BILL NUMBER: SB 230	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2015

   An act to amend Section 3041 of the Penal Code, relating to
parole.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 230, as introduced, Hancock. Sentencing: parole.
   Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to meet with
each inmate during the 6th year before the inmate's minimum eligible
parole release date to review and document the inmate's activities
and conduct. Under existing law, the board must issue its findings
and recommendations to the inmate in writing, within 30 days
following the consultation.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3041 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   3041.  (a) In the case of any inmate sentenced pursuant to any
law, other than Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 1170) of Title 7
of Part 2, the Board of Parole Hearings shall meet with each inmate
during the sixth year  prior to   before 
the inmate's minimum eligible parole release date for the purposes of
reviewing and documenting the inmate's activities and conduct
pertinent to both parole eligibility and to the granting or
withholding of postconviction credit. During this consultation, the
board shall provide the inmate information about the parole hearing
process, legal factors relevant to his or her suitability or
unsuitability for parole, and individualized recommendations for the
inmate regarding his or her work assignments, rehabilitative
programs, and institutional behavior. Within 30 days following the
consultation, the board shall issue its positive and negative
findings and recommendations to the inmate in writing. One year
 prior to   before  the inmate's minimum
eligible parole release date a panel of two or more commissioners or
deputy commissioners shall again meet with the inmate and shall
normally set a parole release date as provided in Section 3041.5. No
more than one member of the panel shall be a deputy commissioner. In
the event of a tie vote, the matter shall be referred for an en banc
review of the record that was before the panel that rendered the tie
vote. Upon en banc review, the board shall vote to either grant or
deny parole and render a statement of decision. The en banc review
shall be conducted pursuant to subdivision (e). The release date
shall be set in a manner that will provide uniform terms for offenses
of similar gravity and magnitude with respect to their threat to the
public, and that will comply with the sentencing rules that the
Judicial Council may issue and any sentencing information relevant to
the setting of parole release dates. The board shall establish
criteria for the setting of parole release dates and in doing so
shall consider the number of victims of the crime for which the
inmate was sentenced and other factors in mitigation or aggravation
of the crime. At least one commissioner of the panel shall have been
present at the last preceding meeting, unless it is not feasible to
do so or where the last preceding meeting was the initial meeting.
Any person on the hearing panel may request review of any decision
regarding parole for an en banc hearing by the board. In case of a
review, a majority vote in favor of parole by the board members
participating in an en banc review is required to grant parole to any
inmate.
   (b) The panel or the board, sitting en banc, shall set a release
date unless it determines that the gravity of the current convicted
offense or offenses, or the timing and gravity of current or past
convicted offense or offenses, is such that consideration of the
public safety requires a more lengthy period of incarceration for
this individual, and that a parole date, therefore, cannot be fixed
at this meeting. After the effective date of this subdivision, any
decision of the parole panel finding an inmate suitable for parole
shall become final within 120 days of the date of the hearing. During
that period, the board may review the panel's decision. The panel's
decision shall become final pursuant to this subdivision unless the
board finds that the panel made an error of law, or that the panel's
decision was based on an error of fact, or that new information
should be presented to the board, any of which when corrected or
considered by the board has a substantial likelihood of resulting in
a substantially different decision upon a rehearing. In making this
determination, the board shall consult with the commissioners who
conducted the parole consideration hearing. No decision of the parole
panel shall be disapproved and referred for rehearing except by a
majority vote of the board, sitting en banc, following a public
meeting.
   (c) For the purpose of reviewing the suitability for parole of
those inmates eligible for parole under prior law at a date earlier
than that calculated under Section 1170.2, the board shall appoint
panels of at least two persons to meet annually with each inmate
until the time the  person   inmate  is
released pursuant to proceedings or reaches the expiration of his or
her term as calculated under Section 1170.2.
   (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that, during times when
there is no backlog of inmates awaiting parole hearings, life parole
consideration hearings, or life rescission hearings, hearings will be
conducted by a panel of three or more members, the majority of whom
shall be commissioners. The board shall report monthly on the number
of cases where an inmate has not received a completed initial or
subsequent parole consideration hearing within 30 days of the hearing
date required by subdivision (a) of Section 3041.5 or paragraph (2)
of subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5, unless the inmate has waived
the right to those timeframes. That report shall be considered the
backlog of cases for purposes of this section, and shall include
information on the progress toward eliminating the backlog, and on
the number of inmates who have waived their right to the above
timeframes. The report shall be made public at a regularly scheduled
meeting of the board and a written report shall be made available to
the public and transmitted to the Legislature quarterly  , in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code  .
   (e) For purposes of this section, an en banc review by the board
means a review conducted by a majority of commissioners holding
office on the date the matter is heard by the board. An en banc
review shall be conducted in compliance with the following:
   (1) The commissioners conducting the review shall consider the
entire record of the hearing that resulted in the tie vote.
   (2) The review shall be limited to the record of the hearing. The
record shall consist of the transcript or audiotape of the hearing,
written or electronically recorded statements actually considered by
the panel that produced the tie vote, and any other material actually
considered by the panel. New evidence or comments shall not be
considered in the en banc proceeding.
   (3) The board shall separately state reasons for its decision to
grant or deny parole.
   (4) A commissioner who was involved in the tie vote shall be
recused from consideration of the matter in the en banc review.