Parole Consideration, Eligibility & Guidelines

When considering parole for those offenders who will become statutorily eligible for parole consideration and who are serving less than a life sentence, the Board reviews a recommendation of months, or a percentage of the sentence, to serve. This recommendation is obtained from the Parole Decision Guidelines system, which accounts for the severity of the crime and the offender's risk to reoffend. The offender's risk to reoffend is determined by weighted factors concerning the offender's criminal and social history that the Board has found to have value in predicting the probability of further criminal behavior. 

The application of the Parole Decision Guidelines to the circumstances of the offender's case begins with a Board Hearing Examiner identifying the offender's Crime Severity Level from a table of offenses. The higher the severity level of the offense, the more serious the Parole Board views the crime. The majority of offenses will be assigned the Crime Severity Level that is current when the Guidelines are applied to the offender’s case. The following offenses, however, will be assigned the Crime Severity Level that applied prior to January 1, 2006, if the offense was committed before then: attempted rape, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, aggravated battery, aggravated battery on a police officer, vehicular homicide (while DUI or HV), hijacking a motor vehicle or bus, criminal attempt to murder, aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault (with injury or weapon), enticing a child for an indecent purpose, cruelty to children, child molestation, feticide, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated stalking, and residential burglary.

Click here to see a Crime Severity Levels chart for Pre-2006 offenses.

Click here to see a Crime Severity Levels chart for Post-2006 offenses.

As of July 2021, the Board has increased the crime severity level for a conviction of the following attempted offenses; attempted aggravated child molestation, attempted armed robbery, attempted kidnapping, attempted aggravated sexual battery and attempted aggravated sodomy, from crime severity level VII to crime severity level VIII.

Click here to see the Crime Severity Levels chart for offenses committed on or after July 1, 2021.  (to June 30, 2023)

Click here to see the Crime Severity Levels chart for offenses committed on or after July 1, 2023 .

In January 2008, the Parole Board revised its Parole Decision Guidelines and changed the manner in which it evaluated offenders for cases considered on or after January 1. These amendments to the Guidelines were preceded by a three-year study and analysis of risk factors utilized in granting clemency to offenders, past clemency practices, and the effects of the new Guidelines on prison capacity. The Parole Board made these changes after determining that it was in the best interest of the public and the criminal justice community to adopt revised Guidelines that incorporate a scientifically based, data-driven risk instrument with new time-to-serve recommendations. In the new Guidelines grid, the minimum mid-point recommendation for each Crime Severity Level represents one-third, or more, of the statewide-average prison sentence for all crimes assigned said Crime Severity Level. The 2008 Guidelines represented, for the first time, a connection with the statewide-average length of prison sentences imposed by Superior Court Judges.

Click here to see the Parole Success Score Chart for Pre-2008 cases

Click here to see the Risk to Reoffend Score Chart for 2008 - 6/2017 cases

In 2015, the Board began a revision of the Parole Decision Guidelines. Statistical analyses identified the significant predictors of public safety risk (felony arrest within three years of prison release). For the first time, both risk factors and their weights were identified separately for males and females.  For all cases considered for parole on or after July 1, 2017, the new system will be used to compute an offender’s parole risk score. The Board’s new Parole Decision Guidelines represent its best effort to protect the public from harm by maximizing the utility of the state’s prison system and ensuring that the most dangerous offenders are incarcerated for the longest period of time possible, given the State’s available resources.

Click here to see the Risk to Re-Offend Score Chart  (7/1/2017 - 6/30/2023)

Click here for the Guidelines Calculator (7/1/2017 to 6/30/2023)

Click here to see the current Risk to Re-Offend Score Chart (Revised as of 7/1/2023)

The Hearing Examiner cross-references the offender's Crime Severity Level and Risk to Re-Offend Score on the Guidelines Grid component of the Parole Decision Guidelines System. The Guidelines Grid provides a months-to-serve or a percentage of the prison sentence recommendation for the Board's consideration. The Board adopted various percentages of the sentence for Level VIII offenses, rather than an across-the-board percentage (e.g., 90%), because the law governing parole guidelines requires that the guidelines take into consideration not just the severity of the crime, but "the inmate's conduct, and the social factors which the Board has found to have value predicting the probability of further criminal behavior." (See O.C.G.A. 42-9-40).

Click here to see the Parole Decision Guidelines Grid for Pre-2008 cases

Click here to see the Parole Decision Guidelines Grid for 2008 - 6/2017 cases

Click here to see the current Parole Decision Guidelines Grid  

The Board may accept or reject the recommendation from the Guidelines. The Board specifically reserves the right to exercise its discretion under Georgia law to disagree with the recommendation resulting from application of the Parole Decision Guidelines and to make an independent decision to deny parole or to establish a Tentative Parole Month (TPM) at any time prior to sentence expiration.

The Board then sends the inmate a notice advising of its decision and emphasizing that any Tentative Parole Month is conditioned on good conduct in prison and sometimes successful completion of a drug, alcohol, sex-offender counseling program, or other pre-condition(s). Reports from the Department of Corrections of misconduct by the offender usually result in parole postponement or cancellation. Rehabilitative efforts on the part of the inmate can result in the Board advancing a TPM a few months. (See Performance Incentive Credit Program below).

The Board reserves the right to withdraw the grant of parole prior to the effective date if, in its discretion, it believes it to be in the public interest to do so.

Verification of Residence Plans

It is necessary that an inmate have an acceptable residence plan before his or her release on parole. Residence plans will not be verified until and unless the Board has tentatively decided to grant parole and the TPM for the inmate approaches.

Georgia Inmates May Apply for Out-of-State Parole

An offender who wants to be paroled to another state should notify the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles of his specific residence, giving the complete address to the Parole Investigator who interviews him for the Personal History Statement before his initial consideration or by writing directly to the Board's Interstate Compact Office.

An offender has legitimate reasons to request out-of-state parole if he or she has been a resident of the proposed receiving state, and if his or her family lives there. The proposed receiving state investigates the offender's parole plans and decides whether to accept him or her for supervision. The Georgia Board must also approve the offender's parole plans, but only the Georgia Parole Board may grant parole.

Consideration of Inmate with a Detainer

A detainer indicating that an offender is wanted to face charges or serve a sentence may be filed with the Department of Corrections by local authorities, another state, federal authorities, or the military. A detainer does not prevent an offender from being considered by the Parole Board. The Board may parole the inmate "to the detainer," known as a "Conditional Transfer," and thereby transfer custody of the offender to the requesting authority. If that authority releases the offender before the end of the Georgia sentence, he or she becomes a parolee under the supervision of the Board.

Because detainers against Georgia offenders are filed with the Department of Corrections, all inquiries about them should be directed to that Department or to the requesting authority.

Performance Incentive Credit Program

In 1992, the Georgia Legislature passed a law creating an inmate performance incentive credit program (PIC). Eligible inmates may have their TPM advanced a few months by satisfactory progress in education or treatment programs and work programs during incarceration with the Georgia Department of Corrections. 

To learn details of the Performance Incentive Credit Program visit the Department of Corrections website here.