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.