State Board of Pardons and Paroles Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Report
Warrants, Violations and Revocations
The Parole Board enhances public safety by quickly responding to violations and returning to prison those offenders who have shown that they are not willing to comply with their release conditions.
State law authorizes the Parole Board members to issue warrants for the arrest of alleged parole violators. In FY15, warrants issued by the Parole Board, were served by parole officers, certified by the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Council.
In FY15, a total of 10,178 warrants were issued by the Board. Parole officers were
directly responsible for the arrest of 2,837 parolees.
During FY15, the Board returned 2,655 parole violators back to prison to serve their sentences in confinement. That number is up from 2,380 in the previous fiscal year. Violations of technical conditions (e.g. drug use, curfew violations, failure to pay fines and fees, etc.) accounted for only 8% of all revocations. This low number can be attributed to parole officers’ use of intermediate sanctions, such as treatment referral, administrative hearings, electronic monitoring, day reporting centers and parole detention centers. The aim of intermediate sanctions is to bring parolees back into compliance and only use a revocation to prison as a last resort.
Revocation Hearings
Parole Board Members conducted 261 final revocation hearings during FY15. Each hearing is presided over by an individual Board Member who hears all of the evidence in the case and makes a recommendation to the full Board to either revoke and return the offender to prison or continue parole. The vast majority of parole violators, however, prefer to admit to their violations and return to prison without facing the Board.
Final revocation hearings are conducted via video conferencing. Offenders, parole staff and the Board Member may be in separate and different locations. As a result the agency has reduced staff travel and transportation of offenders which is enhancing public safety.
Interstate Compact
In FY15, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ Interstate
Compact Unit was responsible for the process of placement and transfer of all Georgia parolees and inmates with an out-of-state residence as well as administering the process for out-of-state parolees transferring to Georgia. In addition, the unit was responsible for responding
to violations, handling extraditions and addressing victim issues. Another responsibility of the unit in FY15, was to release foreign national offenders to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers.
The Georgia Parole Board, in FY15, was a member of the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS).
ICAOS is responsible for creating and upholding the rules of the Commission. ICAOS is comprised of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.
Fiscal Year 2015 Activity by the Interstate Compact Unit
Offenders Released/Paroled to Out-of-State Supervision: 617
Offenders accepted for supervision from other states: 503
Offenders under Out-of-State Supervision (June 30, 2015): 1,732
Offenders under Georgia Supervision from other states (June 30, 2015): 1,042
Offenders Released to ICE for Deportation: 291
Field Services
Photo: Board Member Braxton Cotton conducts a video revocation hearing
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