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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6723
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6611
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING REFOR M OF PAROLE RELEASE AND
REVOCATION PRACTICES AND THE MEMBERSHIP O F THE BOARD
OF PARDONS AND PAROL ES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-124a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) (1) There shall be a Board of Pardons and Paroles within the 3
Department of Correction, for administrative purposes only. On and 4
after July 1, [2015] 2020, the board shall consist of [ten] twelve full-time 5
and up to five part-time members appointed by the Governor with the 6
advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly. The term 7
of any part-time member serving on the board on June 30, 2015, shall 8
expire on said date. On or after July 1, 2015, the Governor may appoint 9
up to five persons to serve as part-time members. In the appointment 10
of the members, the Governor shall specify if the member is being 11
appointed as full-time or part-time. In the appointment of the 12
members, the Governor shall comply with the provisions of section 4-13
9b. The Governor shall appoint a chairperson from among the 14
membership. The members of the board shall be qualified by 15 Committee Bill No. 6723
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education, experience or training in the administration of community 16
corrections, parole or pardons, criminal justice, criminology, the 17
evaluation or supervision of offenders or the provision of mental 18
health services to offenders. On and after July 1, 2020, at least one full-19
time member of the board shall be a person who was formerly 20
incarcerated and who previously had a hearing before a panel of the 21
board and at least one full-time member of the board shall be a victim 22
of a crime. Each appointment of a member of the board submitted by 23
the Governor to the General Assembly, except as provided in 24
subdivision (2) of this subsection, shall be referred, without debate, to 25
the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 26
cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary which shall report on 27
each appointment not later than thirty legislative days after the date of 28
reference. 29
(2) If, not later than September 1, 2015, the Governor appoints a 30
part-time member and such member was previously a member whose 31
term expired June 30, 2015, such appointment shall take effect 32
immediately without confirmation by the General Assembly. 33
(b) The term of each member of the board shall be coterminous with 34
the term of the Governor or until a successor is chosen, whichever is 35
later. Any vacancy in the membership of the board shall be filled for 36
the unexpired portion of the term by the Governor. 37
(c) Ten of the members, and on and after July 1, 2020, twelve of the 38
members of the board shall devote full time to the performance of their 39
duties under this section and shall be compensated therefor in such 40
amount as the Commissioner of Administrative Services determines, 41
subject to the provisions of section 4-40. The other members of the 42
board shall receive one hundred ten dollars for each day spent in the 43
performance of their duties and shall be reimbursed for necessary 44
expenses incurred in the performance of such duties. The chairperson 45
or, in the chairperson's absence or inability to act, a member 46
designated by the chairperson to serve temporarily as chairperson, 47
shall be present at all meetings of the board and participate in all 48 Committee Bill No. 6723
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decisions. 49
(d) The chairperson shall be the executive and administrative head 50
of said board and shall have the authority and responsibility for (1) 51
overseeing all administrative affairs of the board, (2) assigning 52
members to panels, (3) establishing procedural rules for members to 53
follow when conducting hearings, reviewing recommendations made 54
by employees of the board and making decisions, (4) adopting policies 55
in all areas of pardons and paroles including, but not limited to, 56
granting pardons, commutations of punishments or releases, 57
conditioned or absolute, in the case of any person convicted of any 58
offense against the state and commutations from the penalty of death, 59
risk-based structured decision making and release criteria, (5) 60
consulting with the Department of Correction on shared issues 61
including, but not limited to, prison overcrowding, (6) consulting with 62
the Judicial Branch on shared issues of community supervision, and (7) 63
signing and issuing subpoenas to compel the attendance and 64
testimony of witnesses at parole proceedings. Any such subpoena shall 65
be enforceable to the same extent as subpoenas issued pursuant to 66
section 52-143. 67
(e) Each parole release panel shall be composed of two members 68
and the chairperson or a full-time member designated by the 69
chairperson to serve temporarily as chairperson. On and after January 70
1, 2016, not less than three members shall be present at each parole 71
hearing. Each pardons panel shall be composed of three members, one 72
of whom may be the chairperson, except that for hearings on 73
commutations from the penalty of death, one member of the panel 74
shall be the chairperson. 75
(f) The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall have independent 76
decision-making authority to (1) grant or deny parole in accordance 77
with sections 54-125, 54-125a, 54-125e and 54-125g, (2) establish 78
conditions of parole or special parole supervision in accordance with 79
section 54-126, (3) rescind or revoke parole or special parole in 80
accordance with sections 54-127 and 54-128, (4) grant commutations of 81 Committee Bill No. 6723
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punishment or releases, conditioned or absolute, in the case of any 82
person convicted of any offense against the state and commutations 83
from the penalty of death in accordance with section 54-130a. 84
(g) The Department of Correction shall be responsible for the 85
supervision of any person transferred to the jurisdiction of the Board 86
of Pardons and Paroles during such person's period of parole or 87
special parole. 88
(h) The chairperson, or the chairperson's designee, and two 89
members of the board shall conduct all parole release hearings, and 90
shall approve or deny all (1) parole revocations and parole rescissions 91
recommended by an employee of the board pursuant to section 54-92
127a, and (2) recommendations for parole pursuant to section 54-125i. 93
No panel of the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall hold a hearing to 94
determine the suitability for parole release of any person unless the 95
chairperson of the board has made reasonable efforts to determine the 96
existence of and obtain all information deemed pertinent to the panel's 97
decision and has certified that all such pertinent information 98
determined to exist has been obtained or is unavailable. 99
(i) The chairperson of the board shall appoint an executive director. 100
The executive director shall oversee the administration of the agency 101
and, at the discretion of the chairperson, shall: (1) Direct and supervise 102
all administrative affairs of the board, (2) prepare the budget and 103
annual operation plan, (3) assign staff to administrative reviews, (4) 104
organize pardons and parole release hearing calendars, (5) implement 105
a uniform case filing and processing system, and (6) create programs 106
for staff and board member development, training and education. 107
(j) The chairperson, in consultation with the executive director, shall 108
adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, concerning: 109
(1) Parole revocation and rescission hearings that include 110
implementing due process requirements; 111
(2) An expedited pardons review that allows an applicant convicted 112 Committee Bill No. 6723
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of a crime to be granted a pardon with respect to such crime without a 113
hearing, unless a victim of such crime requests such a hearing, if such 114
applicant was convicted of a nonviolent crime; 115
(3) Requiring board members to issue written statements containing 116
the reasons for rejecting any application for a pardon. 117
(k) The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall hold a pardons hearing 118
at least once every three months and shall hold such hearings in 119
various geographical areas of the state. The board shall not hold a 120
pardons hearing within or on the grounds of a correctional facility 121
except when solely for the benefit of applicants who are incarcerated at 122
the time of such hearing. 123
(l) The chairperson and executive director shall establish: 124
(1) In consultation with the Department of Correction, a parole 125
orientation program for all parole-eligible inmates upon their transfer 126
to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction that will provide 127
general information on the laws and policies regarding parole release, 128
calculation of time-served standards, general conditions of release, 129
supervision practices, revocation and rescission policies, and 130
procedures for administrative review and panel hearings, and any 131
other information that the board deems relevant for preparing inmates 132
for parole; 133
(2) An incremental sanctions system for parole violations including, 134
but not limited to, reincarceration based on the type, severity and 135
frequency of the violation and specific periods of incarceration for 136
certain types of violations; and 137
(3) A formal training program for members of the board and parole 138
officers that shall include, but not be limited to, an overview of the 139
criminal justice system, the parole system including factors to be 140
considered in granting parole, victim rights and services, reentry 141
strategies, risk assessment, case management and mental health issues. 142
Each member shall complete such training annually. 143 Committee Bill No. 6723
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(m) The board shall employ at least one psychologist with expertise 144
in risk assessment and recidivism of criminal offenders who shall be 145
under the supervision of the chairperson and assist the board in its 146
parole release decisions. 147
(n) In the event of the temporary inability of any member other than 148
the chairperson to perform his or her duties, the Governor, at the 149
request of the board, may appoint a qualified person to serve as a 150
temporary member during such period of inability. 151
(o) The chairperson of the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall: (1) 152
Adopt an annual budget and plan of operation, (2) adopt such rules as 153
deemed necessary for the internal affairs of the board, and (3) submit 154
an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly. 155
(p) Any decision of the board or a panel of the board shall be made 156
by a majority of those members present. 157
(q) The chairperson of the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall 158
quarterly publish on the Internet web site operated by the board 159
statistics derived from decisions made pursuant to subsection (f) of 160
this section during the previous quarter. Such statistics shall be 161
disaggregated based on the following: (1) Race and gender; (2) length 162
of sanctions for criminal versus technical violations; and (3) parole 163
denial, or parole or special parole rescission or revocation outcomes. 164
(r) The board shall (1) track, analyze and publish data on the costs 165
associated with the rescission or revocation of a person's parole or 166
special parole, including jobs and housing lost by persons who have 167
their parole or special parole rescinded or revoked, (2) implement 168
evidence-informed strategies to reduce incarceration for persons who 169
have their parole or special parole rescinded or revoked, and (3) limit 170
rescission or revocation of a person's parole or special parole due to 171
violations attributed to such person's alcohol or drug-dependency or 172
mental health condition. 173 Committee Bill No. 6723
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 54-124a
JUD Joint Favorable
APP Joint Favorable