RELEASE ON PAROLE

If a state’s parole board grants parole to a prisoner, custody of the prisoner is generally transferred to the state’s parole board prior to the prisoner’s release on parole. The prisoner is usually transferred to a residential facility or a halfway house, during which time the prisoner continues to receive credit for good conduct time.

When custody of a prisoner is transferred to a state’s parole board, the prisoner is subject to supervision and control by the parole board. An officer that is assigned to the parole board will make written reports on the prisoner’s confinement in a residential facility or a halfway house. The officer must report whether the prisoner has violated any of the conditions of his or her pre-release. The officer may also recommend any disciplinary action or whether the parole board should rescind or revise the prisoner’s release date. If the officer recommends disciplinary action, the prisoner may be returned to the correctional institution in which he or she was previously confined.

Once a prisoner has satisfactorily served his or her term in a residential facility or a halfway house, the prisoner is paroled. The prisoner must be provided with a written statement that sets forth the conditions of the prisoner’s parole. The prisoner must accept in writing the conditions of his or her parole.

A prisoner’s release on parole is usually subject to many conditions. Such conditions include reporting to a parole officer on a monthly basis, committing no offenses while on parole, residing in a place that is approved by the parole officer, not traveling outside the state, not owning or possessing any weapons, and avoiding persons and places that have a disreputable character. The conditions may also include the prisoner’s attendance at all hearings regarding his or her parole and the payment of all fines, restitution, and court costs. The prisoner may further be required to submit to periodic alcohol and drug testing, to register as a sex offender, or to perform a certain number of hours of community service.

A prisoner who is paroled is usually required to reside in the county in which the prisoner resided at the time of committing his or her offense or in the county in which the prisoner committed his or her offense. However, a state parole board may require the prisoner to reside in another county if the life or safety of a victim, a witness, or any other person must be protected. The parole board may allow the prisoner to reside in another state if the prisoner was a resident of the other state at the time of his or her offense, if he or she has family in the other state, or if he or she obtains employment in the other state. Although the parole board that granted parole to the prisoner sets the conditions of the prisoner’s parole, the other state’s parole board supervises the prisoner’s parole.

If a prisoner violates any of the conditions of his or her parole, the prisoner’s parole may be revoked. If the prisoner’s parole is revoked, the prisoner will be required to serve the remainder of his or her sentence in the correctional institution in which he or she was previously incarcerated.

Copyright 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.