Former Attorney General to Head Alabama Prisons

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Gov. Bob Riley has selected a lawyer who formerly served as state attorney general to direct the state’s prison system.

Richard F. Allen, a Decatur native currently working at a Montgomery law firm, will replace Donal Campbell, who resigned in February after serving as prison commissioner for three years.

Riley also named his deputy legal adviser Vernon Barnett to serve as chief deputy commissioner of prisons.