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Committee approves bill to modernize Board of Pardons and Parole compensation and create separate appropriation line
Summary
The committee adopted an amendment and reported House Bill 171 as amended after proponents said the measure modernizes compensation and clarifies departmental responsibility for the board's expenditures.
Representative Coates presented House Bill 171 to modernize compensation for the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole and to clarify funding procedures. Coates said the board is ‘‘the busiest board in the state’’ and discussed training and caseload figures: by 2025 the board had held 22 public hearings, considered 42 pardon cases, more than 400 parole cases, and supervises approximately 2,300 people on parole with 16,000 statutorily released on good time and about 14,000 incarcerated with some parole eligibility.
Francis Abbott, executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, described the committee amendment as aligning current practice with statute: "Basically the amendment just kind of brings in line something that was already happening," Abbott said, explaining that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections is statutorily responsible for the board and its expenditures; the amendment would remove the need for a gubernatorial executive order by making the appropriation a separate line item.
Committee members discussed checks and balances and said the change would allow the Appropriations and Finance Committee to review future recommendations. The amendment (set 22‑70) was offered and adopted without objection. The committee then reported House Bill 171 as amended to the next stage by voice consent.
