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State Board of Pardons and Paroles State Board
of Pardons
and Paroles
State Board of
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State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mission Statement

To serve the citizens of Georgia by exercising the constitutional authority of executive clemency through informed decision-making, thereby ensuring public safety, protecting victims’ rights, and providing offenders with opportunities for positive change.  

Our Vision

To be the nation’s most effective and efficient executive clemency authority by:


Making informed, scientific, data-driven clemency decisions based in constitutional authority and guided by applicable state law 


Preparing offenders for positive change through the imposition of practical and constructive pre and post release conditions


Protecting the public and creating safer communities by holding accountable those offenders who violate the conditions of release


Ensuring crime victims have a voice in the post-conviction criminal justice process


Fostering partnerships and positive relationships with all stakeholders


Engaging, educating, and encouraging the active participation of all stakeholders in the clemency decision-making process


Striving to be a continuously learning public safety organization

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is a part of the executive branch of Georgia's government, constitutionally authorized to grant paroles, pardons, reprieves, remissions, commutations, and to restore civil and political rights.

Parole is the discretionary decision of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to release a certain offender from confinement after he or she has served an appropriate portion of a prison sentence. Persons on parole remain under state supervision and control according to conditions which, if violated, allow for re-imprisonment.

History of Parole in Georgia

Separation of powers among the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive is a cornerstone of our system of government. Written into the U.S. Constitution, this system of checks and balances has withstood the test of time in providing our society with safeguards from errors or excesses in any branch.

Nowhere is it more important to apply these principles than in criminal justice. The U.S. Constitution gave the Executive Branch the power to pardon as a check against the authority of the Judiciary. The authors of the Constitution realized that any criminal code would be too restrictive and severe without access to a ready means to handle exceptions.

State Governments use Federal Model

Like the Federal government, the typical state strengthened its checks and balances by giving pardoning power to its Executive Branch. However, as a tool for rehabilitating ex-inmates and protecting society, a pardon was limited. It was too abrupt and irrevocable. What was needed was a more flexible system which would supervise after release and deter misconduct through the threat of revocation. This need was met by the introduction of a new type of clemency called parole, a word derived from French parole d'honneur (word of honor), indicating the released prisoner's promise to do no wrong.

The first legislation in the United States authorizing parole was enacted in Massachusetts in 1837. The duties of those first Massachusetts parole officers included helping released prisoners find jobs and providing them with tools, clothing, and transportation at state expense.

A wave of demand for prison reform in the 1870s led to the opening of the Elmira Reformatory in New York State in 1876. It used a limited form of the indeterminate sentence and a method of awarding marks and parole based on those marks. After release, Elmira inmates remained under supervision of the Reformatory for six months, during which time parole could be revoked if they violated release conditions.

By 1880 three states had parole, and by 1889 the number had grown to twelve. By 1944 all 48 states had enacted parole legislation.

Parole Arrives in Georgia

Parole came to Georgia in 1908 when the General Assembly voted to give the Prison Commission authority to implement a system of "parole or conditional pardons." Parole could be granted upon the approval of the full Commission and the Governor. The Commission had power to issue warrants and arrest a parole violator, arbitrarily allowing or disallowing him credit for time served on parole. After twelve months a parolee was eligible for consideration for a full pardon and restoration of his rights of citizenship.

During the next decade the Prison Commission observed the benefits of parole in equalizing disparate sentencing across the State. They also reported the advantages of assigning responsible persons to help the offender reestablish himself in society.

But while the general principle of parole was appreciated, the system itself remained primitive and understaffed. For example, there was no such thing as a trained parole officer; parolees were put under the supervision of an employer or other sponsor. Despite that, parole helped many offenders begin productive and law-abiding lives.

Separation from Governor Leads to Independent Board

In 1938, the Prison Commission was redesignated the State Prison and Parole Commission, and the administration of the penal camps and institutions was taken from it and placed under the State Board of Penal Administration. Relieved of prison administrative duties, the Commission was given broader powers to grant paroles without approval of the Governor and without limitation on its authority "save the welfare of the State." However, the Commission was limited by a shortage of funds and so had only six parole officers on its staff in 1940.

In the early 1940s there were serious questions raised about the handling of pardons by some Governors' offices. Public concern led the General Assembly to enact legislation, signed into law in February 1943, which created the State Board of Pardons and Paroles as an independent agency to administer executive clemency.

In August 1943 Georgia voters ratified, by a ratio of four and a half to one, a landmark amendment to the State Constitution. It established in that document the Parole Board's authority to grant paroles, pardons, and reprieves, to commute sentences, including death sentences, to remit sentences, and to remove disabilities imposed by law. It was given a staff of parole officers to investigate cases and supervise persons granted parole.

The Constitution provided that the Governor would appoint the Board members to seven-year terms subject to confirmation by the State Senate. Once confirmed, members would be insulated from political pressures by the fact that no one official could remove them from office until they completed their terms. Their autonomy was enhanced by their right to elect their own chairman annually.

The Board had only three members until a Constitutional amendment, effective in 1973, allowed expansion to its present size of five members.

Developing the System of Professionalism and Accountability

The Georgia Board has continually strived for excellence in both parole decision-making and parolee supervision. In 1979 the Board began using Parole Decision Guidelines, popularly called the "grid system." Guidelines weigh an inmate's crime severity and his likelihood of success on parole as revealed by predictive factors from his criminal and social history. Resulting Guidelines recommendations help the Board make more consistent, soundly based, and understandable decisions.

 

HB 310 Adopted

In 2015, the state legislature adopted House Bill 310 creating the Department of Community Supervision. This department has the responsibility to supervise in the community offenders on parole or on state probation.

Services

Georgia Office of Victim Services

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has been recognized for its leadership role in the advocacy of victim rights. The Parole Board continues to give the highest priority and greatest compassion to those citizens who are most affected by crime, the innocent victims and their survivors. In 2005, the Parole Board and Department of Corrections combined their offices of victim services to form the Corrections and Parole Board Office of Victim Services. This afforded both agencies the opportunity to accommodate victims, and provide victims with the highest possible level of customer service. On July 1, 2015, with the creation of the Department of Community Supervision, the office began serving victims for all three agencies and is now the Georgia Office of Victim Services.

Parole wants input from victims

As the State’s executive clemency agency, the Parole Board believes it can carry out its functions effectively only by gathering comprehensive information on offenders, including the impact of their actions on victims and the community. The Georgia Office of Victim Services works with victims or their families to answer their questions about parole, to ensure their views and concerns reach Board Members prior to the parole decision, and to keep them notified of activity on their case. Most importantly, the personnel in the Georgia Office of Victim Services continually strive to make victims feel welcomed in the parole process.

Victim Information Program - V.I.P. 

V.I.P. is a 24-hour automated information system used by the Georgia Office of Victim Services to provide victims of crime and/or their families with access to information about their offender. By simply picking up a telephone and dialing the toll-free V.I.P. number, (1-800-593-9474) information regarding the custody status of an inmate can be obtained. For more information call 404-651-6668.

V.I.P. also operates as a notification system. Through computer generated telephone calls, individuals who have registered with the Georgia Office of Victim Services will automatically receive notification of the release of their offender from custody. 

Victims Visitors' Day 

“Victims Visitors’ Days” are conducted across Georgia by the Georgia Office of Victim Services. Crime victims and their families in attendance receive information concerning the current status of their offender, and they can register to receive future notification of the status of their offender. Since 2006, more than 4,000 victims have been able to give information about their offender's case, in these face-to-face meetings with staff from the Parole Board including Board Members. 

Victim Impact Sessions

Victim Impact Sessions (VIS) were implemented during FY 2022. These sessions allow victims whose offender is within twelve (12)  to eighteen (18) months of parole consideration to discuss their case in a meeting with a Board Member, a Georgia Office of Victim Services' staff member, and a senior hearing examiner. By focusing on cases due to be reviewed by the Board during the next twelve to eighteen months, the Board is receiving up to date and timely information from both the victim and the district attorney. In FY22, two Victim Impact Sessions were conducted, one in Gainesville and the other in Brunswick. So far in FY23, Victim Impact Sessions have been conducted in Canton, Forsyth, Ellijay, Savannah and Columbus, Georgia.

The Board is committed to allowing victims to be heard.  

Learn about Georgia Office of Victim Services

Parole Consideration

Clemency is typically administered today by an independent parole board, which performs a vital function if criminal justice is to remain a flexible and continuing process throughout. The Board’s existence ensures that the Executive Branch, in addition to the Legislative and Judicial, has a discretionary role in Georgia's Criminal Justice System. Thus it provides a vital part of the checks and balances of Constitutional government.

The principle of separation of powers is upheld when the judiciary’s regular involvement in a case ends at the time the offender is sentenced to prison. Then the Parole Board begins monitoring the inmate and drawing knowledge of the case from the courts, police, prison, and society to form the basis of a just decision to grant or deny clemency.

Persons are sentenced to prison for four purposes: punishment, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. A parole board studies the need for and accomplishment of each of these purposes in each case being considered. Justice demands that the handling of each case should be tailored to the crime and to the offender.

A parole board’s view of a case necessarily differs from that of a local court or law enforcement agency. The Board can compare the case with thousands of others statewide. The Board’s unique central position and authority allows it to reduce sentence disparity. Excessive harshness is more readily reduced, but excessive leniency in the form of a too-light confinement sentence may be corrected partially by parole denial.

It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of a Parole Board’s investigative and decision-making authority being centralized. Any substitute prisoner-release mechanism triggered by numerous officials scattered in courthouses or prisons would be destined to be inequitable and not in the best interests of the citizens’ safety or taxpayers’ pocketbook.

Discretion in releasing inmates appears inevitable. The question is where discretion is best placed and how it is best applied. The answer is provided in an independent, informed, just, and careful parole board. In states that have abolished the parole system, other release mechanisms had to be instituted. Many of these alternative systems are merely primitive parole systems with limited case information on which to base release decisions and inadequate resources for effective community supervision of those released.

Learn about Parole Consideration

Parole Population in Georgia

As of July 1, 2015, supervision of parolees in Georgia is the responsibility of the Department of Community Supervision. The Parole Board assists in the transition of the offender back to the community and works with the Department of Community Supervision to quickly address alleged violations of parole.

Parole Population in Georgia

During FY 2022, the parolee population decreased from 19,828 on July 1, 2021, to 17,744 on June 30, 2022. During the fiscal year, 73% of Georgia's parole population successfully completed parole supervision. The national average of parolees successfully completing supervision was estimated at approximately 57% for the fiscal year. The cost of parole supervision in FY 2022 was $2.22 per parolee (Georgia Department of Community Supervision), compared to the most recently reported Georgia Department of Corrections' cost of $62.23 per inmate per day to incarcerate an offender with the Department of Corrections.

Learn about Parole Population in Georgia

Office

Visit

2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SE
Suite 430, Balcony Level, West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334

Contact

Primary:
(404) 656-4661 Parole Status Questions
Media and public information:
(404) 657-9450
[email protected]
Mail to:

2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SE
Suite 430, Balcony Level, West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334

State Board of
Pardons and
Paroles
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    Suite 430, Balcony Level, West Tower
    ATLANTA, GA 30334

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