The Georgia House on Tuesday moved to require more transparency from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles and to require the agency to provide public notice before it acts.
House Bill 71 requires the board to notify crime victims and prosecutors whenever an offender requests a pardon or to have a sentence commuted. The House voted 162-8 to send the bill to the Senate.
It also would, for the first time, require the board to make its decisions public, including each members’ individual vote.
Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, HB 71 comes after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2014 that the board's decision-making and deliberations are done in secret and that the agency often grants offenders' freedoms without notifying victims.
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