The state Parole Board's unanimous decision Thursday to implement retroactively a new rule to reduce the number of jailed parole violators means that more than 400 offenders will have their cases reviewed, leading to their possible release.
The action comes after the state Board of Corrections' decision Aug. 21 approving a new version of the Arkansas Department of Community Correction's "Offender Violation Guide," which establishes a "weighted" sanction system.
By making the new guidelines retroactive instead of applying them only to new parole violators, the Parole Board can clear space in crowded county jails that are housing inmates whose parole was revoked solely for technical violations.
"We don't have a timeline on how long this review process will take," Parole Board administrator Solomon Graves said. "Our No. 1 focus is public safety. We will take as much time as we need to do this right."
Of the nearly 1,500 parole violators in custody, more than 400 are locked up for technical violations, which includes any violation -- such as skipping a meeting with a parole officer, failing a drug test or associating with people the offender was ordered to avoid -- other than new illegal activity.
"This will give us a lot of relief in the county jail backup," said Benny Magness, chairman of the Board of Corrections. "You will see a difference. This affects more than 400 inmates. Anything over 250 makes a difference."
According to the latest numbers, there are nearly 2,600 Arkansas Department of Correction inmates held in the county jails because of state prison overcrowding.
Under the previous policy, all "technical violations" were weighted the same regardless of the severity, and the offender was reincarcerated. Violators also faced possible revocation after three violations, regardless of how minor the offenses.
The changes come at a time when the state is investing millions of dollars, time and resources to address prison overcrowding.
Experts have said Arkansas has the most stringent parole policies of any state. Parole policies were changed in 2013 after a series of stories in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette highlighted failures in the state's parole system in the handling of an eight-time parole absconder, Darrell Dennis, who kidnapped and killed a teenager in Little Rock.
According to statistics from the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the number of Arkansans on parole increased from 14,770 in 2004 to 24,523 in 2013.
The new system assigns a certain number of points based on the severity of a new offense by a parole violator, and violations older than 12 months drop from the accumulated points. Now, parole officers will submit a violation report to the Parole Board only after an offender's combined violations reach 40 points using the new weighted system.
"Up to now, we have returned offenders who had not committed a new criminal offense and could be better served with alternative sanctions, possibly in the community," said John Felts, Parole Board chairman and Board of Corrections member.
The Parole Board also voted unanimously Thursday to change its policy to automatically issue an arrest warrants for parolees charged with a violent crime or an offense requiring registration as a sex offender; any offense involving a weapon; or a parolee who has evaded supervision for 180 days or more.
All other requests for a warrant for a parole violator will be reviewed on an individual basis by a member of the Parole Board.
"Our primary focus has been, and will continue to be, preserving public safety," Felts said. "We will never take an action that we believe compromises that commitment."
Graves said the first step is for the Parole Board to identify all the inmates who fall within the new terms and verify their eligibility for release. The names will then be divided among the Parole Board members to conduct reviews and make individual recommendations before bringing them before the full board for a decision on whether to release the offender.
"It's going to be time-consuming. Whether 'time-consuming' means three days or two weeks or the end of September, we don't know," Graves said. "We will take however long the board needs to fully vet these cases and make the best decisions."
Magness said the new guidelines offer a strong, well-balanced approach.
The weighted guidelines categorize offenses as low-level, five points; medium level, 15 points; or high level, 40 points.
Low-level offenses include failure to perform community service, not maintaining employment and travel violations.
Medium-level offenses include evading supervision, an out-of-state travel violation, and a new felony arrest.
High-level offenses earn a parole violator an immediate 40 points and include a new felony arrest that is violent or sexual, a third-offense evading supervision, and a change of residences by a sex offender without permission.
"Sometimes the staff really needs to do something with these inmates because they're not adhering to their parole, but I also question whether a six-month lockup is helping them," Magness said.
He added that there's a difference between a parolee who didn't get a travel pass for his job versus one who "thumbs their nose at us" and doesn't show up at required parole-officer meetings.
"There's a price and we've got to figure out what that balance is -- what's worth locking someone up over and what's not," Magness said. "It's all about public safety."
Metro on 08/28/2015