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Decision Makers

The Parole Board consists of nine members – including a Chairman – appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Parole Board makes parole and parole revocation decisions by a majority of the Parole Board or in panels of two persons. Panels consist of one Parole Board Member and one Hearing Examiner or two Parole Board Members. A Hearing Examiner is also a decision maker empowered to sit on parole revocation panels, conduct parole hearings in lieu of panels and conduct parole interviews on behalf of the Parole Board.

For voting purposes, the Parole Board uses these groups based on the inmate’s current offense:

Group 1 – Majority Vote Offenses
The majority of the Parole Board Members must vote YES for you to be paroled. For these types of cases, inmates are interviewed jointly by two Parole Board Members, OR one Parole Board Member and one Hearing Examiner. Typically, these cases take longer to process Board Actions because of the individual reviews that must be done by multiple decision makers to reach a majority of positive votes to parole.

Board Designated Majority Vote Offenses (pdf)

Group 2 – Panel Offenses
Individuals need two YES votes from a panel of Parole Board Decision Makers. A Panel consists of either two Board Members or one Board Member and one Hearing Examiner, empowered to make parole release decisions and recommitment decisions.

Group 3 – Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive (RRRI)
RRRI-eligible inmates may be paroled if they receive a YES vote from a Hearing Examiner.

Group 4 – Short Sentence Parole (SSP)
SSP-eligible inmates may be paroled if they receive a YES vote from a Hearing Examiner.

It is the Parole Board’s job to determine whether or not an inmate should be on parole. The Parole Board’s main consideration is whether or not an inmate has reduced their risk of committing a new crime and can be safely supervised in the community.