# Parole Board annual reports, FY1977 to FY2000

- Agency: State Board of Pardons and Paroles
- Requested by: Georgia Prisoners' Speak
- Request: PAP-20260804
- Filed: 2026-08-04
- Status: Fulfilled (The Board released all 11 reports it holds on September 1, 2026. It said it does not have the reports for FY1977 to FY1988 or FY1995 and suggested the State Archives.)
- Cost: $118.79 (Estimated $120.19 ($75.09 search and retrieval, $45.10 to copy 451 pages); invoiced $118.79 ($75.09 and $43.70 for 437 pages))
- Page: https://gps.press/records/pap-20260804/

GPS asked the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for its annual reports for fiscal years 1977 through 2000. The Board said it holds the reports for 1989 to 1994 and 1996 to 2000 but not for 1995 or 1977 to 1988, and on September 1, 2026 it emailed the 11 reports it holds (437 pages), all posted here. The FY1991 report shows the parolee population growing from 3,216 in FY1982 to 23,302 in FY1991, about equal to the inmate population of 23,005, and the FY1993 report says Governor Miller ended the Georgia Emergency Release Program on December 31, 1992. The FY2000 report says the Board's 90-percent policy had been applied in more than 5,600 decisions since January 1998, and that on March 28, 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Board could apply its eight-year interval between parole reviews to life-sentenced inmates whose crimes came before the rule.

## Documents

| Document | Kind | Received | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1989 (July 1, 1988 to June 30, 1989)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-1989.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 11 p., 4 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1990 (July 1, 1989 to June 30, 1990)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-1990.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 14 p., 4.6 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1991 (July 1, 1990 to June 30, 1991)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-1991.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 36 p., 10.9 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1992 (July 1, 1991 to June 30, 1992)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-_FY1992.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 45 p., 12.7 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1993 (July 1, 1992 to June 30, 1993)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report_-FY-1993.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 58 p., 15.8 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1994 (July 1, 1993 to June 30, 1994)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-1994.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 66 p., 15.5 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1996 (July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1996)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report_-FY-1996.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 53 p., 14 MB |
| [Parole in Georgia, fiscal year 1997 (annual report)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-FY-1997.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 30 p., 7 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1998 (July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report-_-FY-1998.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 40 p., 11.2 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 1999 (July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999)](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report_-FY-1999.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 42 p., 11.3 MB |
| [Annual report, fiscal year 2000](https://gps.press/wp-content/uploads/public-records/pap-20260804/Annual-Report_-FY-2000.pdf) | As released by the agency | 2026-09-01 | 42 p., 11 MB |

## What we asked for

> Dear Open Records Officer:
> 
> Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., I request copies of the following records of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
> 
> This is not the first request this organization has directed to the Board. A request was sent to this same address on November 26, 2025, seeking aggregate, non-identifying parole statistics for 2015-2024. It received no response of any kind — not a production, not a denial, not an acknowledgment, and not the written description and timeline that O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(b)(1)(A) requires when records cannot be produced within three business days. That request expressly asked that any refusal identify the statutory basis relied upon. None was given, because nothing was given.
> 
> That November 26, 2025 request remains outstanding, and I renew it here by reference. I am not restating it in this letter, and I do not ask the Board to treat the two as a single request — the records sought below are separate, simpler, and should not be delayed behind it. Please direct all correspondence on both to the address in this email, which is now this organization's channel of record.
> 
> RECORDS REQUESTED
> 
> The Board's published Annual Reports for fiscal years 1977 through 2000, inclusive.
> 
> The Board presently publishes its Annual Reports for FY2001 through FY2025 on its website. This request seeks the same series for the earlier years, which are not posted there.
> 
> These are the Board's own published documents. No compilation, analysis, or creation of any new record is being asked for, and no confidentiality attaches to them: O.C.G.A. § 42-9-53(b) classifies information received by the members of the Board in the performance of their duties, not the Board's own published output. Each report was public on the day the Board issued it, and asking for a copy of a published report changes nothing about its status.
> 
> If producing the full range at once would be burdensome, I ask that the Board treat each year as separately responsive and produce them in this order: FY1994, FY1993, FY1992, FY1989, then the remaining years. Partial production in that order is welcome and I will treat it as responsive as it arrives.
> 
> FORMAT
> 
> Electronic copies (PDF) delivered by email to this address are preferred, and I believe that is the most economical means of production under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(c)(2). If a report exists only in paper or on microfilm, please tell me that rather than substituting a different record.
> 
> IF A YEAR IS NOT RETAINED
> 
> If the Board does not retain the Annual Report for a given year, please state so in writing and identify the year. A written statement that a year's report is not retained is a complete and acceptable response for that year. I am not asking the Board to create or reconstruct any record.
> 
> OPEN RECORDS OFFICER
> 
> O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(b)(2) permits an agency to designate an open records officer to receive requests. The Board's website directs requests to an "Open Records Officer" but does not name that person. Please identify the individual holding that designation, so that correspondence can be properly directed.
> 
> FEES
> 
> Please provide an itemized cost estimate before incurring any cost. O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(d) requires that where the estimated cost exceeds $25.00 the agency inform the requester "within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed three business days."
> 
> I authorize costs up to $50.00 without further approval. Above that, please contact me before proceeding.
> 
> As provided by O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(c)(1), any search, retrieval, or redaction charge should be calculated at the prorated hourly rate of the lowest-paid full-time employee who has the necessary skill and training to perform the request, and no charge applies to the first quarter hour.
> 
> RESPONSE
> 
> I look forward to the Board's response within three business days, as provided by O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(b)(1)(A). If the records cannot be produced in that time, the Act requires a written description of the responsive records and a timeline for their production; that written response, by itself, would fully satisfy the Board's obligation for now.
> 
> I would rather resolve this by correspondence than by any other means. I note only, and without accusation, that O.C.G.A. § 50-18-73(b) provides for attorney's fees and litigation costs where an agency has acted without substantial justification, and that O.C.G.A. § 50-18-74(a) makes a knowing and willful violation of the Act a misdemeanor. A reply to this email makes both provisions irrelevant.
> 
> REQUESTER
> 
> The GDC Accountability Project, Inc., a Georgia nonprofit corporation and § 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 33-4218142).
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> The GDC Accountability Project, Inc.
> 285 W Wieuca Rd NE, PMB #4153
> Atlanta, GA 30342

## What happened

- 2026-08-04: Request filed by email with the Board's Open Records Officer.
- 2026-08-07: The Board said a manual search was needed and estimated an administrative fee of $25.03 for a 30-minute search, plus 10 cents a page for copies.
- 2026-08-13: The Board said it has annual reports for 1989 to 1994 and 1996 to 2000 but not for 1995 or 1977 to 1988, suggested the State Archives for those years, and revised its estimate to $120.19: $75.09 for one hour of search and retrieval (no charge for the first 15 minutes) and $45.10 to copy 451 pages. GPS agreed the same day.
- 2026-09-01: The Board set the fee at $118.79 ($75.09 plus $43.70 for 437 pages) and emailed the 11 reports in seven messages.
- 2026-09-07: GPS confirmed it had received all 11 reports and said a check for $118.79 would be mailed.

Records requested under the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.), by Georgia Prisoners' Speak or, where a page says so, by another person or group who shared them with GPS. Documents marked "as released" are posted exactly as the agency released them. Files marked "prepared by GPS" are GPS's own compilations of those documents, made for convenience; where they differ, the released document governs. A request is published here when GPS cites it or when its records are useful to readers; records about individual deaths are published on GPS's mortality pages, not here.