TITLE 42 PENAL INSTITUTIONS

Section 9. Pardons and Paroles, 42-9-1 through 42-9-90.

ARTICLE 2 GRANTS OF PARDONS, PAROLES, AND OTHER RELIEF

42-9-52. Discharge from parole; earned-time allowance; granting of pardons, commutations, and remissions of fines, forfeitures, or penalties.

No person who has been placed on parole shall be discharged therefrom by the board prior to the expiration of the term for which he or she was sentenced or until he or she shall have been duly pardoned or otherwise released as provided in this Code section or as otherwise provided by law.
The board may adopt rules and regulations, policies, and procedures for the granting of earned time to persons while serving their sentences on parole or other conditional release to the same extent and in the same amount as if such person were serving the sentence in custody. The board shall also be authorized to withhold or to forfeit, in whole or in part, any such earned-time allowance.
When a parolee or conditional releasee is serving a split sentence for a qualified offense, as such term is defined in Code Section 42-8-21, the board shall review such case after such parolee or conditional releasee has successfully completed 12 consecutive months of parole supervision to consider commutation of such sentence. The board may relieve a parolee or conditional releasee from making further reports and may permit such person to leave the state or county if satisfied that this is for the parolee's or conditional releasee's best interest and for the best interest of society. When a parolee or conditional releasee has, in the opinion of the board, so conducted himself or herself as to deserve a pardon or a commutation of sentence or the remission in whole or in part of any fine, forfeiture, or penalty, the board may grant such relief in cases within its power. The board may take into consideration whether or not a person is serving a split sentence in its determination of granting any relief.

(Ga. L. 1943, p. 185, § 18; Ga. L. 1965, p. 478, § 3; Ga. L. 1980, p. 402, § 1; Ga. L. 2017, p. 585, § 2-14/SB 174.)

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added the subsection designations; in subsection (a), inserted "or she" twice; and, in subsection (c), added the first sentence, in the second sentence, substituted "parolee or conditional releasee" for "person on parole or other conditional release" near the beginning and substituted "such person" for "the person" near the middle, in the third sentence, deleted "other" preceding "conditional releasee" near the beginning and inserted "or herself" near the middle, and added the last sentence.

Law reviews.

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

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Cited in Woodall v. State, 122 Ga. App. 653, 178 S.E.2d 337 (1970).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Ga. L. 1943, p. 185, §§ 13 and 18 (see now O.C.G.A. § 42-9-42 and42-9-52), construed together, mean that paroled prisoner while serving sentence outside of confines of prison continues to serve under supervision of prison authorities. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 441.

Reimbursement for medical care provided to parolees.

- Person to whom prisoner suffering from tuberculosis has been paroled should be reimbursed for providing proper medical care. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 441.

Board's rules governing good time should be applied to inmates released on probation by the board. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-201.

Effect of

§ 42-5-100 on board's powers. - O.C.G.A.42-5-100, which terminates the power of the Board of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections) to provide for earned-time allowances for inmates under its supervision or custody, has no effect on the powers of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant earned time to persons serving their sentences on parole or other conditional release, and further has no effect on the board's authority to withhold or to forfeit, in whole or in part, any such earned-time allowances. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-7.

There are two types of "earned time": "parole earned time" granted by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles pursuant to the Board's rules and regulations, and "incarcerated earned time" granted by the Department of Offender Rehabilitation (Corrections) pursuant to the Department's rules and regulations. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-113.

"Earned time" construed.

- Term "earned time" means a reward for good behavior by the giving of additional credit for days served toward completion of a criminal sentence, just as the term was understood in §§ 42-5-100 (rewritten effective January 1, 1984) and42-5-101 (repealed effective January 1, 1984). 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-113.

Reference in this section to "earned time" should be construed as a reference to "parole earned time" - that granted by the board. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-113.

Limits on power to withhold or forfeit earned time.

- Board is not authorized, upon revocation of a parole or other conditional release, to withhold earned time for a period of time which would extend into the period of reincarceration resulting from the revocation. The board also may not forfeit, upon revocation of a parole or other conditional release, earned time which was totally or partially earned while in prison prior to release on parole or other conditional release. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-113.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 67A C.J.S., Pardon and Parole, §§ 66, 68.

ALR.

- Consent of convict as essential to a pardon, commutation, or reprieve, 52 ALS 835.

Right to assistance of counsel at proceedings to revoke probation, 44 A.L.R.3d 306.

What constitutes "good behavior" within statute or judicial order expressly conditioning suspension or sentence thereon, 58 A.L.R.3d 1156.

Revocation of order commuting state criminal sentence, 88 A.L.R.5th 463.

Defendant's right to credit for time spent in halfway house, rehabilitation center, or similar restrictive environment as condition of pretrial release, 46 A.L.R.6th 63.

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