Board of Pardons details medical-reprieve process and recent grant rates

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole explained to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety the standards, process and recent outcomes for medical reprieves, conditional executive-clemency releases for seriously ill inmates.

The board’s representative outlined the constitutional and statutory authority for the relief, citing “Article 4, section 2, paragraph 2” and related OCGA provisions that allow the board to grant executive clemency, including medical reprieves for inmates who are either parole-eligible or, under subsection E, “entirely incapacitated” and not statutorily eligible for parole. “What is a medical reprieve? It’s an executive clemency release from prison for a specific period of time to an offender who is suffering from the illness for which necessary treatment is available only outside the Georgia Department of Corrections or an offender who is deteriorating less than 12 months to live,” the board presenter said.

By the numbers, the board told the committee that for the first six months of the reporting year (July 1–Dec. 31) it received 34 medical reprieve requests and granted 20, a 68.1% grant rate; 14 requests were denied. Reprieves are issued for 12 months and return to the board at expiration, when it may extend the reprieve another 12 months, place the inmate on parole, or return the person to custody. The board said it averages about 60 requests per year and provided an 11-year summary in the packet.

The board walked the committee through the interagency review process: a DOC identification and initiation step, a medical review (including the statewide medical director), the board’s review and decision, and post-decision actions. The presenter emphasized that determinations about life expectancy and incapacitation are made by healthcare professionals and the statewide medical director.

The board also reminded senators that state law requires a 90-day notice to district attorneys when conditional releases are proposed for individuals convicted of serious violent felonies; the board said there have been instances where a person who received tentative release died during that 90-day period while still in custody.

Committee members pressed the board on whether reprieves are publicly available and how often district attorneys contest the notices; the board said requests originate largely within DOC but also come from attorneys and family members and that the 90-day challenge rate varies by district. The committee also asked about post-release outcomes and tracking; the board said it does not currently track post-release mortality rates but offered to provide a deeper data dive on request.

The subcommittee did not take a formal vote on the issue during the hearing; the board’s presentation was framed as informational for FY26 budget deliberations and oversight.

The next step identified by members was a follow-up with the board for more detailed case-level statistics and, where available, information on the frequency of district attorney objections to proposed releases.