The Mississippi Legislative PEER Committee recently released a new report titled A Follow-up Review of the Mississippi State Parole Board.
You can read the full report HERE.
Some of the Committee’s major findings and recommendations include:
- The State Parole Board (Board) implemented changes to its hearing scheduling in September 2022, which significantly improved the timeliness of parole hearings. For CY 2022, PEER determined that only 9.8% of hearings prior to the change were timely, while 70.5% of hearings were timely after the change.
- The Board has not improved its processes for presumptive parole or maintaining meeting minutes. The Board conducts unnecessary parole hearings for offenders who could qualify for presumptive parole as authorized by MISS. CODE ANN. Section 47-7-18 (1972). Additionally, the Parole Board has not improved in maintaining minutes documenting its parole decisions.
- Since PEER’s previous report, the Parole Board has received travel reimbursements and per diem in accordance with state law and has improved attendance at hearings.
- The Board has not updated its policy and procedure manual since 2012. The manual is not consistent with the Board’s practices in several areas (e.g., presumptive parole, various hearing procedures).
- In a sample of 100 inmates, PEER found two instances in which an inmate with a registered victim had a parole hearing in CY 2022, but there is no record in Offendertrak (i.e., MDOC’s inmate database) of the victim receiving notification of the hearing.
- In April 2023, despite not receiving the necessary documents required from MDOC, the Board attempted to conduct presumptive parole hearings. The Board restructured its hearings so that it considered offenders eligible for parole on one day and offenders eligible for presumptive parole the next day. However, the Board’s docket was not organized accordingly. Of the 59 offenders placed on the docket for the day devoted to offenders eligible for parole, 54 offenders were eligible for presumptive parole.
- MDOC and the Board should determine which of the seven support staff positions located at Parchman should be relocated to the Board office in Jackson for staff support and determine which funded positions at MDOC are available for creating case plans and discharge plans required for presumptive parole.
- Once necessary staff changes have been made, MDOC should: ensure that case plans include specific and measurable goals that are appropriate for each offender; notify the Board of an offender’s compliance or non-compliance with the case plan at least 30 days before the offender’s parole eligibility date; and ensure that case plans and discharge plans are available for review and use by the Board in an accessible electronic format (e.g., Offendertrak).
- The Board should complete a comprehensive review and update of its policy and procedure manual to comport with current laws and practices by November 2023.
Should you have questions about the report, please contact James F. (Ted) Booth, PEER Executive Director, at 601-359-1226.
