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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.

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.

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.

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 later filed a lawsuit against the Department to keep it from pressuring Alabama to permit video gaming on Alabama reservations.

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. 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. King received support in the controversy from the victim's family, and from some death penalty supporters, 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. The investigation eventually resulted in a guilty plea by Johnson in the related federal investigation.

After his appointment as Attorney General in 2004, King was substituted as a defendant in the case of Williams v. Morgan. 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.” King defended the law, both legally and politically. 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. The latter incident became fodder for numerous editorial cartoons and other comment, such as that in the illustration to the left.

King's name is mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2010. 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.

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

1. "Mission Accomplished for Attorney General," The Montgomery Advertiser, November 8, 2006, p. A-2
2. Alabama State Bar Directory: Troy King
3. "Law and Order Measures Big at Session," The Huntsville Times, July 28, 2005, p. 1B
4. "King Opposes Gambling Request," The Montgomery Advertiser, July 30, 2006, p. B3
5. "Judge Agrees to Let Creek Indians Join Gambling Lawsuit," Mobile Press-Register, April 28, 2008, p. B1
6. "Editorial: Hop on the Execution Train: Ol' Troy's Revving to Go," The Anniston Star, April 23, 2008
7. "Editorial: Troy King's War on Something," The Birmingham News, October 29, 2007, p. 6A
8. "DA Group Leader Takes Aim at King, Says AG 'Has No Idea' on Death Penalty Cases," The Birmingham News, September 21, 2007, p. 5C
9. "Letter to the Editor: Editorial Should Embolden King's Case," The Birmingham News, September 18, 2007, p. 6A
10. "State AG Solicited Target of Inquiry," The Birmingham News, January 28, 2007, p. 1A
11. "Johnson Pleads Guilty to Kickbacks," The Birmingham News, April 1, 2008, p. 1A
12. Williams v. Morgan, 478 F.3d 1316 (11th Cir. 2007).
13. Ala. Code § 13A-12-200.2(a)(1)
14. “Ban on Sex Toys Targeted,” Mobile Press-Register, December 4, 2007, p. A1
15. "Woman Fighting King on Sex Toys,” Mobile Press-Register, November 14, 2007, p. A1
16. "Hubbard Keeping Options Open for 2010," Opelika-Auburn News, January 18, 2008
17. "Presidential Fever," The Huntsville Times, November 9, 2007, p. 8A

External links

• Official site
• Contact info
• NAAG bio
• A.G. King's U.S. Senate testimony

• Living people
• 1968 births
• Alabama Attorneys General
• Alabama lawyers