Georgia. Dept. of Corrections.

Authorities:

Jackson, Edwin L. and Stakes, Mary E. Handbook of Georgia State Agencies. 2d ed. Athens : Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 1988.

Georgia Official and Statistical Register, 1985-88. Atlanta : Department of Archives and History, 1989.

The 1816 Penal Code established a state penitentiary at Milledgeville. In 1897, the legislature created the State Prison Commission. By 1943, the board and commission had gone through several name changes and were called the State Board of Prisons and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.

A special session of the legislature in 1943 replaced the State Board of Prisons with a new State Department of Corrections.

During the reorganization of the executive branch in 1972, it was decided to put offender rehabilitation functions with the Board of Corrections into a new Department of Offender Rehabilitation.

Functions of the Department of Corrections are closely related to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Both agencies are administering corrections in the state.

Legal authority: creation of department and powers of commissioner and board/O.C.G.A Chapter 42-2-4.

The Department of Corrections is responsible for securely housing the incarcerated male and female offender committed to the Board of Corrections, and providing effective rehabilitation programs designed to prepare offenders for eventual release to free society. The Department is also charged with providing supervision and rehabilitation services to state probationers, and oversees the development and management of a network of diversion and transitional centers within the community for both male and female offenders.

Formerly known as the Department of Offender Rehabilitation, the agency was renamed Department of Corrections by Ga. L. 129, effective 1985 July 1.

The revised Constitution of Georgia which became effective 1983 July 1 changed the Board of Corrections to a statutory board. The Board establishes general policy for the Department.

From the description of Agency history record. (Georgia Department of Archives and History Library). WorldCat record id: 145567104