Georgia parole review [2012]

Victim Services
The Parole Board and the Dept. of Corrections jointly operate an office to assist the needs of victims. This includes a 24-hour automated system (V.I.P., Victim Information Program) allowing registered victims access to offender information and an automated process notifying the victim of the offender's release.
V.I.P. - 1-800-593-9474
Victims Visitors' Days Parole Board Members and staff travel to Georgia cities to meet one-on-one with victims and their families to discuss the status of the offender.
Budget Services
FY11 Budget: $52.7M (State: $51.9M)
Total Offender Fees Collected FY11: $3.7M Supervision Fees: $2,802,850 Restitution Fees: $212,312 Georgia Crime Victims Emergency Fund (victims' compensation): $677,234
(*Note: Supervision fees go into the Treasury, Victims' Compensation and Restitution go to victims)
Staffing
676 Total Staff 432 Sworn Staff (Chief Parole Officer, Assistant Chief Parole Officer, Parole Officer) 65 Parole Investigators Average years of service of Parole Officers: 11 Average Turnover Rate of Parole Officers: 4% Parole Officer Starting Salary: $32,100

MISSION
To serve the citizens of Georgia as an integral component of the Criminal Justice System by making
informed release considerations and protecting the public through effective offender supervision.
Vision
To be the most efficient and effective paroling agency in the nation.
Core values
We value Ethics, Integrity, Fairness and Honesty.
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
To contact us for web links and more information on Employment, Clemency, Parole Supervision, Victim Services,
Reentry Housing, the On-line Reentry Manual, Legislative and Public Affairs, please visit our website at:
www.pap.state.ga.us
Balcony Level, Suite 458, East Tower Floyd Veterans Memorial Building 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive S.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Phone: (404) 656-4661 www.pap.state.ga.us

State BOARD OF
PARDONS &
PAROLES
James E. Donald Chair
Albert R. Murray Vice-Chair
Robert E. Keller Member
Terry E. Barnard Member
James W. Mills Member
Nathan Deal Governor

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, 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 offenders from confinement after serving an appropriate portion of a prison sentence. Offenders on parole remain under state supervision and control according to conditions which, if violated, allow for reimprisonment.
Parole Board Members are appointed by the Governor to serve seven-year staggered terms and are full time employees. The five members make over 70,000 offender votes annually.
The Director of Parole manages day to day operations for the agency. The Georgia Parole Board consists of two major divisions: Clemency and Field Operations.
CLEMENCY and Parole
Clemency is responsible for the parole decision making process. In Georgia, no inmate is entitled to parole. By law, most are eligible to be considered for parole, usually after serving one-third of their prison sentence.

Eligible inmates are automatically considered for parole.
A decision to grant any type of clemency requires an affirmative vote by a majority of the members of the Parole Board. A favorable parole decision results in the Board establishing a "tentative parole month" (TPM) for the offender. A decision to grant parole may be withdrawn by the Board at any time, for any reason, prior to the scheduled prison release date.
Clemency Action FY 2011
Total offender releases: 13,983 (parole releases, supervised reprieves, conditional transfers, commutations and remissions)
Parole Revocations: 2,594
Pre-parole Investigations: 48,376
Life Sentence Paroles: 953 Granted: 230 Denied: 723 (24% grant rate)
Field Operations
Field Operations is responsible for the supervision of the parolee. The goal is to carefully transition the offender back into the community and to quickly reincarcerate those offenders who fail to follow the conditions of parole. There are nearly 24,000 offenders under parole supervision in Georgia annually. The average parole caseload is 85 offenders per parole officer.

Field Operations FY 2011
48 Parole Offices (five regions--Northeast, Northwest, Metro, Southeast and Southwest)

Georgia has the 7th largest parolee population in the nation. Parolees constitute 11% of the Georgia offender population (66% on probation & 23% incarcerated).

Average daily cost of supervision per parolee is $4.74 compared to $50.17 per day for incarceration in a state prison.

Georgia offenders under parole supervision: 22,772

Out-of-state offenders under Georgia parole supervision: 957

Georgia offenders on parole in other states: 3,107

Total offenders under Georgia Parole Supervision: 23,729

Parolees by Race and Sex

Supervision Level

White male--33%

High--16%

White female--6%

Standard--84%

Non White male--57%

Non White female--4%

Average Education Level: 11 (53% without H.S.

diploma)

Approximately 16% have mental health diagnosis

Approx. 80% have a substance abuse diagnosis

Georgia Offenders by Crime Type (June 30, 2010)
Parolees Drug Offenders (41%), Property (25%), Violent to include sex offenders (25%), Other (9%)
Probationers Property Offenders (36%), Drug (35%), Violent to include sex offenders (22%), Other (7%)
State Inmates Violent Offenders to include sex offenders (62%) Property (19%), Drug (15%), Other (4%)