photo of past board member Brooks

Walter O. Brooks

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – April 1, 1961 – January 1, 1967
Born March 15, 1920 in McRae, Telfair County, Georgia.
Graduated McRae High School, 1937; Atlanta Law School, LL.B., 1940. Admitted to the Bar 1939.

L. Gale Buckner

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member - July 1, 2004 - November 13, 2011 
Chairman - July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2010
Received a BS Degree from Georgia State University, and a Master of Public Administration from Brenau University.

photo of past board member Busbee

Floyd Edward Busbee

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – July 17, 1975 - March 30, 1983
Born, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.
Graduated Georgia Tech., BS, 1939.
 

Photograph of past board member Byars

Grover Cleveland Byars

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – January 1, 1943 – November 31, 1948
Born March 21, 1888 in Rome, GA. Graduated Rome High School.
 

photo of past board member Calhoun

Elijah Jackson Calhoun, Jr.

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – January 23, 1970 - January 1, 1971
Born March 11, 1912 in Worth County, GA.
Graduated Marianna High School, Marianna, Florida, 1931; Freeman Business College, Albany, GA, 1935; Yale University Summer School of Alcohol Studies, New Haven, Connecticut, summer course, 1952.

photo of past board member Carney

Hugh C. Carney

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member –January 1, 1955 - January 1, 1962
Chairman – January 1, 1955 – January 13, 1959
Born February 28, 1917 at R.F.D. Ball Ground, Cherokee County, Georgia. Graduated Mercer University, A. B. Degree; graduate study, University of Georgia, 1940; and, Emory University, LL.B., 1949

photo of past board member Merle Clark

Merle Clark

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member - August 1991 - January 27, 1993
Graduated from high school in Statesboro and attended Georgia Southern College. Graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Federal Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation School, and the U. S. Marshall Basic Training School.

photo of past board member Claxton

Joseph Wilbur Claxton

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – February 14, 1962 – January 31, 1968
Born July 5, 1911 in Wrightsville, Johnson County, Georgia. Graduated Wrightsville High School; Locust Grove Institute; and, Mercer University. Admitted to the Bar, June 1930.

photo of past board member Cook

Betty Ann Cook, PhD

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member - January 7, 1997 - December 31, 2003
Began her career as a Criminal Justice Instructor at Morris Brown College. She rose to academic leadership positions at the Atlanta University Center and Chicago-based Argonne National Laboratory and the Opinion Research Center.

photo of past board member

Braxton T. Cotton

State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Member – November 1, 2013 - July 6, 2018
Vice Chairman - July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018
Earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Saint Leo University and a Master of Public Safety Administration from Columbus State University.