Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. appointed Board of Pardons member Keith Hamilton as the board's chairman Wednesday, replacing Don Blanchard, who has been chairman since Sept. 23 and a board member for the past 15 years.
Blanchard said he had known for about a month that he wouldn't be reappointed to the board, and he had been planning for retirement. The governor had likely wanted some "fresh blood" in the chairman's seat, Blanchard said.
"I hope at the end of the day that people will be able to say, 'He's been hard-working. He's been fair,'" Blanchard said of his tenure as chairman. "That's what I've been after."
The windowsills in his Murray office feature a few rock specimens he has picked up on various hikes throughout Utah, and he plans do more hiking, he said. He wants to play more racquetball and see his children and grandchildren more.
Although Blanchard will no longer be chairman, he plans to stay on as a board member until a replacement can be found. Board members serve five-year terms, and at the end of each term, the governor may either make a reappointment or select someone new.
Hamilton, the new chairman, has been on the board since September, when Huntsman appointed him to the spot left open by former chairman Mike Sibbett. Hamilton was on the board from 1997 to 2003 and left the the board to pursue a private criminal defense law practice. He was the first black graduate of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, in 1986.
"I consider myself as a criminal jurist, as a criminal-justice person," Hamilton said Wednesday. "That's my love. That's my passion. I'm excited about working with the governor. I see it as a great responsibility."
Hamilton's appointment as chairman was effective immediately on Wednesday.
Blanchard, meanwhile, has seen much during his 15 years on the board, including reviews of the cases of murderers Von Lester Taylor and Mark Hacking. Taylor in 1990 escaped from a prison halfway house and fatally shot Beth Potts, 70, and her daughter, Kaye Tiede, 49. Hacking shot his wife, Lori, to death while she slept in 2004.
Blanchard's path to the Board of Pardons was unique from the other current members. Most have law backgrounds, but Blanchard got his start in corrections.
As a BYU undergrad, he got a job with the Utah Department of Corrections working at the Utah State Prison. He then worked for Adult Probation and Parole. Eventually, he was appointed to the Board of Pardons and Parole.
But Blanchard said he won't miss the weighty decisions he and other board members are forced to make almost daily. The Board of Pardons is charged with reviewing inmates in the state's two prisons. The hearings before the board are often fraught with emotion and pleas from victims to keep inmates locked up.
"It's a heavier job than virtually anyone realizes," says Blanchard's wife, Laura, who often sees the piles of homework her husband has.
Blanchard said he still believes inmates must have an opportunity to improve themselves. "We know that a certain percentage of these (inmates) are going to fail," he said. "But I absolutely believe people can change."
The state is now seeking applicants for Blanchard's post as a board member. The position is posted on the Web site of the Department of Human Resources Management and pays between $66,000 and $90,000 a year. Anyone who applied for the job when Sibbett stepped down won't have to submit the same paperwork again but may contact the commission directly to indicate interest, said Tom Patterson, director of the Utah Sentencing Commission. His office is a partner group with the state's Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, which will narrow down the candidate list.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com