Terry Barnard elected to eighth term as State Board of Pardons and Paroles chair

Carlton Fletcher, The Albany Herald, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 12—FORSYTH — Terry E. Barnard will continue as chairman of the Georgia Parole Board following action at the board's June monthly meeting. Barnard was elected by board members to an eighth one-year term. He will serve as chairman through June 30, 2023.

Jacqueline Bunn was re-elected to a second term as vice chair.

Barnard is currently the third-longest-serving chair in the Parole Board's 79-year history. After completing the new term, he will have served longer in the role than any other member except for the board's first chair, Edward B. Everett, who served from 1943 to 1953.

"I continue to be humbled by the trust and confidence the members place in my leadership," Barnard said. "Georgia citizens have an excellent clemency board. The decisions made are informed, scientific and data-driven. Our mission is to make decisions that contribute to public safety, that protect victim rights and that provide offenders with opportunities for positive change.

"Georgia's Parole Board is a model for other states to follow."

The meeting was at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. The board has moved two 2022 monthly operational meetings to other locations in Georgia. The meetings are usually conducted from the central office in Atlanta.

"The board should be as accessible to our citizens as possible," Barnard said. "Our monthly meetings are open to the public and we will continue to visit other areas of the state."

Barnard was appointed to the board in 2010 and has received two full-term appointments. Bunn was appointed in 2016.

The Georgia Parole Board is a five-member board with constitutional authority to determine which parole-eligible offenders will be released to serve the remainder of their prison term on community supervision. The board also is the only authority in Georgia that can commute a death sentence to life in prison. Board members are full-time employees. They vote cases electronically daily. The board does not hold parole hearings.

Learn more at pap.georgia.gov or contact the State Board of Pardons and Paroles at (404) 657-9450 or email steve.hayes@pap.ga.gov. To receive parole status information on a specific offender, contact the call center at (404) 656-4661.