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How Does the Texas Parole Board Make Their Decisions?

A question most asked of potential parolees is “How does the Parole Board make their decisions about parole?” The members of the Texas Parole Board use a set of parole guidelines in order to obtain a score for an offender.  For years, the Parole Board has been using a two-prong guideline to determine an offender’s likelihood of parole.  The guidelines contain two major sections:  the Risk Assessment Instrument and the Offense Severity Class.  These work together to provide an offender’s likelihood of parole in a single score.  In appearance, theRead More


Over 80,000 Inmates Considered for Parole in 2012

In 2012, 81,638 inmates were considered for parole.  Of those, only 29,689 were approved.  That means the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole approved just 36.8% of the inmates who were up for parole.   On average each parole office decides over 16,000 parole reviews per year, roughly 310 per week or almost 63 per day.  These numbers do not include the additional thousands of cases in which the board is considering an inmate for mandatory supervision. Based on these numbers, it is clear the members of the Parole BoardRead More


Father’s Day in Prision

Father's Day in prison is rough on both the man inside as well as the kids on the outside. Texas Parole Now urges you to go and visit the dad not only to help improve his spirits but also for the benefit of the children and to keep the family unit together as much as possible. Every father wants nothing more than to be outside the walls.  However, if that is not possible then the next thing they want is to know that the people on the outside still loveRead More


The Role of the Institutional Parole Officer In The Parole Process

The Institutional Parole Officer is often times the only official person an inmate will talk to regarding their parole plans. The Institutional Parole Officer is an employee of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles but does not have a vote in the parole process.  The role of the IPO is to interview the inmate and create a case summary based on the questions and responses during the interview which the voting members of the parole board will read before rendering a vote.  Since the inmate never meets with anyRead More


Parole Interviews in Texas

As we have mentioned in a previous post, the parole system in Texas is not like other states and definitely not like they show in the movies. In Texas there is no opportunity for an offender to meet with the voting members of the parole board.  They usually don't have a chance to even talk to the people who actually vote on their release. The only contact the prisoner or their loved ones will have with the voting members of the Texas Board of Parole will be through any writtenRead More