ATLANTA - David J. Herring will serve as Chair of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for Fiscal Year 2025 which begins July 1st. Meg Heap will serve as Vice Chair. Herring and Heap were elected by the Board at today’s monthly operational meeting. 

Herring served as Vice Chair for FY 2024.

“Thank you for this opportunity. I do not take this opportunity lightly. I appreciate the position that I am being given. I can promise you this, like I have always done, I will serve this board with hard work and integrity whether I am the chairman or not. I sincerely appreciate this opportunity, and thank you very much,” stated Herring.

Herring thanked current Chairman Terry Barnard for his leadership and said, “You’ve done an outstanding job, and we appreciate your leadership.”

“To the staff, thank you for what you do every day. Because you are the ones who make this board work. This board does not make this agency, you guys make this agency with the hard work you do every day. Thank you very much,” Herring said.

Herring was appointed to the Parole Board in 2018. Herring is a former state trooper with the Georgia Department of Public Safety and prior to his board appointment, he served as a Lt. Colonel managing security for the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. 

Meg Heap is the former District Attorney in Savannah. She was appointed to the Parole Board in 2021. 

“I am excited to work with everyone. Everything that you all do, I realize it. We realize it. It is just hard work and I see it. I am very grateful to work for this agency,” said Heap.

The other members of the Parole Board are Terry Barnard, Joyette Holmes, and Wayne Bennett. 

You may find more information regarding each board member at https://pap.georgia.gov/board-members.

Georgia’s Governor appoints members to the Parole Board to seven-year staggered terms. The State Senate confirms the appointment. Members are full-time state employees. 

For more information contact Steve Hayes, Director of Communications at 404-657-9450 or [email protected]. Learn more about the Georgia Board at pap.georgia.gov.