Board of Pardons and Paroles
1. What is the Parole Board?
It is the State's clemency agency, part of the Executive Branch of State government established in the State Constitution. The Board has authority to grant paroles, reprieves, remissions, and pardons, and remove disabilities imposed by law.
2. How long has the Board been in existence?
The Board was created in February 1943 by statute law, and in August 1943 Georgia voters ratified an amendment setting forth the Board's authority in the State Constitution.
The practice of parole in Georgia, however, is much older. Beginning in 1908 the State Prison Commission issued paroles, although with little authority to supervise the offender in the community. An even earlier version, dating to Georgia's first prisons, was the governor's conditional pardon. See also History of Parole.
3. What is parole?
Parole is the service of a portion of a sentence in the community and under the supervision of the Parole Board. Parole does not reduce the length of the sentence.
4. What is the difference between probation and parole?
Probation is an act of the court, not of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Probation instead of imprisonment may be ordered by a court for all or part of a person's sentence. Probation is not parole. Parole may be granted by the Parole Board after a person has served part of his sentence in prison.
5. Who serves on the Board?
The Board is composed of five members appointed by the Governor for staggered, renewable seven-year terms subject to confirmation by the State Senate. Each year the Board elects one of its members to serve as chairman. See also Board Members.
6. Who are the current Board Members?
- Board Chairman Garland R. Hunt, Esq,
Alpharetta resident, lawyer and consulting company owner, pastor and counselor
- Vice-Chair L. Gale Buckner , of Douglasville, formerly Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. She started her public service career as a communications officer in the Chatsworth Police Department.
- Garfield Hammonds, Atlanta resident, formerly DEA Special Agent in charge of Southeast Region.
- Dr. Eugene Walker, from DeKalb County, former Commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
- Milton E. Nix, Jr., Commerce, Georgia native and current Conyers resident, a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and most previously Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
7. How often does the Board meet?
Board membership in Georgia is a full-time position so the Board is always in session. However, members do not meet as a group to discuss cases. They review and vote on cases individually.
8. Why don't Board Members visit prisons to personally talk to inmates being considered for parole?
Due to Georgia's large inmate population spread in institutions around the state, such a system would be unworkable. Currently the Board reviews more than 15,000 cases annually.
9. When are inmates considered for parole?
Unless an inmate is serving on a life sentence, or for an offense that mandates no parole, the case is prepared for consideration under the Parole Decision Guidelines and a decision is usually made in eight to ten months after entering a state reception prison.
10. Why are inmates considered for parole in less than a year after being sentenced?
By law, the Board is required to consider clemency for all inmates under its authority. At the time of consideration, the Board may establish a Tentative Parole Month in the future or may deny parole entirely. The Board may reconsider and change a prior decision in a case, for any reason, at any time, up to the time of release. Georgia inmates have a right to be considered for parole, but they do not have a right or "liberty interest" which requires release on parole.
11. Are inmates considered for parole more than once?
Inmates serving non-life sentences who are denied parole are not routinely reconsidered for parole. However, if substantive new information is received by the Board, the case may be reconsidered at the Board's discretion. Inmates who are serving life sentences who are denied parole must, by law, be reconsidered for parole at regular intervals not to exceed eight years.
12. What are Parole Decision Guidelines?
It is a carefully researched method of standardizing offenders' confinement times based on crime severity and parole risk. The Guidelines process is used to assist the Board in making consistent, soundly based, and understandable parole decisions on inmates serving non-life sentences. Implemented in 1979, revised several times since, Guidelines help the Board decide on a Tentative Parole Month (TPM) for the inmate or that he will complete his sentence without parole.
13. How is a decision reached by Board Members?
When an inmate is considered for parole, the case file is given to one of the five Board Members, who studies it, deliberates alone, and renders his or her independent decision.
On non-life cases, Board Members determine whether the Guidelines recommendation for parole denial or for a tentative release month is appropriate in each case or whether mitigating or aggravating factors should override the recommendation.
This process continues until the majority decision has been reached on whether or not to parole the individual, and if so, when.
14. Are Parole Decision Guidelines used to determine parole for lifers?
The Parole Decision Guidelines are used for non-life cases only. In life cases, primary emphasis during consideration is given to the nature and severity of the crime.
15. What sort of information is contained in the inmate file reviewed by the Board?
The file contains a personal interview with the inmate, diagnostic prison data, social background information, and legal circumstances of the offense(s), possibly interviews with prosecutors or arresting officers or victims. Criminal history is included in the file, obtained from juvenile records, the GBI and FBI. Letters from the community are read and pertinent information is extracted and placed in the file along with court official comments.
The Victim Impact Statement is a permanent part of the file, as is any correspondence by or on behalf of the victim. Prison reports of conduct, attitude or performance incentive credits are included, and lastly, the parole guidelines recommendation which has been based on factors extracted from all the information submitted.
16. Are all inmates considered for parole?
Offenders serving a non-life sentence for one or more of the "serious violent felonies" committed on or after January 1, 1995, are not eligible for parole and must serve 100% of the prison term imposed by the Judge. The "serious violent felonies" are murder, rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, armed robbery, and kidnapping.
By law, all other inmates in state custody are considered for parole at least once during their prison term, unless they are sentenced as a recidivist, to life without parole, or are under a death sentence. Georgia is the only state in the U.S. in which inmates serve 100% of their sentence for certain crimes, or if they are denied parole. There is no good time, gained time, or earned time applied to prison sentences in Georgia.
17. When is electronic monitoring used?
Beginning in January 1996 the Board began requiring electronic monitoring for all serious offenders released on parole. These offenders will have restricted movement from their homes for the first three or four months of their release and any violation may result in an immediate return to prison. Other parolees may be placed on electronic monitoring at any time during their supervision.
18. Why are inmates released by the Board, rather than serving their entire sentences?
In Georgia, the Judge sets the maximum term of confinement, and the Parole Board determines the minimum time to serve. The Board was created for the purpose of providing a non-judicial review of inmate cases, to minimize sentencing disparities, to consider rehabilitative efforts by the inmate, and to select those inmates, after careful review, most likely to succeed on parole.
In Georgia, as in other states, limited resources, increased incarceration rates, and lengthy sentences, has meant limited prison bed space. No system can accommodate the steady influx of full-term sentences. Without paroles from prison, overcrowding would result in Federal court intervention with mass releases and no state control over when or which inmates are released. Other systematic approaches, such as sentencing guidelines or structured sentencing, when implemented in other states, have resulted in a number of undesirable results such as inmates serving less time in prison, shorter sentences, fewer convicted felons actually going to prison, gained time or earned time further reducing the sentence, limited judicial discretion, increased appeals, and a reduction or elimination of important supervision upon release.
19. How much voice does the victim have in the parole process?
The impact of a crime on a victim, and the victim's concerns for safety are major considerations in each parole decision. In addition to parole denial, the Board has other restrictive options that take the victim into account, such as adding special parole conditions which ban the parolee from certain areas or require him to pay restitution to the victim. In 1991 the Board established its Victim Services Office so that victims and agencies representing victims would have a faster and more personal response to their needs. The Board continually strives for ways to attend to victims during this last phase of the criminal justice process. See also Parole's Office of Victim Services. However, while looking at each case individually, Board members also study the case from a relative standpoint, comparing each case to others which share similar components. The Board is entrusted to make an objective decision rising above political, and personal consideration.
20. Are victims notified of a parole?
Yes, if they have submitted a Victim Impact Statement or if they write and ask to be notified. See also Community Notification.
21. What are the benefits of parole?
Prison punishes the offender but does not teach him or her how to deal successfully with society. Most inmates eventually return to society, and usually with fewer employment and social skills than when they entered.
The first six months after an inmate's release from prison is the most vulnerable period. While experiencing the low self-esteem and disorientation typical after prison, he is often subjected to peer pressure to return to his former lifestyle. Offenders with substance abuse problems are particularly susceptible. The fear of returning to prison is not always strong enough to overcome the immediate pressures an offender may feel. A combination of monitored supervision and practical assistance in obtaining jobs, counseling, and support, can place the offender in a supportive, rather than destructive, context, and pave the way for his new, law-abiding life.
22. How are parolees supervised?
Parole officers, all of whom are four-year college graduates with extensive training, work to ensure the parolee re-enters society with all the community monitoring, support and guidance available to prevent the offender from returning to crime. Parolees are assigned a case plan based on the severity of their offense, their particular needs, such as literacy training, and the length of time they will have on parole. Each case is individually planned within an established structure of agency requirements such as frequent visits, reports, and other conditions to safeguard the community.
Parole officers regularly visit the parolee, his family, and his employer, to determine the parolee's compliance with conditions. Although every effort is made to help the parolee overcome addictions, learn new skills, and adjust to society's demands, the parole officer's primary responsibility is the community's safety. Georgia parole officers are POST certified peace officers who are authorized to arrest parole violators. See also Parole Supervision .
23. What is the cost of parole?
The cost of parole is $2.91 per day per parolee.
24. How much control does parole supervision provide?
There are degrees of supervision in the community just as there are in prison. Studies have shown that certain low-risk non-violent offenders actually perform better with moderate, rather than maximum, supervision. Others require much more structure and control. At the highest end of supervision is maximum supervision with electronic monitoring which is used in two ways: punitively, for parolees who are not complying fully with technical conditions of their parole and who need 24-hour monitoring to see if revocation is in order; and preventively, for offenders straight out of prison who could benefit by a more gradual transition into the community.
25. What is parole's success rate?
Each year roughly 12 percent of Georgia's 25,000 parolee population are returned to prison. Of these less than 10 percent are sent back for committing a new crime; most return for failing to abide by the technical terms of their conditional release.
26. How does Georgia's Parole Board rank nationally?
The Board has been in existence for more than half a century, and has evolved to a professional status envied by many other states and countries. The Board's Field Division has been accredited by the American Correctional Association, one of few field supervision divisions so honored nationally.
Because the Board was established by constitutional amendment more than half a century ago, it has built a strong foundation of procedure and research. Many states have had their paroling authorities recreated so many times that the lessons of history and continuity have been lost. Many look to the Georgia Parole Board as a model of soundness, professionalism, and responsiveness to the ever-changing demands of criminal justice.
For further information contact the Office of Public Information at 404-651-5897 or the Victims Services Office at 1-800-593-9474.