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.
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