BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 230
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 230
(Hancock) - As Amended March 24, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill allows inmates serving life sentences, who are found
suitable for parole, to be paroled as specified. However, this
bill authorizes the Governor to request a review of a decision
by the board to grant or deny parole at any time before the
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inmate's scheduled release.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown potential savings to the California Department of
Corrections (DCDR) for reduced incarceration periods. Assuming
the annual contracted bed rate of $29,000 per inmate, the annual
General Fund savings would be $29,000 per each additional year
not served by an inmate paroled timely.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "SB 230 is the Responsible
Parole Act. It ensures that once the Board of Parole Hearings
determines that an inmate is eligible, suitable, and safe for
parole, the implementation of that decision is expedited."
"Currently, it is possible for an inmate to be found suitable
and safe for parole by the Board but still have their parole
date delayed by significant time, often years. This is because
the current system of sentencing enhancements can add time for
charges that the inmate was never convicted of, or factual
findings that the jury at trial declined to find."
"If a prisoner is deemed eligible and safe for release by the
authorities, they should be released as soon as feasible and
not subjected to excessive delays. Why should we keep them for
additional months or years in our state prison system at
tremendous cost to taxpayers?
2)Background. The Board of Parole Hearings was created in 2005.
Prior to 2005, the Board of Prison Terms handled the adult
population eligible to receive parole. The Board of Prison
Terms was charged with parole hearings and revocation hearings
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for adults. Based on the recommendations of a task force
assembled by then Governor Schwarzenegger, the Board of Prison
Terms was dissolved to form the Board of Parole Hearings
charged with similar responsibilities and governed by the same
statutory language. Among its many powers, the Board of Parole
Hearings has the authority to determine parole suitability and
set a date for parole release when an individual is found
suitable for release.
Even after the parole board finds an individual suitable for
release they may still require an individual to spend months
or even years in prison before being released. These
lengthened sentences result from the term calculation process
the parole board engages in to determine how many years an
individual should spend in prison to satisfy the
non-rehabilitative purposes of incarceration. These term
calculations can extend or alter an individual's sentence,
creating a system of back-end sentencing in which a judge's
sentence may bear little resemblance to the actual time an
individual serves under correctional control.
Under existing law the Governor can ask for the review of a
parole decision up to 90 days prior to the release. This works
under the existing system in which a person can be found
suitable for parole but not released for years afterwards.
Under this bill, once found suitable, a person will be
released after the 120 days that the Governor has to review
parole decisions. Because of this shorter time frame to
release, the Governor may not have time to ask for a review of
the decision 90 days prior to the release. This bill would
allow the Governor to ask for the review any time prior to the
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release to give the Governor the time to study the decision
and determine whether to ask for a review.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081