OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is seeing changes after two former prosecutors resigned this summer.
Aug. 9 was board member Cathy Stocker's last day on the board. She informed the board of her resignation on July 12.
Stocker was appointed to the board by Governor Kevin Stitt to replace Kelly Doyle, who also resigned abruptly in March 2022.
In Stocker's resignation letter to the board, she said she called the Governor's General Counsel on May 22 to tell them she was resigning.
"As I told you in our telephone call, I regret that this service has not been a good fit with the rest of my life in fulfilling my obligations elsewhere and in pursuing the other interests I had when I retired as the District 4 District Attorney in January of 2011," the resignation letter reads.
On Aug. 3, Stitt appointed Kevin Buchanan, a former district attorney for Washington and Nowata counties to replace her.
On Aug. 4, board member Richard Smothermon submitted his resignation. He was appointed by the OK Supreme Court to the board to replace member Allen McCall, who resigned in 2021.
Smothermon said the decision to resign was based on a "variety of factors," but did not go into those factors.
"The opportunity to serve the State of Oklahoma as your appointee to this Board has been both an honor and a privilege, and I deeply thank you for your faith and trust in me," his resignation letter read.
The Supreme Court has not announced an appointee to replace him yet.
These two resignations come as the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole team is named in a lawsuit by death-row inmate Richard Glossip.
Glossip claims he wasn't given a fair trial after Smothermon recused himself from Glossip's clemency vote due to a conflict of interest.
- Previous coverage >>> Advocates for Glossip express shock, outrage after clemency denied
Without Smothermon, the board went on to vote 2-2. Since clemency requires a majority vote, Glossip was denied.
According to the Oklahoma Constitution, the Pardon and Parole Board must have five members, three appointed by the governor, one by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and one by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
2 News is working to learn how this will impact future clemency hearings and parole board duties until the spots are filled. We will update here when we learn more.
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