Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 475 - RULES OF STATE BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES › Chapter 475-3 - RULES › Rule 475-3-.05 - Parole Consideration

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Consideration
			 is automatic for all offenders serving sentences imposed by a court of this
			 State and who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections, except that
			 no parole consideration shall ever be given to offenders serving sentences for
			 which parole is not authorized by law. Generally, no application is required.
			 However, persons ordered to serve consecutive county misdemeanor confinement
			 sentences exceeding 12 months and persons sentenced pursuant to subsection (c),
			 (d), (e), and/or (l) of O.C.G.A. §
								16-13-30 and  who are recidivists
			 pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
								17-10-7(c) who
			 have met eligibility requirements for consideration as established in
			 subsection (b)(3) and/or (b)(4) of O.C.G.A. §
								42-9-45 must request
			 consideration. The request may be in any written form and must contain the name
			 under which the offender was convicted, where the offender is incarcerated, the
			 offense(s), the date and court of conviction, and the length of sentence(s).
			 The request should be submitted as close to the time of eligibility as possible
			 to allow enough time for necessary investigations.
(2) Reconsideration of those inmates serving
			 life sentences who have been denied parole shall take place at least every
			 eight years. The Board will inform inmates denied parole of the reasons for
			 such denial without disclosing confidential sources of information or possible
			 discouraging diagnostic opinions.
(3) Inmates who have escaped will not be
			 considered for parole until their return to custody of penal authorities of
			 this State. If initial parole consideration was given prior to the escape of a
			 life sentence inmate, the next consideration will be scheduled for one to eight
			 years after recapture.
(4) A person
			 who is returned to prison because of a violation of the conditions of parole or
			 other conditional release will be scheduled for parole consideration six months
			 to one year after revocation unless the Board directs otherwise in its order of
			 revocation, votes to consider the case earlier, or unless a new sentence
			 supersedes the revoked sentence for the purpose of computing parole
			 eligibility.
(5) In considering
			 parole for persons who will become statutorily eligible for parole
			 consideration and who are serving less than a life sentence, the Board shall
			 review a recommendation as to months to serve. This recommendation will be
			 obtained from the Parole Decision Guidelines system which accounts for the
			 severity of the crime and the inmate's risk to re-offend. The inmate's risk to
			 re-offend is measured by weighted factors concerning the inmate's criminal and
			 social history which the Board has found to have value in predicting the
			 probability of further criminal behavior. The Parole Decision Guidelines System
			 is an aid to the Board in making more consistent, soundly based and explainable
			 parole decisions and does not create a liberty interest. The Board specifically
			 reserves the right to exercise its discretion under Georgia Law to disagree
			 with the recommendation resulting from application of the Parole Decision
			 Guidelines and may make an independent decision to deny parole or establish a
			 Tentative Parole Month at any time prior to sentence expiration. After the
			 Board notifies the inmate of their decision, the inmate may contest either the
			 Crime Severity Level or Risk to Re-Offend scores by writing within 30 days the
			 Parole Guidelines Subject Matter Expert in the Board's Central Office. Prior to
			 an inmate being paroled, the inmate's institutional conduct will be reviewed
			 and institutional misconduct may result in a delay in parole release or a
			 decision to deny parole. Any decision rendered under the Parole Decision
			 Guidelines may be changed at the discretion of the Board at any time. The Board
			 may modify any part of the Parole Decision Guidelines system at any
			 time.
(6) Inmates considered under
			 the Parole Decision Guidelines system, who are not paroled or discharged from
			 prison earlier, will be reconsidered at least every five years after the date
			 they become statutorily eligible for parole.
(7) The minimum mid-point Parole Decision
			 Guidelines recommendation for each Crime Severity Level represents one-third,
			 or more, of the Statewide-average prison sentence for all crimes assigned said
			 Crime Severity Level.
(8)
(a) The Parole Board will use the following
			 factors to compute a Risk to Re-Offend Score for each male inmate it considers
			 for parole using its Parole Guidelines System.
(b) Current Prison Conviction Primary
			 Offense: Property (weight: 0.284): (no = 0), (yes = 1)
(c) Current Prison Admission Type:
			 Parole/Probation Revocation (weight: 0.238): (no = 0), (yes = 1)
(d) Number Felony Arrest Events before
			 Current Prison Episode (weight: 0.093): (# of prior arrests times weight =
			 score)
(e) Number Misdemeanor
			 Arrest Events before Current Prison Episode (weight: 0.052): (# of prior
			 arrests times weight = score)
(f)
			 GDC Validated Gang Member (weight: 0.548): (no = 0), (yes = 1)
(g) Age at Current Prison Admission (weight:
			 -0.049): (age in years times weight = score)
(h) GDC Violent DR Charge During any
			 Incarceration Period (weight: 0.443): (no = 0), (yes = 1)