FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USPC WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1994 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 MICHAEL J. GAINES CONFIRMED AS MEMBER OFF U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael J. Gaines, former chairman of the Arkansas State Board of Parole and Community Rehabilitation, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the United States Parole Commission, the Department of Justice announced today. He takes office November 1. Gaines, who also will be a member of the National Appeals Board, was nominated by President Clinton on June 7 and confirmed by the Senate September 28. The National Appeals Board is the final appeal a federal inmate can make. Gaines had served on the Arkansas board since 1989. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of the State Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct, and, from 1983 through 1986, served as the criminal justice liaison and pardon and extradition counsel to then Governor Clinton. Between 1978 and 1983, Gaines was a parole hearing examiner for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. He was in private practice since 1977. Gaines is a member of the American Correctional Association, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, the American Probation and Parole Association and the Arkansas Adult Probation and Parole Association. He is a member of the bars of Arkansas and the United States District Courts. ##### 94-612