Kim Patton-Johnson has more than three decades in the public service sector. Her first professional position was with the Department of Family and Children Services in Tennessee. After relocating to Atlanta in 1989, she continued her work with disadvantaged families as a caseworker with the Georgia Department of Human Services. In 1992, she transferred to the Parole Board, where she began working in the Metro Region as a Parole Officer. She was later promoted to Warrant Specialist and then Field Operations Officer in 1998.

In 2003, Patton-Johnson was promoted to Senior Field Operations Officer and took on a management role within the Warrants and Violations unit (Field Operations). In 2005, she was selected to work in the Board’s Public Affairs Office. She also worked briefly in the Clemency Division before returning to Warrants and Violations in 2009. Upon her return, she chaired a Process Action Team that worked closely with executive staff and the Board to develop innovative alternatives to revocation, including new waiver options. Additionally, she was appointed to the agency's TAC, where she helped coordinate the transition to Virtual Final Revocation Hearings.

Patton-Johnson was appointed Director of Government Relations in July of 2015. Along with her legislative responsibilities, she also served as the agency’s Strategic Planning Coordinator. In January of 2019, she was promoted to Deputy Director of Clemency Investigations. In this role, she worked with the leadership team to implement new processes, enhance operational efficiency, and expand the criminal investigations unit.