§ 42-9-53. Preservation of Documents; Classification of Information and Documents; Divulgence of Confidential State Secrets; Conduct of Hearings

1. Subject to other laws, the board shall preserve on file all documents on which it has acted in the granting of pardons, paroles, conditional releases, and other relief.
2. 1. All information, both oral and written, received by the members of the board in the performance of their duties under this chapter and all reports, files, records, and information coming into their possession by reason of the performance of their duties under this chapter shall be classified as confidential state secrets until declassified by the board; provided, however, that the board shall be authorized:
      1. To disclose to an alleged violator of parole or conditional release the evidence introduced against him or her at a final hearing on the matter of revocation of parole or conditional release; and
      2. To disclose information as provided in Code Section 42-9-61.
   2. The department may make supervision records of the department available to officials employed with the Department of Corrections and the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board, provided that the same shall remain confidential and not available to any other person or subject to subpoena unless declassified by the commissioner of community supervision.
3. No person shall divulge or cause to be divulged in any manner any confidential state secret. Any person violating this Code section or any person who causes or procures a violation of this Code section or conspires to violate this Code section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor.
4. All hearings required to be held by this chapter shall be public, and the transcript thereof shall be exempt from subsection (b) of this Code section. All records and documents which were public records at the time they were received by the board shall be exempt from subsection (b) of this Code section. All information, reports, and documents required by law to be made available to the General Assembly, the Governor, or the state auditor shall be exempt from subsection (b) of this Code section.

History. Ga. L. 1943, p. 185, § 20; Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 210, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 786, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 42; Ga. L. 2011, p. 620, § 2/SB 214; Ga. L. 2013, p. 1056, § 2/HB 122; Ga. L. 2015, p. 207, § 7/HB 71; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-89/HB 310; Ga. L. 2017, p. 585, § 2-15/SB 174.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, inserted “and the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board” near the end of subsection (b).

The 2015 amendments.

The first 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, rewrote subsection (b). The second 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, rewrote subsection (b). See Editor’s notes for applicability. See Code Commission notes regarding the effect of these amendments.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, inserted “conditional releases,” in subsection (a); in paragraph (b)(1), substituted “reports, files, records, and information” for “records, papers, and documents” near the middle, and substituted a colon for “to” at the end; added the subparagraph (b)(1)(A) designation; in subparagraph (b)(1)(A), added “To” at the beginning and substituted “; and” for a period at the end; added subparagraph (b)(1)(B); inserted “, upon conviction,” near the end of the last sentence of subsection (c); and, in subsection (d), substituted “shall be exempt” for “are exempt” in the second and last sentences.

Cross references.

Management of records of state entities generally, § 50-18-90 et seq.

Code Commission notes.

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2015, the amendment of subsection (b) of this Code section by Ga. L. 2015, p. 207, § 7/HB 71, was treated as impliedly repealed and superseded by Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-89/HB 310, due to irreconcilable conflict.

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective July 1, 2015, and shall apply to sentences entered on or after such date.”

Law reviews.

For annual survey of death penalty law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 197 (2004).

For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015).

For article on the 2017 amendment of this Code section, see 34 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 115 (2017).