Load users by Role in Drupal 7

gistfile1.php

<?php
/**
 * Users with role
 *
 * @param $role mixed The name or rid of the role we're wanting users to have
 * @param $active_user boolean Only return active accounts?
 *
 * @return array An array of user objects with the role
 */
function users_with_role($role, $active_user = TRUE) {
  $uids = array();
  $users = array();
  if (is_int($role)) {
    $my_rid = $role;
  }
  else {
    $role_obj = user_role_load_by_name($role);
  }
  $result = db_select('users_roles', 'ur')
    ->fields('ur')
    ->condition('ur.rid', $role_obj->rid, '=')
    ->execute();
  foreach ($result as $record) {
    $uids[] = $record->uid;
  };
  $query = new EntityFieldQuery();
  $query->entityCondition('entity_type', 'user')
    ->propertyCondition('uid', $uids, 'IN');
  if ($active_user) {
    $query->propertyCondition('status', 1);
  }
  $entities = $query->execute();
  if (!empty($entities)) {
    $users = entity_load('user', array_keys($entities['user']));
  }
  return $users;
}