Bill Text: IN SB0340 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Parole board duties, community corrections, and bail.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2010-03-25 - Section 18 effective 07/01/2010 [SB0340 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2010-SB0340-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 11-13-3-3; IC 35-50-6-1.
Synopsis: Parole board duties. Makes conducting a community
investigation by the parole board discretionary rather than mandatory.
Reduces the standard period of parole from two years to one year
unless the parole board finds that the person is likely to commit a
violent crime.
Effective: July 1, 2010.
January 11, 2010, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
corrections.
(b) A person sentenced for an offense under laws other than IC 35-50 who is eligible for release on parole, or a person whose parole is revoked and is eligible for reinstatement on parole under rules adopted by the parole board shall, before the date of the person's parole eligibility, be granted a parole release hearing to determine whether parole will be granted or denied. The hearing shall be conducted by one (1) or more of the parole board members. If one (1) or more of the members conduct the hearing on behalf of the parole board, the final decision shall be rendered by the full parole board based upon the record of the proceeding and the hearing conductor's findings. Before the hearing, the parole board shall order an investigation to include the collection and consideration of:
(1) reports regarding the person's medical, psychological, educational, vocational, employment, economic, and social condition and history;
(2) official reports of the person's history of criminality;
(3) reports of earlier parole or probation experiences;
(4) reports concerning the person's present commitment that are relevant to the parole release determination;
(5) any relevant information submitted by or on behalf of the person being considered; and
(6) such other relevant information concerning the person as may be reasonably available.
(c) Unless the victim has requested in writing not to be notified, the department shall notify a victim of a felony (or the next of kin of the victim if the felony resulted in the death of the victim) or any witness involved in the prosecution of an offender imprisoned for the commission of a felony when the offender is:
(1) to be discharged from imprisonment;
(2) to be released on parole under IC 35-50-6-1;
(3) to have a parole release hearing under this chapter;
(4) to have a parole violation hearing;
(5) an escaped committed offender; or
(6) to be released from departmental custody under any temporary release program administered by the department, including the following:
(A) Placement on minimum security assignment to a program authorized by IC 11-10-1-3 or IC 35-38-3-6 and requiring periodic reporting to a designated official, including a regulated community assignment program.
(B) Assignment to a minimum security work release program.
(d) The department shall make the notification required under subsection (c):
(1) at least forty (40) days before a discharge, release, or hearing occurs; and
(2) not later than twenty-four (24) hours after the escape of a committed offender.
The department shall supply the information to a victim (or a next of kin of a victim in the appropriate case) and a witness at the address supplied to the department by the victim (or next of kin) or witness. A victim (or next of kin) is responsible for supplying the department with any change of address or telephone number of the victim (or next of kin).
(e) The probation officer conducting the presentence investigation
shall inform the victim and witness described in subsection (c), at the
time of the interview with the victim or witness, of the right of the
victim or witness to receive notification from the department under
subsection (c). The probation department for the sentencing court shall
forward the most recent list of the addresses or telephone numbers, or
both, of victims to the department of correction. The probation
department shall supply the department with the information required
by this section as soon as possible but not later than five (5) days from
the receipt of the information from the victim. A victim (or next of kin)
is responsible for supplying the department with the correct address
and telephone number of the victim (or next of kin).
(f) Notwithstanding IC 11-8-5-2 and IC 4-1-6, an inmate may not
have access to the name and address of a victim and a witness. Upon
the filing of a motion by any person requesting or objecting to the
release of victim information, witness information, or both that is
retained by the department, the court shall review the information that
is the subject of the motion in camera before ruling on the motion.
(g) The notice required under subsection (c) must specify whether
the prisoner is being discharged, is being released on parole, is being
released on lifetime parole, is having a parole release hearing, is having
a parole violation hearing, or has escaped. The notice must contain the
following information:
(1) The name of the prisoner.
(2) The date of the offense.
(3) The date of the conviction.
(4) The felony of which the prisoner was convicted.
(5) The sentence imposed.
(6) The amount of time served.
(7) The date and location of the interview (if applicable).
(h) The parole board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 and make
available to offenders the criteria considered in making parole release
determinations. The criteria must include the:
(1) nature and circumstances of the crime for which the offender
is committed;
(2) offender's prior criminal record;
(3) offender's conduct and attitude during the commitment; and
(4) offender's parole plan.
(i) The hearing prescribed by this section may be conducted in an
informal manner without regard to rules of evidence. In connection
with the hearing, however:
(1) reasonable, advance written notice, including the date, time,
and place of the hearing shall be provided to the person being
considered;
(2) the person being considered shall be given access, in accord
with IC 11-8-5, to records and reports considered by the parole
board in making its parole release decision;
(3) the person being considered may appear, speak in the person's
own behalf, and present documentary evidence;
(4) irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be
excluded; and
(5) a record of the proceeding, to include the results of the parole
board's investigation, notice of the hearing, and evidence adduced
at the hearing, shall be made and preserved.
(j) If parole is denied, the parole board shall give the person written
notice of the denial and the reasons for the denial. The parole board
may not parole a person if it determines that there is substantial reason
to believe that the person:
(1) will engage in further specified criminal activity; or
(2) will not conform to appropriate specified conditions of parole.
(k) If parole is denied, the parole board shall conduct another parole
release hearing not earlier than five (5) years after the date of the
hearing at which parole was denied. However, the board may conduct
a hearing earlier than five (5) years after denial of parole if the board:
(1) finds that special circumstances exist for the holding of a
hearing; and
(2) gives reasonable notice to the person being considered for
parole.
(l) The parole board may parole a person who is outside Indiana on
a record made by the appropriate authorities of the jurisdiction in
which that person is imprisoned.
(m) If the board is considering the release on parole of an offender
who is serving a sentence of life in prison, a determinate term of
imprisonment of at least ten (10) years, or an indeterminate term of
imprisonment with a minimum term of at least ten (10) years, in
addition to the investigation required under subsection (b), the board
shall may order and consider a community investigation, which must
may include an investigation and report that substantially reflects the
attitudes and opinions of:
(1) the community in which the crime committed by the offender
occurred;
(2) law enforcement officers who have jurisdiction in the
community in which the crime occurred;
(3) the victim of the crime committed by the offender, or if the
victim is deceased or incompetent for any reason, the victim's
relatives or friends; and
(4) friends or relatives of the offender.
If the board reconsiders for release on parole an offender who was
previously released on parole and whose parole was revoked under
section 10 of this chapter, the board may use a community investigation
prepared for an earlier parole hearing to comply with this subsection.
However, the board shall may accept and consider any supplements or
amendments to any previous statements from the victim or the victim's
relatives or friends.
(n) As used in this section, "victim" means a person who has
suffered direct harm as a result of a violent crime (as defined in
IC 5-2-6.1-8).
(1) except as provided in subsection (j), released on parole for not more than
(2) discharged upon a finding by the committing court that the person was assigned to a community transition program and may be discharged without the requirement of parole; or
(3) released to the committing court if the sentence included a period of probation.
(b) This subsection does not apply to a person described in subsection (d), (e), or (f). A person released on parole remains on parole from the date of release until the person's fixed term expires, unless the person's parole is revoked or the person is discharged from that term by the parole board. In any event, if the person's parole is not revoked, the parole board shall discharge the person after the period set under subsection (a) or the expiration of the person's fixed term, whichever is shorter.
(c) A person whose parole is revoked shall be imprisoned for all or part of the remainder of the person's fixed term. However, the person shall again be released on parole when the person completes that remainder, less the credit time the person has earned since the revocation. The parole board may reinstate the person on parole at any time after the revocation.
(d) This subsection does not apply to a person who is a sexually violent predator under IC 35-38-1-7.5. When a sex offender (as defined
in IC 11-8-8-4.5) completes the sex offender's fixed term of
imprisonment, less credit time earned with respect to that term, the sex
offender shall be placed on parole for not more than ten (10) years.
(e) This subsection applies to a person who:
(1) is a sexually violent predator under IC 35-38-1-7.5;
(2) has been convicted of murder (IC 35-42-1-1); or
(3) has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3).
When a person described in this subsection completes the person's
fixed term of imprisonment, less credit time earned with respect to that
term, the person shall be placed on parole for the remainder of the
person's life.
(f) This subsection applies to a parolee in another jurisdiction who
is a person described in subsection (e) and whose parole supervision is
transferred to Indiana from another jurisdiction. In accordance with
IC 11-13-4-1(2) (Interstate Compact for Out-of-State Probationers and
Parolees) and rules adopted under Article VII (d)(8) of the Interstate
Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (IC 11-13-4.5), a parolee who
is a person described in subsection (e) and whose parole supervision is
transferred to Indiana is subject to the same conditions of parole as a
person described in subsection (e) who was convicted in Indiana,
including:
(1) lifetime parole (as described in subsection (e)); and
(2) the requirement that the person wear a monitoring device (as
described in IC 35-38-2.5-3) that can transmit information
twenty-four (24) hours each day regarding a person's precise
location, if applicable.
(g) If a person being supervised on lifetime parole as described in
subsection (e) is also required to be supervised by a court, a probation
department, a community corrections program, a community transition
program, or another similar program upon the person's release from
imprisonment, the parole board may:
(1) supervise the person while the person is being supervised by
the other supervising agency; or
(2) permit the other supervising agency to exercise all or part of
the parole board's supervisory responsibility during the period in
which the other supervising agency is required to supervise the
person, if supervision by the other supervising agency will be, in
the opinion of the parole board:
(A) at least as stringent; and
(B) at least as effective;
as supervision by the parole board.
(h) The parole board is not required to supervise a person on
lifetime parole during any period in which the person is imprisoned.
However, upon the person's release from imprisonment, the parole
board shall recommence its supervision of a person on lifetime parole.
(i) If a court orders the parole board to place a sexually violent
predator whose sentence does not include a commitment to the
department of correction on lifetime parole under IC 35-38-1-29, the
parole board shall place the sexually violent predator on lifetime parole
and supervise the person in the same manner in which the parole board
supervises a sexually violent predator on lifetime parole whose
sentence includes a commitment to the department of correction.
(j) If the parole board determines that a person described in
subsection (a)(1) is likely to commit a violent crime (as defined in
IC 5-2-6.1-8), the parole board shall place the person on parole for
not more than twenty-four (24) months, as determined by the
parole board.
