Thank you for writing to me. This letter is being sent to you and your fellow inmates in my continued effort to keep you updated on the current issues regarding parole and parole related issues. The following reflects some changes that will be affecting the inmate population:

In June 2003 the Texas Legislature was called in a special session to work on redistricting congressional seats in Texas. The Governor, in Senate Bill 7, reorganized the state bureaucracy including the Parole Board. The Parole Board was changed from an 18 member Parole Board to a 7 member Parole Board to work with 11 Parole Commissioners who will be assisting them. This newly revised Parole Board and Commissioner system was to be in place by February 2, 2004. As of the date of this letter, the new Board Member and Commissioner positions have not all been filled. Governor Perry is too busy running off to the Bahamas and Italy to stay in Austin and fill the vacancies his legislation created. The number of Parole Boards has also been reduced to six regions instead of the old seven regions. The Abilene Parole Board has been dissolved and is now administered under the Amarillo Parole Board.

Set out below are the present Board Members and Commissioners who are sitting at the various regions. Since February 2004 there have been three Board Members appointed and three Board Members have resigned. Some of the Commissioners who have been appointed to various regions have also resigned. It has been very difficult to keep up with the constantly shifting Commissioner appointments and Board Member appointments. The Commissioners are employees of the State of Texas and are not political appointees, therefore they will have no term limits. Since the Parole Board Members will be political appointees who will come and go, the Commissioners, over a period of time, will become the individuals who have experience and knowledge regarding parole and will subsequently be training incoming Board Members and probably influence their votes.

AMARILLO BOARD

Board Member, Charles Aycock, Doctor of Jurisprudence, University of Texas School of Law. Bachelor of Business Administration, Texas Tech University. Former Parmer County Attorney, thirteen years. Appointed - 2004. Term Expires - 2005.

Parole Commissioner, Charles Shipman, former Abilene Parole Board Member, B.S. in Criminal Justice and Business Administration, Wayland Baptist University, former parole officer, 2 years Wichita County Sheriff’s Department, over 21 years U.S. Air Force as First Sergeant, Criminal Investigator and Police Officer.

Parole Commissioner Vacancy.

ANGLETON BOARD

Board Member, Linda Garcia, former Angleton Board member, term expires 2007, Doctor Jurisprudence, University of Houston Law Center. Bachelor of Business Administration, University of Houston. Served six years as Assistant District Attorney, Houston, Harris County, Texas. Seven years as executive secretary and employee relations coordinator, Mitchell Energy and Development Corp.

Parole Commissioner, Lynn Ruzicka, former Angleton Board Member. Former professor in Criminal Justice at University of Houston-Downtown and a contract instructor for the Houston Police Department Training Academy. Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University where she completed course work and comprehensive exam for doctorate in criminal justice. Member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science, Southwestern Assn. Of Criminal Justice Educators in the American Correctional Assn.

Parole Commissioner, Charles Spire, former Regional Director of the Parole Division, former Parole Board member of the San Antonio Parole Board is now been appointed as Parole Commissioner for the Angleton Parole Board beginning April 1,2004.

GATESVILLE BOARD

Board Member, Juanita Gonzalez, former Gatesville Parole Board Member, term expires 2009. Master and Bachelor of Social Work, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, over 13 years experience with TDCJ Parole Division. Approximately five years experience with Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department. Three years experience as social worker in San Antonio.

Parole Commissioner, Dan Guerra, former Amarillo Board Member. Was the assistant director of TDCJ Victim Service Division; 24 year veteran of the department; served on Crime Victim’s Institute Advisory Counsel. Graduate of Pan American University in Edinburg, TX. Member of the American Probation and Parole Assn. Victim Issues Committee, and State Agency Task Force for Victim Services.

HUNTSVILLE BOARD

Board Member, Rissie Owens, former Huntsville Board Member, Board Presiding Officer, term expires 2009. Master of Arts, University of Houston. Bachelor of Science, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. Five years experience in education as an associate school psychologist with Huntsville ISD and a drug prevention specialist with Amarillo ISD. Approximately 15 years experience in criminal justice/social service as a probation officer with Galveston County Adult Probation; social worker with UTMB; grievance coordinator and field coordinator with TDCJ; case manager with Brazos Valley MHMR; court coordinator with Brazos County 272^nd District Court. She will become more active on the legislative agenda for the Board, will only vote on SB-45 cases and clemency matters once the new system is fully functional. Therefore, there will be a Board Member appointed to be the full time active member at Huntsville Board, presently there is a vacancy at the Huntsville Parole Board.

Parole Commissioner, Gerald Garrett, former Chairman of the Parole Board. B.S. Sociology, Stephen F. Austin State University; MS, Criminal Justice Mgt., Sam Houston State University. Over 20 years experience in the Texas parole system. Started as an Institutional Parole Officer.

Parole Commissioner Vacancy.

PALESTINE BOARD

Board Member, Jose Aliseda, term expires 2009. Doctor of Jurisprudence, University of Texas School of Law. Bachelor of Arts, University of Texas at Austin. Attorney and rancher. Former Bee County Attorney, eight years. Former Bee County Judge, four years.

Parole Commissioner, Pamela Freeman. Biographical Sketch not available.

Parole Commissioner, Roy Anthony Garcia, former Palestine Board Member. Former Senior Warden at TDCJ - Coffield Unit, experience with TDCJ since 1980, sociologist, staff services officer. Served on Palestine Regional Medical Center’s Board of Directors and Cayugal I.S.D. Wide Committee. Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology and Corrections, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas.

SAN ANTONIO

Board Member, Lafayette Collins, former Huntsville Parole Board. Term expires 2005. B.A., Prairie View A&M. Retired Secret Service Agent, 21 years. Army Counter Intelligence Officer, 7 years. Decorated Vietnam Veteran, Vietnam Platoon Leader. Mr. Collins is presently voting cases in the San Antonio region, but there is a strong probability by the time you receive this newsletter he will no longer be a parole board member as he was recently confirmed by the United States Senate to become United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas. As of April 1,2004 Board Member Collins has resigned to become the United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas as previously predicted. This means there will be a new Board Member appointed to fill his position probably within the next month.

Parole Commissioner, Paddy Lann Burwell, former San Antonio Board Member. Attended Laredo Junior College and University of Houston. Rancher. Retiree of Exxon Exploration Co., 40 years; Marine Sergeant who fought in Korea with 1^st Division; President of Westhoff ISD Board of Trustees; actively involved in several professional and community associations.

Parole Commissioner, Alvin Shaw, former San Antonio Board Member. Attended Austin Community College and Huston-Tillotson College. Over 5 years experience with Travis County Sheriff’s Office, most recently as Chief Deputy; over 18 years experience with Austin Police Department.

Current Events:

Both the Senate and House of the Texas Legislature have begun holding hearings and are searching through the present budget to find more money for education. The Senate held hearings in March 2004. Presiding Officer Rissie Owens and Board Member Juanita Gonzales were called before the Criminal Justice Committee where they testified regarding the present conditions affecting the inmate population and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Criminal Justice Committee wanted to know why the Board of Pardons and Paroles was not following the guidelines. Testimony at the hearings reflected that inmates with DWI’s and inmates subject to deportation may have a better chance of being granted parole than they have had in the last two years, if they can get the right information before the Board. The testimony from the Board Members indicated part of the problem was the 40% recidivism rate. There will be other hearings regarding this matter.

Ex parte Thomas Christopher Retzlaff, No 74,772 March 3, 2004 - The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas ruled that a person who is given notice for release to discretionary mandatory supervision at some unspecified time was not given timely notice consistent with due process. The ruling came about due to the discretionary supervision statute which requires release unless the parole panel makes two specific findings (1) the inmate’s accrued good conduct time is not an accurate reflection of the inmate’s potential for rehabilitation; and (2) the inmate’s release would endanger the public. Under the current provision, an inmate who is eligible for release on discretionary mandatory supervision will be released unless the parole panel makes these two specific findings. Given the workings of the statue, an eligible inmate has a vested, statutory entitlement to release on discretionary mandatory supervision, but it is a defeasible interest (one that may be defeated), but only if the parole panel makes these findings in its review. Timely notice to the inmate that he/she will be reviewed for discretionary mandatory release gives him/her the opportunity to provide evidence. To be effective, this notice must be given sufficiently in advance of the discretionary mandatory supervision release review date to allow the inmate to prepare and submit any such information. It is my belief, according to this ruling, all inmates who were denied discretionary mandatory release and have evidence to submit to the Parole Board would be allowed to re-open their case.

Parole Approval Rates:

Presently, I am unable to give you a complete breakdown of the parole release rates as I have done in the past. The Criminal Justice Policy Council which was the agency that compiled the statistical analysis of the Parole Board Members votes, has been dissolved. This information is now being compiled by the Legislative Budget Board. The current information reflects the following overall release rates; September 03 - 30.32%, October 03 - 30.00%, November 03 - 32.66%, December 03 - 31.51%, January 04 - 30.89%, February 04 - 26.80%. Unfortunately, the interesting statistic is the drop from around 30% to the February 2004- 26% overall release rate. I cannot determine if this is the beginning of a trend back to the 25% release rate which was prevalent in 2003 or if this is an abnormal monthly statistic.

Retaining An Attorney:

Every inmate is eventually going to be reviewed by the Board. If I am hired well in advance of an inmate’s eligibility date, I will have the needed time frame within which to help prepare an inmate to be a good candidate for release to parole, and to gather the needed information and prepare the written documentation to be submitted to the Board. If you decide to hire me and do so well in advance of your eligibility date, I can design a time payment plan for your family or loved ones, but I must be paid in full before I submit the parole package or notice to appear before the parole board to argue for the inmates release to parole. If you wait until the last minute, the entire fee is going to be due immediately. The time payment plan has been very helpful to many of my clients who have limited financial resources and thereby allowed them to hire me without causing them financial distress because they have hired me many months or even years in advance. (I was able to help such a family convince the parole board to release an inmate with an SB-45 (sex offense) case last year because they hired me well in advance and I was able to work with the inmate for many years prior to his review.) Therefore, should you wish to hire me to assist you with parole or any parole related issues, time is of the essence. There is no time to waste. A competent parole attorney must have a minimum of 3 months prior to the 6 month review stage of an inmates file by the Board to investigate, gather documentation and produce a worthwhile parole assistance package. The investigative stage conducted by this office is a very time consuming and expensive matter and requires a considerable amount of dedication and work to complete. Do not wait until your file is almost in review status or in review status to hire an attorney. By documenting every aspect of my client’s life, his/her accomplishments, his/her rehabilitation, as well as other factors, along with the credibility I have built with the Board Members, are some of the reasons why I have been able to maintain an 80% release rate for my clients over the many years I have represented inmates before the Board.

Parole Assistance:

Many inmates and their families contact me regarding parole assistance. Unfortunately, a great deal of the time, I am unable to offer my assistance due to the fact they have waited too late to contact me and there is just simply nothing I can do. Parole assistance is a time-consuming task and much of our work is done far in advance of the parole eligibility date. The packages prepared by this office are not some type of a form which simply requires us to “fill in the blanks.” Each package is individualized and therefore there is a lot of work that must be done well in advance of an inmate’s parole eligibility date. My packages will meet my very high standards as well as the Board’s expectations from me. I will not lower or compromise these standards or expectations for any reason. Should you decide to obtain my services to prepare a parole assistance package, do so well in advance of your parole eligibility date.

Parole Revocation:

Should you receive the privilege of parole, dutifully abide by the stipulations and regulations placed upon you. However, if you find yourself in the revocation process, please do not hesitate to contact me immediately. A parole revocation hearing occurs within 30 days of being incarcerated unless there is a preliminary hearing.

Time is of the essence to prepare you and your file for your potential release to parole or defend you at a parole revocation hearing. Although there is no guarantee of the results from my representation and assistance to you regarding your legal issues, I assure you I will do so in a professional and diligent manner.

Representation of Inmates:

I would like to state there are some individuals who are preying upon inmates and their families offering parole assistance who are not licensed attorneys. For your protection as well as your family members or loved one(s) please be informed, if you are considering hiring anyone other than a licensed attorney to assist you, take heed that the law requires under Govt. Code § 508.083 (a) A person who represents inmates for compensation must: (1) be a licensed attorney licensed in this state; and (2) register with the division.

Please do not send any of your documentation to me prior to retaining me. On numerous occasions, inmates who have not retained my services have sent documentation to me requesting that I review it. I am sorry to say that I cannot perform that type of free service. I am contractually obligated to spend my time working on the files of paying clients. Also, I cannot and will not be responsible for such documentation nor can I afford to pay postage cost to return it, therefore it must be destroyed. So please, unless I am your retained attorney, do not send any of your documentation to this office.

Rumor:

Ex parte Gross, there has been a rumor that the United States Supreme Court heard arguments regarding good time credit, work time and the parole system and how an inmate was not actually receiving credit under the present system for working and behaving. I have researched this matter in the PACER data bank (the Federal Court data bank for the entire United States) and I have called the United States Supreme Court. There is no appeal or writ pending or filed with the United States Supreme Court even using the name Gross. There is a lawsuit pending at the United States District Court level with this name. Presently, this particular lawsuit has been referred to the magistrate for evidentiary hearings. There is also a newspaper article circulating through the prison system indicating Ex parte Gross was heard in the United States Supreme Court and sets forth questions and answers by individual justices on this matter. A review of this article indicates numerous misspelled words, incorrect punctuation as well as inaccurate legal cites. I do not know who created this practical joke, but I for one, do not find it entertaining or amusing. I hope this will end the numerous letters I have received regarding this particular matter.

If you are relocated to another change unit, please notify me of your change of address so you can continue to receive this information as TDCJ does not forward inmate mail. If you have been receiving this newsletter from another inmate and would like to receive your own copy, you can request that you be placed on my mailing list by writing to me.

Again, thank you for writing to me. I hope I have answered some of your questions and also updated you on some of the current parole related issues. Whatever your decision may be, I wish you the very best of luck. Remember, now is the time to prepare for your possible release to parole.