HUNDREDS OF INMATES ARE RELEASED

AUSTIN - Texas has been forced t release more than 500 inmates frm prison
since August because the state didn't give them proper advance notice of
their parole hearings.

The releases have been forced by a 2004 court ruling that said Texas has
violated inmates' due process rights by not giving them enough time to
present the state parole board with evidence to bolster their case.

Most of those released have been inmates serving short sentences for
nonviolent drug or property crimes and would have likely qualified for
early release anyway under the state's "discretionary mandatory
supervision" program, said Carl Reynolds, general counsel for the Texas
Board of Criminal Justice.

"They are not going to be scary guys," Reynolds said.

The offenders are still under mandatory supervision and subject to being
sent back to prison if they violate the terms of their release.

But the early paroles have restricted the state's ability to keep them in
prison if they were deemed not ready to be on the streets.

"It is a challenge," said Rissie Owens, chairwoman of the state Board of
Pardons and Paroles.

She said parole and prison officials are working "to make sure the citizens
are safe, and we are doing whatever we can to comply with the court's opinion."

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals triggered the early releases with a
ruling in May. In a case from Bell County, Thomas Christopher Retzlaff, who
was sentenced in 1998 to eight years in prison on a weapons charge, was
rejected three times for discretionary mandatory supervised release.

The system allows inmates who serve enough of their sentence and earn
enough time off for good behavior to be released early. It also allows the
parole board to keep them in prison if they are deemed too dangerous to be
released early.

According to court records, the parole board either considered Retzlaff's
case without notifying him or voted on his case the month before it was
scheduled.

The court ordered the state to tell inmates the specific month and year
their case is up for review and give them at least 30 days notice to submit
materials in their defense.

The ruling has created problems for state corrections officials dealing
with inmates serving short sentences of two or three years.

In some cases, the inmates will have already earned time served in county
jails and "good time" for good behavior and attendance in rehabilitation
programs.

By the time the state receives those inmates, the window to notify them of
their parole hearing may have already closed.

Texas created mandatory supervision in 1977 to keep track of inmates who
were released from prison early. By 1987, lawmakers tweaked the law to deny
mandatory supervision from offenders who committed some serious or violent
crimes.