Four Franklin County residents have contacted Gov. Kay Ivey’s office seeking to be appointed to the vacant Franklin County Commission District One Commissioner seat, according to a source familiar with the applicant process.
District One Commissioner Michael Murray passed away suddenly May 4th, just one year into his four-year term. Murray was elected in the November 2024 general election, defeating Democratic nominee Charles Mitchell. He finished second in the March 2024 Republican Primary, with Curtis Baker receiving the most votes, but not a majority, prompting a runoff, which Murray won. Kirk Sparks and Michael Eady also ran in the Republican Primary.
Each Franklin County Commissioner serves a four-year term and the seats will come open again in 2028.
Alabama Code Section 11-3-1 provides that any vacancy on a county commission shall be filled by appointment of the Governor. The appointee shall serve until the eighth day following the next general election. This means that the candidate Ivey appoints will hold the office for eight days after the November 3, 2026 general election.
If the appointee wants to retain the District One seat, though, it will be a busy two years of campaigning and elections.
The new commissioner would have to qualify to run in the 2026 Democratic or Republican Primary (presumably the Republican Primary if appointed by the Republican governor), win the primary and win the general election to fill out the remaining two years of the term, which ends in November 2028. And if the appointee wants to serve a full term, he will have to win the primary/general election in 2028 as well.
District One residents who have contacted Ivey’s office to apply for the vacancy include Baker, Grayson Murray (son of Michael Murray), Jeff Fleming and Joey Norton.
According to the source, Ivey’s office is in the process of scheduling applicant interviews and a decision is expected to be made by the governor later this month.
To run for county commission in Alabama, a candidate must be a qualified elector of the county where he or she runs, have resided in the county for at least one year prior to the date he or she would take office, and be a resident of the district in which the candidate seeks to represent for at least one year prior to the date he or she would take office.
And the commissioner must continue to meet the qualified elector and residency requirements throughout his or her term.
