Researcher: MK Page 1 4/26/21
OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 978
AN ACT CONCERNING PAROLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INDIVIDUALS SERVING LENGTHY SENTENCES FOR CRIMES
COMMITTED BEFORE THE INDIVIDUAL TURNED TWENTY -ONE
YEARS OF AGE.
SUMMARY
This bill extends to certain 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old offenders
alternative parole eligibility rules that currently apply to specific
offenders age 17 or younger.
Under these alternative rules, the offenders are eligible for parole, at
the discretion of the Board of Pardons and Paroles panel for the
institution where he or she is confined, after serving:
1. the greater of 12 years or 60% of a prison sentence that is up to
50 years (provided it is more than 10 years); or
2. 30 years of a sentence that is more than 50 years.
Under existing law and the bill, these alternative rules apply if they
make someone eligible for parole sooner than under the general rules
(see BACKGROUND), and they also apply to someone convicted of a
crime who would otherwise be ineligible for parole.
Under current law, a person is eligible for the alternative rules if he
or she (1) committed one or more crimes when he or she was under
age 18, (2) was incarcerated on or after October 1, 2015, and (3) was
sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for those crimes. The bill
extends eligibility to offenders incarcerated on or after October 1, 2021,
who committed crimes when they were under age 21 and were
sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for those crimes.
The bill also makes conforming changes. 2021SB-00978-R000611-BA.DOCX
Researcher: MK Page 2 4/26/21
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
BACKGROUND
General Parole Eligibility Rules
By law, someone is generally eligible for parole, regardless of age,
after serving (1) 50% of his or her sentence minus any risk reduction
credits earned if convicted of a nonviolent crime and (2) 85% of his or
her sentence if convicted of a violent crime, home invasion, or 2
nd
degree burglary. Someone convicted of certain crimes, such as murder,
is generally ineligible for parole (CGS ยงยง 54-125a(a) & (b)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 25 Nay 13 (04/05/2021)