Georgia Parole Decision Guidelines System

Parole Decision Guidelines
Image: pap.georgia.gov

Michael Kennedy McIntyre & Associates is an Atlanta-based law firm that focuses on criminal postconviction representation, including representation before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. In order for the firm to evaluate a case and assess the offender’s prospects for parole, the firm must determine how the Parole Decision Guidelines System will be applied in the case. When the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a case for parole, the Board receives a recommendation of months, or a percentage of the sentence, to serve based upon the Parole Decision Guidelines System, which accounts for the severity of the crime and the offender’s risk to reoffend.
In April, 2017, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles approved the first updates to the Parole Decision Guidelines System since 2007. The updated Guidelines will be implemented July 1, 2017. The Parole Board considered recent data to update the Guidelines which included new statewide sentencing averages and outcomes from previous decisions made by the Parole Board. Although the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles uses the Parole Decision Guidelines System to guide their decisions, the Parole Board has the ability to deviate from the Guidelines recommendation to either increase or lower the time to serve prior to parole. The 2017 updates to the Parole Decision Guidelines System included raising the crime severity level of certain types of convictions. The higher that the offender’s crime severity level is, the more serious the offense and the parole decision would likely be a recommendation to serve a longer period of time. Another notable update is on the risk to re-offend scale, the Parole Board will now include prior arrests in place of prior convictions for the offender.