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Barnard again serves as Chairman
Owens is Vice Chairman
As of July 1, 2018, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles has a new chairman. Terry E. Barnard was elected at the June board meeting. It will be Barnard’s fourth term as chairman. He served three previous one-year terms as Parole Board Chairman from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2017.
Barnard succeeds James Mills as chairman. Mills served in the position for FY 2018.
“I am humbled to be asked by my colleagues on the Board to serve again as chairman. The professionalism we have among our members is second to none and as a Board we will continue to move this agency forward, bringing about enhancements to our operations and the clemency process to improve public safety and our communities,” stated Barnard.
Barnard has been a member of the Board since May of 2010 and was reappointed last December by Governor Nathan Deal to a second seven-year term as a member of the Parole Board.
Under Barnard’s leadership as chairman from 2014 to 2017, enhancements to the parole consideration process were made to include increased board notifications to solicit additional case information, increased access to the Board for crime victims, and the agency completed the first revision to the Parole Decision Guidelines Rating System since 2007.
As chairman, Barnard will fill one of the Board’s two seats on the Board of Community Supervision which has regulatory oversight of the Department of Community Supervision (DCS).
Prior to the Parole Board, Barnard served nearly sixteen years in the state legislature. During that time, he served for six years as Chairman of the State Institutions and Property Committee. In 1995-1996, he guided through the Georgia House the framework for the State Sex Offender Registry and the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board.
At the June monthly meeting, the Parole Board also elected a new vice chairman in Brian Owens. Owens, a member of the Board since February of 2015, is the former commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Owens began his career as a parole officer in Georgia. He joined the Department of Corrections in 1999 and was later appointed to Assistant Commissioner. He was appointed Commissioner, by Governor Perdue and reappointed Commissioner by Governor Deal. Owens will also serve as a member of the DCS Board. (Brian Owens bio)
Editor's note: Effective August, 1, 2018, Lt. Col. David Herring of the Department of Public Safety has been appointed as a member of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. In July, Braxton Cotton left the Board to begin active military deployment with the U.S. Army Reserve. (David Herring photo and bio)