Crime Victims to meet with the Parole Board during Download this pdf file. Victims Visitors’ Day

ATLANTA – Georgia’s annual ceremony and Open House for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is April 14, 2015. The events take place at the Department of Corrections’ headquarters in Forsyth. The 2015 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week will be celebrated Sunday, April 19, through Saturday April 25, 2015.

This year’s theme for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is, Engaging Communities. Empowering Victims.

“By working with community leaders and groups, we can utilize community resources to assess the needs of victims and the impact that crime has had on their lives,” stated Parole Board Chairman Terry Barnard. “The Parole Board understands that in order to help victims become survivors, we must first listen and learn in an effort to better understand what victims need and how we can best serve them,” Barnard added.

Georgia’s Multi-State Agency Victim Services Partnership invites victims of crime, including family members of crime victims, to attend the annual ceremony at 10 a.m. and the Open House at 12 p.m. at State Offices South at Tift Campus. The ceremony will be held in Roberts Chapel.

Georgia crime victims also can schedule a meeting with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to discuss their cases. Meetings with Board Members will be conducted during the agency’s Victims Visitors’ Day that will be held in conjunction with the Open House.

“We believe in meeting victims where they are….in their community, and empowering them throughout the process as they become survivors,” stated Barnard. “Before making a decision about whether to release an offender, we consider the victim and the impact of the crime on the victim,” Barnard added.

At the Victims Visitors’ Day and Open House, victims will have the opportunity to meet with sponsoring agencies and take advantage of the services they offer.

Victims planning to attend are asked to register by calling 404-651-6668 or 1 (800) 593-9474 by Friday, April 10th. Victims may still schedule meetings after this date.

The Multi-State Agency Victim Services Partnership consists of the following agencies: Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts, Georgia Commission on Family Violence, Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Department of Corrections, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Public Safety, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

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