Implement Parole Guidelines to Make Room for Violent Untreatable Offenders
In addition to probation revocations, limited parole release rates are another major cause of prison overcrowding. As of 2005, 25,688 low-risk, low-severity inmates (Level 5, 6, and 7 offenders) were considered eligible for parole according to standards set by the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole (TBPP), yet less than half were being released.[i] During 2006 Sunset Commission hearings for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) noted the damaging effects of the continued incarceration of low-risk offenders: “If you (TDCJ) just followed your own [parole] guidelines, we wouldn’t have a [prison] capacity problem right now.”
Currently, the parole rate in Texas is approximately 27%. The parole guidelines set by TBPP call for a minimum parole rate of 31%. If TBPP adheres to its own guidelines and increases the release rate by 4%, the state will not have to waste $2.151 billion over 20 years to build and maintain 3 new prisons. In addition, if the parole board adheres to its own guidelines, its caseloads will decrease, thus allowing TBPP to devote more time to evaluating difficult and high-risk cases, ultimately increasing public safety.
[i] Sunset Advisory Commission. Texas Department of Criminal Justice Board of Pardons and Paroles Correctional Managed Health Care Committee. Staff Report. October, 2006. p.33.