Duty of Board to Obtain and Place in Records Information Respecting Persons Subject to Relief or Placed on Probation; Investigations; Rules

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Penal Institutions
4. Pardons and Paroles
5. Grants of Pardons, Paroles, and Other Relief
6. Duty of Board to Obtain and Place in Records Information Respecting Persons Subject to Relief or Placed on Probation; Investigations; Rules

1. It shall be the duty of the board to obtain and place in its permanent records information as complete as may be practicable on every person who may become subject to any relief which may be within the power of the board to grant. The information shall be obtained as soon as possible after imposition of the sentence and shall include:
   1. A complete statement of the crime for which the person is sentenced, the circumstances of the crime, and the nature of the person's sentence;
   2. The court in which the person was sentenced;
   3. The term of his or her sentence;
   4. The name of the presiding judge, the prosecuting officers, the investigating officers, and the attorney for the person convicted;
   5. A copy of presentence investigation and any previous court record;
   6. A fingerprint record;
   7. A copy of all probation reports which may have been made; and
   8. Any social, physical, mental, or criminal record of the person.
2. The board in its discretion may also obtain and place in its permanent records similar information on each person who may be placed on probation. The board shall immediately examine such records and any other records obtained and make such other investigation as it may deem necessary. It shall be the duty of the court and of all community supervision officers and other appropriate officers to furnish to the board, upon its request, such information as may be in their possession or under their control. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and all other state, county, and city agencies, all sheriffs and their deputies, and all peace officers shall cooperate with the board and shall aid and assist it in the performance of its duties. The board may make such rules as to the privacy or privilege of such information and as to its use by persons other than the board and its staff as may be deemed expedient in the performance of its duties, provided that such rules do not conflict with Code Section 42-9-61.

(Ga. L. 1943, p. 185, § 12; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-2/HB 228; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-85/HB 310; Ga. L. 2017, p. 585, § 2-9/SB 174; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 42/SB 52.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted "community supervision officers" for "probation officers" in the third sentence of subsection (b). See Editor's notes for applicability.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added the proviso at the end of the last sentence of subsection (b).

The 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, inserted "or her" in paragraph (a)(3).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall become effective July 1, 2015, and shall apply to sentences entered on or after such date."

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 231 (2015). For article on the 2017 amendment of this Code section, see 34 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 115 (2017).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Right to parole.

- Georgia parole statutes create no entitlement to or liberty interest in parole. Slocum v. Georgia State Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 678 F.2d 940 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1043, 103 S. Ct. 462, 74 L. Ed. 2d 612 (1982).

Impact of parole officers and board's actions.

- Parole board was responsible for maintaining a complete record on any person who came under the power of the board and that record included the nature and term of the individual's sentence; furthermore, it was the parole board that has the power to set the terms and conditions of parole. Thus, the acts of the parole officer, or those within the parole board who make such determinations, in setting the expiration dates of plaintiff's parole, served to break the chain of causation with respect to any error that might have flowed from the misstatement in the parole officer's motion; the parole officer had no power to increase plaintiff's sentence and no power to set the terms of plaintiff's parole. Morgan v. Yarbrough, F. Supp. 2d (M.D. Ga. Apr. 30, 2008).

Examination of file by inmate.

- Refusal of a parole board to allow an inmate to examine the inmate's file does not assume the proportions of a deprivation of the inmate's rights under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. Slocum v. Georgia State Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 678 F.2d 940 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1043, 103 S. Ct. 462, 74 L. Ed. 2d 612 (1982).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Maintenance of misdemeanant records mandatory.

- Misdemeanant may become subject to parole upon application; therefore, the board must maintain all information gathered on such an individual in the board's "permanent" records. 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 318.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 67A C.J.S., Pardon and Parole, §§ 6, 7.

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