Post-Prison Transfer Board (also known as the parole board) late Wednesday.

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Austin attorney Lona McCastlain was named Wednesday evening as chair of the state parole board, which also makes the former prosecutor a member of the Arkansas Board of Corrections.

Lona McCastlain
Lona McCastlain

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the dual appointment about 6:42 p.m. in a press release along with appointees to other state boards and some county governments.

McCastlain replaces Jamol Jones, who resigned as chair of the Post-Prison Transfer Board on Feb. 2, after reports about his past relationship with a minor came to light. Jones’ resignation came about a week after Sanders had named him chair of the parole board.

Sanders, in late January, reappointed McCastlain to the Post-Prison Transfer Board to a term that ends in 2031.

McCastlain served as a prosecuting attorney in Lonoke County from 1998-2008 and has served as a special justice on the state Supreme Court.

In his 50-year career, Sonny Albarado has been an investigations editor, a business editor, a city editor, an environmental reporter and a government reporter at newspapers in Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana. He retired from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2020 after serving as projects editor for 12 ½ years.