Following the tumultuous collapse of former Gov. Robert Bentley’s enigmatic regime of conspiracy and balderdash policy, secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Stan Stabler has stepped down to enter into retirement. Current Gov. Kay Ivey has chosen Hal Taylor as ALEA’s acting secretary until she chooses a permanent official for the Cabinet position. 

Taylor was previously serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the State Bureau of Investigations and ALEA Chief of Staff beginning in 2014. In addition to the Secretary of ALEA, all other Alabama Cabinet positions will be refilled as Gov. Kay has asked each official to step down.

“Hal Taylor is a man of the utmost integrity who I trust during this time of transition to help in my vision of improving Alabama’s image,” Ivey said to AL.com. “I also thank the hundreds of men and women in our state law enforcement ranks who work every day to protect us.”

According to AL.com, Stabler spent most of his final emails thanking ALEA employees for their service. Nevertheless, Stabler had long been a supporter of Bentley. He vehemently denied the existence of evidence of wrongdoings by Bentley, even going as far as to write an op-ed dismissing the accusations facing Bentley. This had long stuck as a puzzling contrast to the position Stabler’s predecessor, Spencer Collier, took in confronting Bentley about existing evidence of Bentley’s crimes.

Taylor will be the third Secretary of ALEA in a little over a year.