One bill would create a three-member paid parole board that would hold more timely hearings and be required to consider the parole plan developed by the Department of Corrections before imposing other conditions. It would also set up structured guidelines for determining who is eligible for parole.
The current parole board is made up of seven volunteers and has been criticized for making inconsistent decisions, hearing cases long after inmates were eligible for parole and adding conditions not recommended by the department.
Another bill would help paroled inmates find housing.
Democratic Sen. Cynthia Wolken, of Missoula, told lawmakers that inmates who have been granted parole, but do not have permanent housing, remain in prison at a cost of $120 a day, or $3,600 a month. On Wednesday, 120 inmates were in that position. If that average were maintained, she said, the cost would be $5 million a year.
Senate Bill 65 would set up a housing assistance program that would help paroled inmates pay rent for up to three months, by which time they must have a job and permanent housing, Wolken said.
“I know it’s hard to ask people to help fund housing for offenders,” she said, “but when offenders don’t have places to live they re-offend, then they go back to prison.”
A third bill would allow hearing officers to sanction non-violent probationers for technical violations of the terms of their probation, saving court time and providing a more immediate consequence. It also would allow some people to be released from supervision early if they comply with the terms of their probation.
The Justice Center estimated the housing and parole sanction bills would save the state about $18.5 million in 2018-19, Wolken said.
The bills must pass a third reading before moving to the House.