Honorable Pete Flores, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1506 by Parker (relating to the frequency with which the Board of Pardons and
Paroles reconsiders inmates for release on parole.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would modify Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) policy concerning the frequency with which individuals who are denied parole and remain parole eligible are reconsidered for release by granting the agency discretion to extend the interval up to five years.
Increasing the interval until a subsequent parole reconsideration may result in additional demands upon state correctional resources due to a possible increase in the length of stay for individuals sentenced to a term of confinement.
At the close of fiscal year 2024, there were 42,759 individuals incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who had been denied parole and were awaiting subsequent reconsideration.
The impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to the lack of data to determine the frequency with which BPP might exercise the option under the bill's provisions to extend individuals' time until a subsequent reconsideration.