Riley administration fills $91,000 position

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Gov. Bob Riley’s administration has hired a former assistant state director, Rex McDowell, in a $91,000-a-year position to head the Finance Department’s Information Technology Division.

Acting state Finance Director Bill Newton said he decided to hire McDowell.

McDowell’s hiring comes during a state hiring freeze, but Newton said the department is getting smaller. He said four employees left recently when the governor appointed former state Finance Director Jim Main to an appellate judgeship.

McDowell was acting assistant finance director from 2003 to 2005 and then worked for a private telecommunications company in Dallas before Newton asked him to return.