Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles

At a Glance

ROBERT FARR, Chairman

John Lahda, Executive Director

Established - October 1, 2004 PA 04-234

Statutory authority - CGS Sec. 54-124a, 54-131k

Central office - 55 West Main Street, Suite 520,

Waterbury, CT 06702

Average number of employees - 69 full-time

The Board of Pardons and Paroles is within the Department of Correction for Administrative Purposes Only (CGS Sec. 4-38f).

Organizational structure - Chairman and Executive Director, Pardons Unit, Parole Orientation and Hearings Unit, Parole Revocation and Rescission Unit, and Interstate Compact Unit.

Mission

The Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles is committed to protecting the public by making responsible decisions in determining when and under what circumstances eligible persons may be granted the benefit of a Pardon or the privilege of Parole.

Statutory Responsibility

Public Act 04-234 established the Board of Pardons and Paroles within the Department of Correction for administrative purposes only and is the successor to the former Board of Parole (established in 1968) and the former Board of Pardons (established in 1949).

The Board of Pardons and Paroles has the independent decision-making authority to (1) grant or deny parole, (2) establish conditions of parole or special parole supervision, (3) rescind or revoke parole or special parole, and (4) grant commutations of punishment or releases, conditioned or absolute, in the case of any person convicted of any offense against the state and commutations from the penalty of death. The Members of the Board are appointed exclusively to either pardon panels or parole release panels. The Chairperson may serve on both pardons panels and parole release panels.

Public Act 08-01 established that there shall be a Board of Pardons and Paroles within the Department of Correction, for administrative purposes only. On and after February 1, 2008, and prior to July 1, 2008, the board shall consist of not more than twenty-five members appointed by the Governor. On and after July 1, 2008, the board shall consist of eighteen members. On and after February 1, 2008, the Governor shall appoint all members of the board with the advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly. On and after July 1, 2008, twelve of the members shall serve exclusively on parole release panels, five of the members shall serve exclusively on pardons panels and the chairperson may serve on both parole release panels and pardons panels. In the appointment of members on and after February 1, 2008, the Governor shall specify the member being appointed as chairperson, the full-time and part-time members being appointed to serve on parole release panels and the members being appointed to serve on pardons panels. The members of the Board appointed on or after February 1, 2008, shall be qualified by education, experience or training in the administration of community corrections, parole or pardons, criminal justice, criminology, the evaluation or supervision of offenders or the provision of mental health services to offenders. The Public act also mandated that no panel of the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall hold a hearing to determine the suitability for parole release of any person or, prior to July 1, 2008, hold a meeting to consider the recommendation of an employee of the board made pursuant to section 54-125b, to grant parole to a person unless the chairperson of the board has made reasonable efforts to determine the existence of and obtain all information deemed pertinent to the panel's decision and has certified that all such pertinent information determined to exist has been obtained or is unavailable. Lastly the Public Act repealed section 54-125b of the Connecticut General Statutes, effectively eliminating parole decisions being made through Administrative Review and therefore requiring all cases to appear before a full panel when determining suitability for parole.

Public Act 08-51 provided funding additional staff for the Board of Pardons and Paroles to screen parole candidates and process files.

Public Service

In 2007/2008, the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles conducted over 6,000 reviews specifically for the purposes of granting a Pardon or Parole. Additionally, two Victim Services Coordinators were available for assisting those victims of crimes who chose to participate in the decision-making processes of the Board. Members of the public can always contact the Board of Pardons and Paroles using a toll free number (1-800-303-2884) or by email ct.bpp@po.state.ct.us .

Pardons Unit:

· The Pardons Unit receives and reviews petitions for all forms of clemency, whether absolute or conditional, from both current and former offenders, as well as applications for Sentence Commutation. The Pardons Unit maintains a case file on all individuals who have applied for a pardon and acts as a liaison with the public for information inquiries and correspondence. Officers assigned to the Pardons Unit review all applications and prepare and distribute dockets as well as conduct investigations on each application, which include criminal record queries and interviews with witnesses and victims.

Parole Orientation and Hearings Unit:

· The Parole Orientation Unit provides newly sentenced parole eligible offenders with information relative to the laws and policies regarding parole release, calculation of time-served standards, standard conditions of parole, supervision practices, revocation and rescission policies, procedures for administrative review and full panel hearings as well as any other information that the Board deemed relevant for preparing offenders for parole. The Parole Officers assigned to various correctional institutions are the on-site representatives of the Board and are available to answer questions from DOC personnel and inmates regarding all aspects of the parole process. The Parole Officers in the institutions interview every applicant and complete comprehensive summaries that provide Board members with information regarding an applicant’s criminal, social and correctional history. The Parole Officers then present these cases to a Panel of the Board to determine suitability for parole release. If the applicant is paroled, the summaries then form the basis of information upon which field parole officers develop case management, treatment and supervision plans.

Parole Revocation and Rescission Unit:

· The Parole Revocation and Rescission Unit provide the platform that affords due process to Parolees facing Revocation or Rescission. Employees of the Board of Pardons and Paroles (Hearing Examiners) conduct all preliminary (probable cause), revocation and rescission hearings. The Unit conducts hearings with the Parolees at the institution and presents its findings and recommendations to a Panel of the Board for disposition.

Interstate Compact Unit

· The Interstate Compact Unit works in conjunction with the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision, whose membership includes paroling authorities across the nation to guide the transfer of offenders in a manner that promotes effective supervision strategies consistent with public safety, offender accountability, and victim’s rights. It also provides for inmates to be paroled to other state, federal and immigration detainers.

Improvements/Achievements 2007-08

Pardons Unit:

· The Pardons process once again remained the focus in the Legislative session on matters relative to clemency. There were seven bills pending and several were combined, resulting in the passage of P.A 07- 57, which reduced time frames and requirements for applicants. In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, employers have increased background checks on existing and potential employees. This fact continues to increase public interest in applying for clemency with the goal of expunging their criminal history to relieve what has become a potential barrier to employment.

The Pardons Unit conducted seven non-inmate hearings held at Bridgeport, Hartford, Middletown, New Britain and Waterbury Superior Courts. Inmate petitions were reviewed biannually in the spring and fall sessions. This unit also worked with court administrators to expand the 2008/2009 calendars to include eight non-inmate hearings per year to accommodate the increase in volume of petitions.

Additionally, the Pardons Unit has worked closely with and provided speakers and training to Universities, non-profit organizations and various other state agencies to educate the public about the clemency process. With the implementation of the Provisional Pardon and the Conditional pardon, the unit works in conjunction with the Division of Public Safety’s Special Licensing and Firearms Unit on related matters.

Parole Orientation and Hearings Unit:

· The Parole Orientation Unit met with approximately 3,000 newly sentenced parole eligible offenders in 2007-2008. The Parole Orientation staff work in conjunction with the DOC Assessment Unit staff to initiate the Offender Accountability Plan. Parole Officers assigned to the DOC Institutions conducted over 2,300 Administrative Reviews with the Board; prepared over 1,300 cases for full panel hearings and conducted over 5,000 case reviews. The 85% notification letters sent to offenders have been re-designed to include the type of crime that drives the designation. The improvement in format and information contained in the notification letters has resulted in fewer misunderstandings by offenders as to why they have been designated to serve 85% before being considered for parole. A certification process has been adopted in accordance with P.A. 08-1 and requires parole officers to obtain (or attempt to obtain) all existing police reports, pre-sentence investigations, sentencing transcripts, juvenile and youthful offender records, mental health evaluations, and sex offender evaluations, where applicable. Procedures have been established in cooperation with the Judicial Department, the State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Correction to obtain this information. The new legislation also allowed the Board access Juvenile and Youthful Offender Status Records. Additional procedures were established in cooperation with the Judicial Department to allow parole officer electronic access to these records.

Parole Revocation and Rescission Unit:

· The Revocation and Rescission unit is working diligently to comply with the state regulation concerning the revocation and rescission process that was filed with the office of the Secretary of the State on April 5, 2007. The unit recently assumed responsibility for all rescissions. These recent changes have dramatically increased the number of cases processed and hearings conducted.

Interstate Compact Unit:

· The Interstate Compact Unit has updated it's procedures to include the use of scanning and electronic mail in its interactions both locally and nationally in order to ensure compliance with Interstate Compact Rules regarding time-frames. The Deputy Compact Administrator, as an ex-officio member of the ICAOS Compliance Committee, has participated in the development of an assessment tool that is to be made available to Compact offices nationally at the upcoming annual business meeting. The Interstate Procedure Manual for Connecticut Interstate Parole has been updated to reflect current procedures for managing Compact caseloads and workflow.

Other Achievements:

· The new Members of the Pardons and Parole Board are attending agency training as required by Public Act 08-01.

· A Legislative Liaison and Public Information Officer function was re-established among the managerial staff to assist in securing legislative information and support for various initiatives during the General Assembly session and provide information to the media outlets and general public.

Strategic Planning

Pardons Unit:

· Enhancements continue to be made on the Department of Corrections website that supports the link to pardons information. Future initiatives include designing the site to make it more user friendly and also to create a facts page as well as the ability to complete the pardon application online.

Parole Orientation and Hearings Unit:

· The Parole Orientation Process continues to be defined and expanded. With the new requirements passed in P.A. 08-01 (obtain statutorily mandated sentencing transcripts, pre-sentence investigation(s) and police reports) measures are underway to coordinate electronic receipt and storage of these documents in collaboration with the Department of Correction and the state’s Judicial Branch. Once in place, the Board will again be able to launch Pilot programs for the incarcerated female and youth populations. These programs were placed on hold after July of 2007. These pilot programs are intended to target low-risk/non-violent offenders and conduct parole hearings eighteen months in advance of eligibility in stead of the current policy which calls for hearings to be held six months in advance of statutory eligibility. These low risk/non-violent offenders have been identified by utilizing the Board’s Salient Factor Score (risk assessment tool) via the orientation process. If granted parole, these offenders could be transferred to a halfway house or the community to begin supervision prior to their voted to parole date. Lastly, all hearing dockets, schedules and results will now be posted on the Department of Correction website that links to the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Parole Revocation and Rescission Unit:

· Procedures are presently being implemented with regard to parole rescissions. In the past the investigation, processing and notice of rescission have been handled by Parole Officers assigned to the perspective institutions. The increased processing time involved in preparing parole cases as a result of Public Act 08-01 has created a need to free the Officer of this additional responsibility. The Revocation and Rescissions unit has taken on this responsibility for the entire state. At present we have two officers assigned to this task and we have developed a computer query to identify cases. We are also putting a policy in place to impose pre-approved sanctions for behavior discovered outside of the time frames, which would require an actual hearing. It is our hope that in this way we will be able to reduce the number of hearings held and I turn the number of employee hours spent on this task.

Interstate Compact Unit:

· In anticipation of the implementation of a web-based offender tracking system by the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision in the next fiscal year, the Interstate Compact Unit continues to undergo user specific training in system operations. Training will be coordinated with the national office and will be conducted at various Parole & Community Services Division sites in order to maintain maximum efficiency in case transfers at start-up. A Unit Self-Assessment is planned utilizing the tools developed by the ICAOS Compliance Committee.

Information Reported as Required by State Statute

The Governor appoints members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Board Members are chosen to reflect the racial diversity of the state. Members are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of either house of the General Assembly and their terms are also coterminous with that of the Governor.

The Chairman, Robert Farr, of West Hartford, serves as the Board’s Chief Administrative Officer. In addition to the Chairman, the Board of Pardons and Paroles is currently comprised of the following members:

Full-Time Parole Panel Members: Mr. Eric Crawford of Hartford, Mr. Robert Murphy of Madison, Mr. John O’Connor of West Haven, Mr. Louis Roy of Avon, Ms. Foye Smith of Hartford.

Part-Time Parole Panel Members: Mr. Remi Acosta of Waterbury, Mr. David May of East Hampton, Ms. Pamela Richards of Ivoryton, Ms. Jennifer Zaccagnini of Watertown. (and three vacant positions).

Pardons Panel Members: Joseph Elder of Hartford; Joseph Milardo of Middletown, Robert Smith of Southington, Russell Palmer of Cromwell; and Victoria Wills of West Hartford.