MONTGOMERY, Ala. — State Sen. Jack Williams, a Wilmer Republican who is leaving the Legislature this fall, is expected to step down from his Senate seat early to become a deputy commissioner at the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.
The State Personnel Board on Wednesday approved the Alabama Agriculture and Industries Board’s decision to hire Williams as deputy commissioner of the department’s agriculture and animal protection division. The job pays $92,628 a year. The previous deputy commissioner in that role earned $64,152, according to the State Personnel Board.
A Short Stint Under Commissioner Rick Pate
Williams would join the department in the final months of Commissioner Rick Pate’s tenure. Pate is term-limited and cannot seek re-election, and voters will choose his successor in the Nov. 3 general election. Douglas Mayor Corey Hill, a Republican, faces former Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ron Sparks, a Democrat, in that race.
Pate, a former mayor of Lowndesboro and an Auburn University agriculture graduate, took office as Alabama’s 30th commissioner of agriculture and industries in January 2019, succeeding John McMillan. After two terms, he is barred from running again for the office. He instead sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor this year but did not advance past the May primary, leaving him with only a few months remaining in state government.
Pate said Wednesday that Williams’ relationships will help the department with ongoing projects and needs, including funding for the agency’s next leader.
“We’re building a new lab up in Moulton. I need to get a little extra money for the next commissioner, so I think (Williams) having those relationships certainly won’t be hurtful. I’m not doing it just to throw him a bone,” Pate said on Wednesday. “I think he’ll be helpful to us. I could see that he’s going to create some value for us in the two or three months that I’ll have him.”
Williams said the appointment still needs the approval of Gov. Kay Ivey following Wednesday’s action by the State Personnel Board. He said he expects everything to move forward.
“As far as I know, everything is set and in place,” Williams said.
“I have a lot of stuff I want to do that I can still bring forth. Looking forward to it. Thought about not working at all, but this was something that I really wanted to do,” he added. “As far as I know, my first day will be the first day of next month when I’m supposed to start.”
That would put his start date at Oct. 1.
The approval process reflects how hiring works in many Alabama state agencies. The Alabama Agriculture and Industries Board made the decision to hire Williams. The State Personnel Board, which governs the state’s merit system and approves appointments and pay for state jobs, signed off on the position and salary Wednesday. The final step, according to Williams, is the governor’s approval.
The salary for the post has drawn attention because it is considerably higher than what the previous deputy commissioner in the division was paid. At $92,628, Williams would earn $28,476 more per year than his predecessor’s $64,152, an increase of roughly 44%.
Why He Would Have to Resign
Williams’ current Senate term ends in November. If he begins working for the Department of Agriculture and Industries before then, he will have to resign his Senate seat.
If he does resign, Senate District 34 will remain vacant until the November general election. The new legislative term begins the day after the general election, when the winner of the District 34 race takes office.
Williams’ successor has effectively already been chosen. Former State Sen. Rusty Glover of Semmes won the May Republican primary for the District 34 seat, defeating Doug Harwell with about 54% of the vote. Glover has no Democratic opponent in November.
Glover is a familiar name in the district. He represented District 34 for three terms, from 2006 to 2018, and before that served in the Alabama House from 2002 to 2006. He taught history at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes for 25 years and also coached baseball and football there. Williams succeeded Glover in the Senate in 2018, and Glover will now succeed Williams.
A Farmer in the Legislature
Williams, a farmer, was first elected to the State Senate in 2018 after serving one term in the Alabama House of Representatives. He represented House District 102 from 2014 to 2018.
Born in Mobile County in 1955 and raised on his family’s farm, Williams graduated from Mary G. Montgomery High School. He and his wife, Bobbie, operate the J Bar W farm, where they raise cattle, timber and hay. Williams started Twin Oaks Nursery in Wilmer in 1986 and bought Tom Dodd Nurseries in Semmes in 2004; his son, John, now manages the nursery businesses.
In the Senate, Williams has served as vice chair of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee and vice chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee, and he has chaired the Mobile County Legislation Committee. His committee work has also included health care, transportation, energy and children’s services, as well as the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment.
One of his higher-profile bills came in 2024, when he sponsored legislation banning the manufacture, sale or distribution of lab-grown meat in Alabama. Gov. Ivey signed the measure into law, and it took effect in October 2024.
The 2026 Race for Agriculture Commissioner
Williams chose not to seek re-election to the Senate and instead ran for commissioner of agriculture and industries this year. He formally announced his campaign in June 2025, describing himself as a fourth-generation farmer and warning that “the average farmer in our state is 60-years-old and most are just one bad season away from total collapse.” He pledged to cut regulations he said had hindered farms.
In the May 19 Republican primary, Williams finished third in a close three-way race. Hill received about 35.2% of the vote, or 150,598 votes, while Christina Woerner McInnis, a Baldwin County farmer, received about 34.9%, or 149,179 votes. Williams finished with about 29.9% and did not advance. Only about 1,400 votes separated the top two finishers.
Hill and McInnis met in a June 16 runoff, and Williams endorsed Hill. Hill won the runoff, defeating McInnis to secure the Republican nomination.
Hill, who has been mayor of Douglas in Marshall County since 2012, farms full time in north Alabama. During the campaign he emphasized food safety, farmer profitability and support for new farmers, and he voiced concern about the loss of farmland to large developments such as data centers and solar farms.
Hill will now face Sparks, who served two terms as agriculture commissioner from 2003 to 2011, in the general election.
About the Department of Agriculture and Industries
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries was established in 1883 and is headquartered in the Richard Beard Building in Montgomery. It is led by a commissioner elected statewide to a four-year term and limited to two consecutive terms.
The department’s work touches nearly every part of the state’s farm economy and many consumer protections. Its divisions oversee areas including:
- Animal industries and livestock health;
- Plant protection and pest control;
- Pesticide management;
- Food safety;
- Weights and measures;
- Agricultural compliance and commodity testing.
Williams’ position would put him over the department’s agriculture and animal protection division. The new laboratory Pate mentioned is being built in Moulton, the seat of Lawrence County in north Alabama.
What Happens Next
The hiring still requires the governor’s approval. If Ivey signs off and Williams starts on Oct. 1 as he expects, he would need to resign from the Senate before then, leaving District 34, which covers parts of Mobile County, without a senator for roughly five weeks.
The job itself is likely to be brief. Pate has said he expects to have Williams for two or three months before the new commissioner, either Hill or Sparks, takes office. Whether Williams stays on under the next administration will be up to the winner of the November election.