Augusta, GA – The State Board of Pardons and Paroles joined several law enforcement agencies this week in Richmond County to serve warrants on offenders, make arrests, conduct parole supervision compliance checks and provide support to local law enforcement.

The Augusta Joint Task Force Operation was conducted October 8th and 9th in Richmond County. Several law enforcement agencies joined forces to serve probation and parole warrants and warrants issued by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department. Fifty arrests were made during the two-day operation including four offenders who were on parole.

Agencies participating included the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Department of Corrections’ Probation Division, the Columbia County and Richmond County Sheriff’s Departments and the U.S. Marshals Service. Twelve Parole Officers from the Augusta Parole District participated in the operation.

Michael Nail, Executive Director of the Parole Board, says all agencies benefit from this collaborative law enforcement effort and ensuring public safety is the primary reason for the multi-law enforcement approach.

“Protecting the public is our job as law enforcement officers and these joint operations continue to prove to be successful in removing offenders from our communities who are not complying with their parole supervision or have committed new crimes,” Nail said.

The Georgia Parole Board utilizes a “Virtual Office.” As a result, Georgia’s parole officers are supervising offenders in the community, full-time. The state vehicle serves as the parole office and is equipped with all necessary technology for the parole officer to supervise offenders in the community. Parole officers no longer report to a physical office location. 

The Parole Board employs approximately 300 officers. The average parole caseload of offenders for FY14 was 88. During the fiscal year parole officers made more than 231,000 face-to-face contacts with parolees in the community.

For more information on the Parole Board please visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.

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