The U.S. average is 1,705 persons on probation per 100,000 residents. Georgia's percentage is also above the composite Southern states average of 1,874 per 100,000. At the end of 1998, Georgia had more than 151,000 adults under some form of probation supervision. The probation information comes on the heels of Prisoners in 1998, another BJS report issued earlier last week, that showed Georgia with the ninth-highest rate of incarceration in the U.S., with 502 adults in prison for every 100,000 residents. There are currently 42,260 men and women in Georgia prisons.
Some paroles are the decision of discretionary parole boards like in Georgia.
We'll work to assure ample prison space for violent criminals, but I want our judges to have the resources at their discretion for effective, proven alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. Above all, protection of the citizens is our foremost responsibility.