RUMOR 2007

 The entire parole board will be fired in a new parole board appointed and this will increase the number of inmates released.

Fact: The seven parole board members are appointed by the governor for a six-year term. Only the Governor, who appointed the parole board members, may remove those members from the parole board. When a parole board member is appointed he/she is appointed for a six-year term, unless removed by the Governor. The remaining members of the parole board are Parole Commissioners who are state employees and are protected by the Civil Service Act and cannot be fired or removed unless they commit a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. It is my belief the commissioners will, over the years of their service, become the institutional memory and voice of the parole board, and may, through their experience and time served on the board, become more knowledgeable, and therefore have more influence than the appointed parole board member. This could occur because the members will only serve a six-year term, unless reappointed, and the Parole Commissioners will have served for many years and have more experience than the newly appointed Parole Board Members. Under the present system, the commissioners and the appointed parole board members votes are equal, when they are voting for parole or discretionary mandatory release. It is my belief, the parole commissioners will become much more influential the longer they serve on the parole board.

 There is presently a rumor circulating that the Legislature is changing the law affecting 3g offenders. The present law requires the inmate serve one-half actual time before he/she is eligible for parole if he/she is convicted of a 3g offense. Supposedly, according to the rumor, the Legislature has passed a law rescinding the one-half requirement for any crime defined as a 3g offense making all inmates first parole appearance before the parole board possible after serving only one-fourth of their sentence. The first parole review, according to the rumor, will be eligible when the inmate has served one-fourth of his sentence and that one-fourth will be computed by adding the actual time the inmate has served plus any good time credits, and when the actual time served in the good time credits equal one-fourth of the sentence the inmate would be eligible for parole. FALSE. There is no such legislation proposed to date. I have reviewed all of the bills pending before the criminal justice committee, which is the committee all criminal laws must go through before they are approved for a floor vote, and there is no such law proposed or filed by any legislator.

 Next rumor circulating: Because of the recent scathing critique of the parole board by the Sunset Commission, the entire parole board will be replaced and a new group of individuals will be appointed. FALSE. I have found nothing indicating there is any basis for this rumor. While the Sunset Commission’s critique of the parole board was harsh, there is no indication the Governor is contemplating removing any parole board members or commissioners. The Governor is only able to remove those parole board members he appointed. The members are appointed by the governor and they serve for a six-year term. There are seven parole board members. The parole board is made up of the seven parole board members and 11 commissioners. The commissioners are civil servants and may not be removed unless they commit a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. They do not have a term limit and they do not serve at the pleasure of the Governor. Because of the law allowing the Governor to remove only those parole board members he appoints, he could only request the resignation of the seven parole board members. He could not request the resignation of the remaining parole board commissioners.

There is presently a new rumor circulating that the Legislature is changing the law affecting 3g offenders. The present law requires the inmate serve one-half actual time before he/she is eligible for parole if he/she is convicted of a 3g offense. Supposedly, according to the rumor, the Legislature has passed a law requiring the parole board to compute the inmates work time when calculating when the inmate has reached one-half of his sentence. FALSE. There is no such legislation proposed to date. I have reviewed all of the bills pending before the Criminal Justice Committee, which is the committee all criminal laws must go through before they are approved for a floor vote, and there is no such law proposed or filed by any legislator.