Parole Prep

Parole is the release of an inmate from prison before they reach the end of his or her mandatory release date.  Depending on many factors, eligibility for parole will come up for an inmate and then they will go before one or more parole commissioners for a hearing.  Parole is not a guarantee. It is not a right. It is at the discretion of the parole commission what is offered and when.  

In the meantime, inmates who wish to be let out on parole will try to build up their file with good behavior, programs, certificates, and steady work in some type of prison job.  Sometimes it makes no sense hearing that one person gets parole with barely anything and a crazy charge, while the best of inmates with all the right things gets denied outright.  

There are several outcomes that a parole commissioner can produce.  Immediate parole, which means an inmate can be released anywhere from a week to two months.  Delayed release set at some future date. And taking a “hit” which means, come back in a year or some period of time with suggestions of taking some courses or programs.  The other outcome is to get flat out denied. Most of it is out of an inmates control and it all seems very frustrating. However, there are things that can be done that certainly can’t hurt.  Taking classes, doing programs, getting certificates, correspondence courses, working a job, not getting tickets all need to be done, but in addition to all that, preparing for the actual hearing is important too.

Luckily, there is a Parole Preparation Toolkit that was written just for this occasion.  Inmates don’t have to go into these hearings cold. There is plenty to do and if done right, could really tip the scale in the inmates favor.  Just reading the questions alone is a big help to prepare oneself to answer and say what you want to say to the commissioner instead of stammering and getting caught off guard. 

You can download the PDF here:

Here is the 2019 Parole Schedule: