Mills (SB 473) Act No. 306
Prior law created a committee on parole in the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
which will enforce the provisions of prior law and the rules, regulations, and orders issued
pursuant to prior law.
Prior law provided for the membership of the committee on parole to be the five members
of the Board of Pardons and two at-large members appointed by the governor. Prior law also
provides that the warden (or in his absence the deputy warden) of the facility where the
offender is incarcerated shall serve as an ex officio member of the committee.
Prior law provided that each member, except for the ex officio member, shall possess not less
than five years actual experience in the field of penology, corrections, law enforcement,
sociology, law, education, social work, medicine, or a combination thereof. Provided that
the provisions of prior law shall not apply to any person serving as a member of the board
on August 1, 2012.
New law retains prior law and adds that beginning with appointments made to the board, or
appointments to fill a vacancy on the board, which occur after August 1, 2014, each member
shall hold a bachelor's degree and have five years of experience in the additional fields of
psychology or psychiatry. Further provides that if the member does not have at least a
bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, he or she must have no less than
seven years experience in a field listed in this new law.
Prior law provided that the ex officio member of the committee shall be a nonvoting member
and shall not be counted for the purposes of a quorum, but in other respects, shall have all
the duties, authority, requirements and benefits of any other committee member.
New law removes prior law provisions regarding the ex officio member's duties, authority,
requirements and benefits.
Prior law provided that within 90 days of being appointed to the committee on parole, each
member shall complete a comprehensive training course developed by the Department of
Public Safety and Corrections. The training course shall be developed using the training
components consistent with those offered by the National Institute of Corrections or the
American Probation and Parole Association, and shall include classes regarding the
following topics:
(1)The elements of the decision making process, through the use of evidence-based
practices for determining offender risk, needs, and motivation to change, including
the actuarial assessment tool used by the parole agent.
(2)The security classifications as established by the department.
(3)The programming and disciplinary processes and the department's supervision, case
planning, and violation process.
(4)The dynamics of criminal victimization.
(5)Collaboration with corrections related stakeholders, both public and private, to
increase offender success and public safety.
New law retains prior law but only requires voting members to attend the training course and
provides that the training course shall be developed in compliance with guidelines from the
National Institute of Corrections, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, or the
American Probation and Parole Association.
Prior law provided that each member shall complete a minimum of eight hours of training
annually, which shall be provided for in the annual budget of the Department of Public
Safety and Corrections. The annual training course shall be developed using the training
components consistent with those offered by the National Institute of Corrections or
American Probation and Parole Association and shall offer classes regarding the following
topics: (1)A review and analysis of the effectiveness of the assessment tool used by the parole
agents.
(2)A review of the department's progress toward public safety goals.
(3)The use of data in decision making.
(4)Any information regarding promising and evidence-based practices offered in the
corrections related and crime victim dynamics field.
New law changes prior law to add the Association of Paroling Authorities International to
the development requirements of the annual training. Changes the class topics to:
(1)Data-driven decision making.
(2)Evidence based practices.
(3)Stakeholder collaboration.
(4)Recidivism reduction.
Prior law provided that the committee may grant parole with two votes of a three member
panel, or, if the number exceeds a three member panel, a majority vote of those present if,
among other specified conditions, the following conditions are met:
(1) The offender has not committed any disciplinary offenses in the 12 consecutive
months prior to the parole eligibility date.
(2)The offender has completed the mandatory minimum of 100 hours of pre-release
programming in accordance with prior law.
New law retains prior law but requires that disciplinary offenses be classified as "major" for
purposes of parole eligibility denial and provides that the requirement of pre-release
programming will be considered if such programming is available at the facility where the
offender is incarcerated.
Effective August 1, 2014.
(Amends R.S. 15:572.1(A)(1)(c) and (G)(2))