The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has constitutional authority to grant paroles, pardons, reprieves and commute sentences, including death sentences. The Board will continue to issue parole warrants and determine if a parolee should have his/her parole revoked as a result of failing to comply with parole supervision.
Michael Nail "is certainly someone that meets the qualifications by way of experience, background and know-how to make this job and this transition go smoothly." - Gov. Deal
Chairman Barnard says the Board’s parole decisions are equally important to continued successful community supervision of those released on parole.
“The Board’s decisions regarding who receives parole are critical to public safety and are an important part of the state’s 72% parole completion rate, which is among the highest successful completion rates in the nation. Our pledge is that the Parole Board will always have public safety as our first consideration when rendering any decision.”
HB 310 also creates the Board of Community Supervision, which will have regulatory oversight of the new department. The board will be composed of nine individuals, including the heads of Corrections, Juvenile Justice, the Division of Family and Children Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles will have two representatives sitting on this board.
Governor Deal says the Office of Transition, Support, and Reentry will report to the Board of Community Supervision.
Governor Deal says the legislation creating the Dept. of Community Supervision required work on the part of those who are in the state agencies that are affected by the transition as well as those who are interested in making sure that Georgia has a sufficient process that keeps the citizens in Georgia safe.
Governor Deal says families may not have to deal with as many separate agencies because the new agency will be more efficient.
"Those responsible for supervision will know more about the issues, the relatives and neighborhood where the individual they're supervising actually lives," stated Governor Deal.
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