By Mark Woolsey

A longtime Cobb County victim advocate has been appointed to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, according to a public information release from the board.

Kimberly McCoy of Cartersville  fills the unexpired term of Margaret “Meg” Heap, who left the board to take up duties as U.S . Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

McCoy retired last year from the Cobb Family Justice Center and previously had served twenty-five years as the director of the Victim-Witness Assistance Unit with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Georgians in this new role,” said McCoy, who added that she looks forward to continuing the board’s work of making informed, scientific public safety decisions while working to safeguard victim’s rights and giving second chances to the deserving.

Board Chair Joyette Holmes, who formerly served as Cobb’s DA, and before that as Cobb’s Chief Magistrate Judge, said “I know Kim McCoy to be committed to providing for the public safety of our citizens and she will continue to do so as the Board makes fair, data-driven decisions,”

Georgia parole board members determine which parole eligible offenders can be released on parole to community supervision. The board also has the authority to commute a condemned inmate’s death sentence.

Read McCoy’s biography by following this link.