SECOND PAROLE BOARD ON WAY

EARLY PAROLE QUALIFICATIONS

In April, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles began "special docket"
parole hearings for nonviolent offenders as a way to relieve prison
crowding. Gov. Bob Riley wants to continue that process with an expanded
parole board. To be eligible for early paroles, inmates must meet the
following criteria:

Not serving a split sentence (in which judge divides the sentence between
prison time and non-prison time) No convictions for a Class A felony
(violent crime against a person) Must not have had three revocations of
probation or parole within last five years No violations involving use or
threatened use of a knife or gun Not serving time for an offense involving
a victim injury Not serving time for domestic violence No convictions for
drug trafficking No convictions for sexual offenses No history of child
abuse convictions

If all goes according to Gov. Bob Riley's plan, the state will have a
second parole board in place by Dec. 1 to help relieve prisons of about
5,000 nonviolent offenders.

Riley wants to expand the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles from four
members to seven and divide it into two panels to hear more cases.

His plan also calls for the hiring of about 100 new parole officers to
supervise those released.

The expanded board, the hiring of new officers and related expenses will
cost about $10 million. Riley is asking the Legislature to approve the plan
during a special session that began Monday.

Lawmakers won't rubber-stamp the governor's plan, a key state lawmaker
said. Some victims advocates also expressed concerns about the early paroles.

Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, president pro tem of the state Senate, said
lawmakers might seek a cheaper way to achieve the goal of early paroles.

"A lot of us are not comfortable at this time with the cost," Barron said.
"We're going to sit down and look at ways we can expand the pardon and
parole process but at less cost than $10 million."

That cost would be offset by some lowered costs in the Alabama Department
of Corrections if it had 5,000 fewer inmates behind bars.

Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, said
the state pays about $9,000 a year to house a single inmate.

Riley's plan for more paroles is part of his solution to the larger problem
of state budgets. The state faces a shortfall for the budget year that
begins Oct. 1. Riley proposed a $1.2 billion tax plan to erase the deficit,
but voters rejected it on Sept. 9.

Alabama's prison population has grown more than fivefold since 1980 and now
includes more than 28,000 inmates in a system built for half that many.

The new parole board members would be appointed by the governor and
confirmed by the state Senate, just as current members are. The four new
board positions would be abolished after three years, and the board would
revert to three members who serve six-year terms.

The new board members would earn $76,000 a year, the same salary as current
members, assistant executive director Cynthia Dillard, said.

Mitzie Wheat of Chilton County is a member of VOCAL, a group that advocates
and assists victims of crime. Wheat's sister, Patricia Collum, was murdered
in Chilton County in October 1991, a crime that remains unsolved.

Riley's plan prohibits violent offenders from being considered for early
paroles. Still, Wheat worries about the impact of 5,000 offenders being on
the streets. Attorney General Bill Pryor said 25 percent to 30 percent are
likely to commit another crime within two years.

"The potential always exists for one of these nonviolent acts to turn into
something violent," Wheat said. "Somebody comes in and catches them and
that sort of thing. You're supposed to be saving money. But you have all
these people who have to be retried when they reoffend."

Louis Kelly, a Montgomery police officer from 1971 to 1992, said he
generally agreed with the governor's plan.

"I can't put a certain number on it, but I think a lot of the first-term
offenders should be released," Kelly said. "You always have a high rate of
the possibility of returning to criminal activity. A lot of the
first-termers, in my opinion, will seek employment and family to help them
out."

William Segrest, executive director of the Alabama Board of Pardons and
Paroles, said the parole board is receiving calls from family members of
inmates who have heard about Riley's plan. He said the callers are urging
the board to consider their family members for early parole.

Segrest said the board will use objective criteria so that the board is not
in the position of picking and choosing among inmates to consider.

"If they're in there and they're eligible, we will find them and put them
on the dockets," Segrest said.

The idea of speedier paroles for nonviolent offenders is not new. In
February, Riley gave the board of Pardons and Paroles $1 million from an
emergency fund to hire 28 new officers specifically to hear "special
docket" parole cases, which are for nonviolent offenders. Those offenders
typically have served less than one-third of their sentences, Dillard said.

Dillard said the board has heard 2,107 "special docket" cases since it
began the hearings April 7. Of those, the board has granted 1,309 paroles,
about 60 percent.

That's in addition to regularly scheduled paroles. The state typically
grants about 80 regular paroles a week, Dillard said. Last week, it heard
194 cases and granted 82 paroles.

But the "special docket" paroles are expected to end at the end of October
when the $1 million runs out, Segrest said.

Riley's plan is an extension and expansion of the "special docket" concept,
Segrest added. The board uses a checklist of 10 standards to determine who
is eligible. Segrest said he expects those standards, or ones very similar,
to apply to the new early paroles.

Those with convictions for a violent felony, a crime involving use of a
firearm or knife, including threatened use, domestic violence, drug
trafficking, sexual offenses or child abuse are not eligible.