Editor’s note: The News Courier will publish candidate announcements as we receive them and as space allows. Candidate announcements should be sent to editor Adam Smith at adam@athensnews-courier.com.

Troy King recently announced he will seek the Republican nomination for the office of Alabama Attorney General.

King, who served as the State’s Attorney General from 2004 until 2010, said he is running because he loves Alabama and because he believes it is time to begin to fix what is wrong with this state.

Referring to the culture of corruption that has clouded state government recently, he said “the last eight years have been filled with politicians putting their own interests ahead of ours. We watched as politicians passed a new ethics law which they thought nobody would notice when they turned around and broke it.”

King has attended more than 50 parole hearings since going into private practice, and he noted he has been there to object to the release of violent criminals but, on all but a single occasion, the Attorney General has not attended.

“I have been there to stand with victims of crime over and over before the Board of Pardons and Paroles,” he said. “I have stood against the release of some of our state’s most brutal and heinous criminals. The District Attorneys have been there as well. The Attorney General has not been there.”

The King campaign will focus on his intent to work closely with law enforcement officials to prosecute violent criminals and restore integrity and respect to the state.

“We have been the butt of embarrassing jokes for too long,” King said. “I think it is time for that to end.”

Attorney General Steve Marshall, Chess Bedsole and Alice Martin are also seeking the Republican nomination.