Sunday, September 7, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
SB205: Prisoners; mandatory release on parole.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 53.1-159 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 53.1-159. Mandatory release on parole.
Every person who is sentenced and committed under the laws of the Commonwealth to the Department of Corrections or as provided for in §§ 19.2-308.1, 53.1-152 or § 53.1-153 shall be released on parole by the Virginia Parole Board six months prior to his date of final release. Each person so sentenced or committed, however, shall serve a minimum of three months of his sentence prior to such a release. Persons who are so released on parole shall be subject to a minimum of six months' supervision and an additional period of parole ending on the date upon which the parolee would have served the maximum term of confinement, or any period the Board otherwise deems appropriate in accordance with § 53.1-156. Such persons shall also be subject, for the entire period of parole fixed by the Board, to such terms and conditions prescribed by the Board in accordance with § 53.1-157.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if
within thirty 30 days
of a release scheduled pursuant to this section, new information is presented
to the Board which gives the Board reasonable cause to believe that the release
poses a clear and present danger to the life or physical safety of any person,
the Board may delay the release for up to six months to investigate the matter
and to refer it to law-enforcement, mental health or other appropriate
authorities for investigation and any other appropriate action by such
authorities.
No person released on parole pursuant to § 53.1-136, and whose parole is subsequently revoked, shall be released on parole pursuant to this section until at least six months have elapsed from the date of the decision revoking his parole. However, if parole was revoked on a technical violation, such person shall not be required to serve the minimum six months. No person released on parole pursuant to this section, whose parole is subsequently revoked, shall thereafter be released on parole pursuant to this section. Final discharge may be extended to require the prisoner to serve the full portion of the term imposed by the sentencing court which was unexpired when the prisoner was released on parole.
For purposes of this section, (i) "maximum term of
confinement" means the maximum term of incarceration established by law as
punishment for the offense, (ii) "mandatory release date" means that
date which is six months prior to the scheduled date of release and takes into
consideration good conduct credits, and (iii)
"final discharge" and "discharge from parole" mean that a
prisoner is released from confinement having satisfied the full term imposed by
the sentencing court minus any good conduct credit in cases of technical
violations and without regard to good conduct credit in
cases where the prisoner has been found guilty of a new and subsequent charge,
and (iv) "technical violation" means any failure to adhere to
conditions of parole that is not deliberate defiance of those conditions or
does not constitute further criminal conduct or both. Nothing
contained herein shall be construed to create a right or entitlement to parole.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.