What is a parole board? What are its primary functions and responsibilities?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. The prison-releasing authority is a group of individuals who have authority to release prisoners prior to completion of their sentences. Traditionally, this group has been known as the parole board but as determinate sentencing replaced indeterminate sentencing in 16 states, the name attached to this group varies by state. This text uses the more traditional term of "parole board" to apply to any prison-releasing authority regardless of its sentencing framework, for two reasons: (1) Most states have a mixed sentencing structure with elements of both determinate and indeterminate sentencing, and (2) even in states with determinate sentencing structures, 75% of them still retain a releasing-authority group with discretionary release (Kinnevy & Caplan, 2008). Parole boards have four basic functions: (1) to decide when individual prisoners should be released, (2) to determine any special conditions of parole supervision, (3) to successfully discharge the parolee when the conditions have been met, and (4) to determine whether parole privileges should be revoked should the conditions be violated.Some parole boards have additional functions, such as granting furloughs, reviewing pardons and executive clemency decisions made by the governor, restoring civil rights to ex-offenders, and granting reprieves in death sentence cases. Each state establishes the extent of its own parole board's authority. Most parole boards are independent entities. If they are tied to an agency, it is usually to the state department of corrections. The size of the group ranges from 3 to 19 members, with an average of 7 board members. The chair of the board is typically a full-time salaried employee, and some boards have a combination of full- and part-time employees.